Each month in our Healthwatch Essex Journal Club, one of our Research Ambassadors shares an article that they are interested in – giving our network a chance to read, reflect, and discuss together in our WhatsApp community. It’s a space for learning, questioning, and exploring research in an informal and supportive way. In this month’s Journal Club, Research Ambassador Onyi shared an article which explores the lived experience of postpartum depression and psychosis in women.
Content warning – Please note that this blog post and the article it links to contain discussion of postpartum depression, psychosis, suicide, and bereavement.
Onyi has kindly provided a reflection on why she chose this article for the journal club this month:
“I chose this article because it speaks directly to a personal and painful experience my family went through. In 2022, we lost my sister-in-law to suicide after she struggled silently with postpartum depression.
What makes it even harder is that we truly believed she had the support she needed. We hired nannies to help care for the baby, made sure family members were always around to give her time to rest, and did everything we thought would help her feel supported and cared for. But we had no idea she was dealing with more beneath the surface, silently carrying a weight that none of us fully recognised.
Her passing left us with difficult questions. “What did we miss?” and “What could we have done differently?”
In trying to make sense of what happened, I began researching and learning more about the mental health challenges new mothers face. That’s what drew me to this article, “The lived experience of postpartum depression and psychosis in women.” It’s co-written by women who have actually lived through these challenges, alongside academics. It gives voice to the parts of the journey that often go unnoticed; the emotional, complex, and deeply human aspects that can’t always be seen from the outside.
I chose this article because it helps make those invisible struggles visible. And for me, it’s a step toward understanding, healing, and hopefully helping others recognise the signs we didn’t see” – Onyi.
We thank Onyi for so generously sharing her personal experience to highlight why she chose this article. Onyi “invites you to hold space for the women behind these stories” as you read this article too.
Authors: Fusar-Poli., et al. (2025).
Title: The lived experience of postpartum depression and psychosis in women: a bottom-up review co-written by experts by experience and academics.
Article Link: Click here to download a PDF.
Onyi brought a meaningful perspective to our discussion this month, the article which sparked interesting discussions and reflections from our research ambassadors. Our conversations and questions demonstrate the value of coming together as a network to explore different topics and share our range of perspectives and experiences:
“Thank you again Onyi and my first thought of this article was ‘wow’, the women’s reflections are so powerful and I wanted to highlight how much I felt the titles of the themes articulated their experiences very well.
I found the repetition of societal norms and stigma to be quite true when reading this article. I know myself I’ve been guilty to hold an image of what a ‘good mother’ should be, and the hopes and dreams for how you may act when in motherhood. However, this article really demonstrated the detriments of this and I think the words in the article ‘the dichotomy between expectations and reality’ reflected on this well” – Beth.
“Thank you so much for sharing such a powerful and meaningful piece of research. I think the women are so brave for sharing their experiences in the hope that it helps others. Like Beth, I felt that the metaphorical nature of the themes (such as ‘being hit by a ton of bricks’ and ‘tightrope walker’) really captured the shared experiences of the women, but I also liked how the authors acknowledged differences in the women’s experiences and sought to uncover the cause of these differences.
I am interested in whether there’s been any research into how postpartum depression and psychosis might impact the children as they become young adults” – Molly.
“I really liked the good balance of an academic/research focus with lived experience. The quotes were good and often very touching/ thank you it has really improved my understanding on this unexplored and invisible subject” – Ben.
“The article was really impactful and similar to Beth and Molly I was really struck by the evocative language of the titles of themes, I think these really capture the quotes and experiences that the women share in this article. I thought their approach was so interesting as I’d never come across a qualitative meta-analysis before, and I think to conduct their analysis and write with the experts by experience probably brought a whole new perspective to the data and articles they reviewed. I think taking so many studies into account they were really able to show a broad range of experiences across all the topics they looked at, while retaining the depth and complexity of the experiences that the women shared” – Joe.
“The article was really interested. It helped me understand better how the mothers feel during pregnancy and after pregnancy with postpartum depression and psychosis. Feeling like they have lost themselves and not being the same as they used to and feeling very isolated, like no one understands them, must be really scary and difficult for them” – Maria.
“I really appreciated you sharing this article as it shows how powerfully research can communicate people’s lived experiences, particularly of topics that aren’t discussed enough. Like others in the group, I was really struck by how evocative the theme titles were. It’s got me thinking about how we name our own themes when doing thematic analysis and ensuring that they really do speak to and express the lived experiences that we have been so fortunate to record.
I couldn’t quite believe that this is the first review of the lived experience of postpartum depression and psychosis, but it makes it an invaluable piece of research. I thought the involvement of an international group of experts by experience from different backgrounds provides means it provides an important blueprint for future researchers, so thank you again” – Kate.
“From reading the vast range of lived experiences and the conclusions drawn, it has reinforced my belief that the infrastructure of postpartum mental health support needs to be significantly improved here in the UK for one (beyond the Edinburgh Post Natal Scale and surface therapy access). Everyone’s experience is different, and public awareness absolutely needs to be stronger.
Outreach work would be particularly beneficial for certain communities (e.g. ethnic minorities, those in rural areas).
I do think this is an interesting paper enriched with a variety of experience accounts, on a very important topic. I hope it will be able to help inform clinical practice for the better (amongst healthcare professionals that do come across it)” – Pravina.
This month’s article facilitated insightful and supportive conversations and reflections from our research ambassadors on a very important topic. It really demonstrates what our journal club is all about – sharing knowledge, personal experience, and asking questions, to build confidence in reading and exploring research, raise awareness and support one another. Onyi’s personal reflection this month captured another vital aspect of our journal club, giving ambassadors the opportunity to share their lived experience and discuss how this may inform their research interests and practices.
Our Journal Club is open to all our Research Ambassadors. If you would like to become a Research Ambassador or are looking for more information on research, please contact our Research Manager Dr Kate Mahoney at [email protected].
We are looking forward to next month’s article, which will be shared by Research Ambassador Sangeeta.
If you would like to access support around any of the issues mentioned in this blog, please do give the Healthwatch Essex Information & Guidance Service a call on 0300 500 1895, email [email protected] or text/WhatsApp on 07712 395398.
Beth Pittuck,
Research Officer