Patient and public advisory group for the RELAX study

Here some members of the RELAX study patient and public involvement and engagement group introduce themselves

Abi 

I am Mum to a beautiful two-year-old and we live in the Southwest. During my pregnancy I experienced a lot of anxiety, so it has been a real privilege to be able to be a part of and support this fantastic study to help other mothers of the future. 

Christina Brown

I’m a mother of two and founder of The Motivational Mums Club and Young Positive Minds, where a team of psychologists provides free mental health sessions to mothers/birthing people and mums to be. I work closely with healthcare bodies to improve mental healthcare services for ethnic minorities who have suffered from near death experiences or birth trauma, and provide mothers/birthing people with tips on how to maintain good mental health and selfcare. Christina is a Champion for the Maternal Mental Health Alliance. 

Michelle 

I am a Caribbean British mum of one son and experienced anxiety in pregnancy and postnatally. I live in SW London, I am a registered nurse, I advocate for a close relative with serious mental illness and raise awareness in social media to improve perinatal mental health.

Samantha Newton

I’m a white, British mum of two boys, and I live in Somerset. I experienced anxiety in both of my pregnancies and I was keen to be a part of a study, that could develop something to really support women quickly and thus hopefully reduce the amount of worrying thoughts they experience. Just being on this advisory group, helped me in my recent second pregnancy with my own levels of anxiety (son born Jan 2023!).

Sandra Igwe

Sandra is a Black maternal health advocate, TedX speaker, and is the Founder of The Motherhood Group, a social enterprise that supports the Black maternal experience by delivering community-based events, training workshops, peer-to-peer support, national campaigns (Black Maternal Mental Health Week UK), and culturally sensitive programmes for Black mothers. Sandra is also a Trustee for Birthrights charity, the leading charity on human rights in pregnancy and childbirth in the UK and the co-chair of their National Inquiry into Racial Injustice in Maternity Care. She is the author of My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System.

Public member

I am a White, European-North American mother of three children including multiples, and experienced anxiety following a traumatic first delivery and post-partum anxiety following the birth of my twins. I live in London and work in education, heritage and community settings. I feel passionately about it being important to support pregnant mothers and their families; I am excited to be part of developing a new tool that I think will support pregnant women in an accessible way. 

Simi Bansal

I am a mum of one, living in London who is also a doctor working in obstetrics. I know how much anxiety can affect a pregnancy and I think RELAX is a great resource that will hopefully help many pregnant people in the future. 

Siobhean

I am a white British mum of two. I am an expert by experience, and also a service user representative, working with mums to gather feedback and improve maternity services, both locally and nationally. 

Further information

Read the blog about public involvement in the study: 'I was a bit sceptical': The RELAX study's public involvement - what we've done and how it feels to be involved.