'Why wait until mothers need psychiatric intervention?' Kent family raise money for mother baby unit

The family of a mother from Kent who killed herself after giving birth, held a festival to raise money for a mother and baby respite centre.

Rebecca Kruza took her own life after suffering from post-natal depression. Her family set up Everglow The Rebecca Kruza Foundation, to help fund the new centre for other mothers who may be struggling with their mental health, in one of the poorest wards of Dover.

It would offer support for mothers and their infants, with mild to moderate postnatal depression symptoms, giving them access to rest and help.

Hundreds of friends, family and well-wishers attended 'Everglow Fest' at Tilmanstone near Dover.

They enjoyed music and stalls, and raised money for the work of the Foundation.

Speaking at the festival Rebecca's mother Lyn Richardson said of the proposed respite centre: "It's a reinstatement of a service that was available until the mid 1990s.

"It's a tried and tested method and it does what it says on the tin. It's respite. It's tender loving care. It's what mothers want before they get to the point where they need psychiatric interventions."

Lyn spoke of the damage that can be done by leaving mothers to struggle and the effect on entire families. She said: "Why wait until a mother has got well beyond struggling, why not bring back this common sense form of care?"

She called for a commitment from Government to set up similar centres across the country.

The Everglow Foundation is committed to improving Maternity and Perinatal Services and say hopefully its message will be taken seriously since the Kirkup report into maternity care in East Kent.