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About this project

Becoming a parent is considered an important and joyful life event. However, for expectant mothers who are struggling with negative emotions or mental health issues, it is not an easy time. They often find themselves feeling alone and may be ashamed to admit their feelings or unaware that they need support.

Without help to work through what they are experiencing, it can interrupt the early bonding of mother and child and have a long-lasting negative impact on the child’s welfare.

The Centre for Parents and Children was set up by entrepreneurs specialised in parent-child attachment. Their objective is to reinforce the bond between the child and the whole family from conception and throughout the first 1000 days of the child’s life, to create a safe environment.

The Soroptimists of Reykjavík were approached by the Centre to support their group therapy initiative. This approach would allow the Centre for Parents and Children to reach a wider group of expectant mothers and, by creating a safe environment, mothers could share their emotions during group learning and break the cycle of shame and guilt.

Soroptimists provided the funds for 5-weeks of group therapy for five women. The project was designed and focused on expectant mothers with postnatal depression, anxiety or other mental illnesses which may interfere with the important bonding process between mother and infant. The funds were used for a group therapy room, which needed painting and furnishing, as well as to pay for a specialist to lead the therapy sessions.

The SI members of Reykjavík consider this project a success! The women taking part received the assistance they needed and stated that they found the programme empowering and that it increased their confidence, especially as they met other women with similar problems. This gave them a deeper understanding of what they were experiencing, confirmation that their feelings were valid and could be worked through, and the knowledge that they were not alone.

Testament to the programme’s success: the specialists at The Centre for Parents and Children reported the programme may have helped the approach to be adopted by the national health system.


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