The organisation

Blue Minds is a National Peer Support Network for officers and staff in policing who are impacted by perinatal mental health (PMH) problems. It was founded in late 2020 by Inspector Jennifer Sharpling following her own experience of navigating raising a young family, perinatal mental illness and working in the complex and unique profession that is policing.

Blue Minds started as simply a peer support network. However, it has expanded further into policy, guidance, training and working towards raising awareness and affecting real positive change in policing. A National team with representatives from several forces, many with lived experiences all work together, collaborating on new ideas, supporting one another and really pushing PMH to the top of the agenda in their wellbeing spaces.

The rationale for action

Growing Proportion of Female Employees

Policing has predominantly been a male orientated profession. However, there have been great drives to increase female representation in officer numbers and 35% of the England and Wales workforce is now female.

The civilian staff side of policing is much heavier in female representation. The rise in family support networks and maternity- and returner-friendly policies means there has been an improvement also in the retention of female colleagues who historically may have left once they had children. The introduction of paternity and maternity support leave policies and a more open and supportive culture for men entering their parenting journeys has also seen a rise in women returning to the workplace earlier in some cases.

Peer support and awareness of PMH conditions is essential to supporting new and expectant parents in policing but also beyond that too. The retention of women in policing has been difficult in the past, so early interventions, positive returner policies and championing the importance of having open conversations is of the highest importance. Empowering line managers to have conversations with staff and then knowing how to act and where to signpost starts with a baseline awareness of PMH conditions.

Sector-specific Issues

Policing is a unique profession and there are several challenges for the workforce during the perinatal period. One of the biggest being a sense of denial and reluctance to speak up when struggling. This can be for a few reasons, but a key driver is the responsibility that comes with the role and the fear of showing vulnerability.

Police officers see some of the worst in humanity, they will have been exposed to child abuse, death, violence and this can be a real problem because it can be difficult to rationalise that if suffering with intrusive thoughts. A warped idea of what poor mental health looks like can play a part because an officer or staff may simply not be able to identify that they are suffering.

The responsible nature of the profession can also lead healthcare professionals into assessing them as low risk. This can result in delayed diagnosis, worsening of symptoms and a lengthy wait before getting the support needed. Whilst compared to some, the maternity package is a good one, ever growing financial burdens around cost of living and childcare may increase the need for an earlier-than-planned return to work. If you combine an early return with the nature of the work they will be doing and the associated risks, shift working, being separated from their child and the worries that come with that, it can be a huge strain if they are already suffering.

Community Support

All the peer supporters and those on the national team are parents themselves and most have their own lived experiences of perinatal mental illness. Speaking openly about their personal struggles and talking about the challenges they faced and how they overcame them, in policing and at home, helps to break down the taboo.

The policing workforce, due to the nature of the work we do, relies heavily on trust. Sharing experiences empowers others to do the same without fear of any fallout. Raising awareness to ‘inform not alarm’ helps staff to recognise early signs of stress or difficulty in themselves and then know where to get guidance, signposting, and support sooner rather than later.

The sharing of experiences can also allay fears that prevent many from speaking out about mental health challenges in policing around the involvement of external agencies such as social services. Many officers and staff who have spoken out about their mental health struggles and what prevented them from doing so earlier have mentioned the fear that their children would be taken from them if there was any intervention in their family life from social services.

What we did

Since its inception, Blue Minds has worked hard raising awareness of PMH conditions in the policing community, but we have become so much more than that.

Innovations to practice and awareness raising

Our collaboration led to the development and implementation of several key initiatives including:

• Perinatal mental health awareness events: We have had events in collaboration with NSPCC, Fatherhood Solutions and Perinatal MH CIC. We regularly hold events where officers and staff speak about their lived experiences to raise awareness but also get support.

• Peer support network: A closed Facebook group offers officers/staff the chance to discuss concerns they have. This is a national forum and the choice of posting anonymously offers the opportunity for officers to be open. It is fully monitored and linked with other peer support networks for fertility, baby loss, maternity, parents of premature babies, paternity and breastfeeding, meaning a huge amount of peer support covering the many intersections of parenthood. This all sits under the umbrella of ‘Blue Families’ and is a national asset.

• In force ‘coffee’ mornings: Offering the opportunity for officers and staff to drop in and talk to others about their experiences or just if they feel alone has proved hugely beneficial. There are a mix of in-person and online meetings, offering greater accessibility for those who may feel isolated.

• ‘Things I wish I had known’ days: These events are held away from the police station with various speakers. They’re based on the personal experience of Jennifer Sharpling, the founder, and include speakers and input on topics that she would have liked to have had when going through her struggles, including paediatric first aid, sleep hygiene, nutrition, and mental health awareness.

• Charity work: We try to support PMH charities in holding events and doing challenges. Met officers did ‘Miles for Mums’ raising money and awareness for Action on Postpartum Psychosis and Northumbria Police did 10k a day for Maternal Mental Health Awareness week raising money to buy a running buggy for a local Mother and Baby Unit.

• MPS direct referral pathway pilot: Officers on the Met Blue Minds Team can directly referral into one of their perinatal mental health community teams (Oxleas NHS Trust) for officers and staff who live in Bromley, Bexley or Greenwich. This has been highly successful and is now business as usual. We have also been able to refer the partners of officers/staff even if they are not in policing. This is being replicated in Hampshire, Northumbria Police and Dyfed Powys and expansion across MPS areas is also in progress.

• Academic research: Blue Minds is proud to support and celebrate a number of academic research projects that are working to offer an evidence-based approach to support the policing workforce, including ‘Are Police forces past their due date?’ Duddin et al (2023) and ‘An exploration of perinatal mental health in policing’ by Wilkinson, K, Lennie, S-J and Duddin, L (2024). Blue Minds is also excited to see the beginning of a new piece of research being prepared by the Open University Policing Team on Navigating Maternity Journeys for Women of Colour.

• National family support working group: Blue Minds is a formal work stream which forms part of the National Family Support Working Group and as such works with the team creating national guidance on PMH for line managers, police officers and staff. Acknowledging the huge part that intersectionality plays when it comes to parenting, the document also includes topics such as baby loss, fertility, surrogacy, adoption and many more. This document is ratified by National Police Chiefs Council, Federation, Unison as well as HR and serves to provide national consistency.

Impact so far

Mental health during and after pregnancy is now being spoken about in policing thanks to the Blue Minds team, all of whom are working hard in their forces and as a collective to try and raise awareness of conditions and the importance of supporting the workforce during their parenting journeys. There have never been specific PMH peer support networks and now several forces have created them.

The academic research being done using officers and staff experiences is providing tangible solutions and suggestions as to how policing can improve and better support parental wellbeing and welfare.

Peer support provisions, academic research, maternity support policies, line manager awareness on PMH and professional collaborations with medical professionals are all working towards a more supported workforce. Whilst there is still much to do, the fact that officers and staff now know that there are people they can speak to, that PMH is the subject of research, specifically in a policing context, and awareness is being raised nationally means that more officers and staff are supported than they were four years ago.