About Us

Patron: Judy Hopwood, MP
Auspice by Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide peri-natal outreach, support, information and education to families in New South Wales experiencing ante-natal anxiety or post-natal depression in the form of regular support group meetings, home visit outreach, multimedia library of information, and education speakers.

Seeking volunteers

We are currently seeking volunteers to help assess training modules and who are interested in helping set up a POSIE group in Northern Beaches. We are seeking people who are

strongly commited to helping those dealing with perinatal mood disorders
interested in attending free training (conditional on providing feedback)
have free time during weekdays.

Telephone support

Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai area, please contact :
BabyBumps
PO Box 2228
Hornsby Westfields NSW 1635
Meredith on 9940 3544 or Mary 9940 4825.

24 hour		Business Hours
We are currently unable to provide telephone support. In case of *crisis* contact:		If you do not require immediate attention, try the following contacts:
Lifeline	13 11 14	Early Childhood Centre 59 Florence St, Hornsby	9482 4026
Men's Line Australia	1300 78 99 78	Koala Cottage & Parent Support Service Hornsby	9477 9547
Parentline	13 22 89	Mental Health Emergency Service (Hornsby Hospital)	9477 9520
Tresillian (Sydney Metro) (Outside Metro)	9787 0855 1800 637 357	Hornsby Hospital	9477 9123
Karitane (Sydney Metro) (Outside Metro)	9794 1852 1800 677 961

Membership

This group is a non-profit support group auspiced by the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. Our membership fee is $5 which includes $2 for annual POSIE membership entitling members to attend training, use our resource library and giving voting rights at any committee meetings. The remainder of the fee is used to join SFNSW as a consumer. Alternatively a single annual membership to SFNSW is $20.

The reasons we have chosen to be auspiced by SFNSW are twofold: for coverage of indemnity insurance under an umbrella organisation, and for the fantastic support, training and experience offered by SFNSW to facilitators of support groups.

About the flowers in the posie

The flowers in the posie are associated with depression either through aromatherapy treatment or by use as an icon for mental health awareness. The flowers included are ylang ylang, bergamot, clary sage, jasmine, lavender, rose, neroli and lemon blossom. The use of the Ridge or Pink Flannel Flower is inspired by the national symbol for mental health awareness of the Mental Health Council of Australia. More information and beautiful images of this unique flower can be found at www.waratahsoftware.com.au.

About the Founder

Carolyn Gibbs

Carolyn started a POSIE support group, now named "BabyBumps", in 2005 preceding the birth of her third child. Carolyn went undiagnosed with her first child. The picture (right) was taken in the midst of PND and is a poignant reminder of how much a woman can do to hide their illness. She saw a psychiatrist for ante-natal depression during her second pregnancy in 2002. Carolyn was treated for PND with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) during February 2004. When she discovered she was unexpectedly pregnant once again, Carolyn was disturbed to discover a lack of community based PND support services in New South Wales. Carolyn is now modelling the creation of a group in Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai and developing training materials to enable other community groups to nurture another POSIE group. Carolyn's story can be read at: A Pocket Full of POSIE's (BeyondBlue).

See the Today Show interview with Jessica Rowe 19 May 2006

Last modified May 19, 2006	http://www.posie.org.au/print-friendly/about.html
Designer: Ryn Gibbs	contents (unless source otherwise specified) and design of webpages and graphics © Carolyn Gibbs 2005