The Positive Planner

Aim

I need your help to get the first batch of Positive Planner's made and then marketed in order to get it to the next level of production!

The Positive planner is a unique tool that will help enable women who are experiencing post-natal mental health issues to remain productive and positive in a very overwhelming and anxious time. It is key that we as a society break the stigma and this planner and use of this icon I think will help massively, it effects 1 in 5 of us and Dr's aren't able to provide us with enough support so it is an illness that is going unoticed. Through social media I hope to bring this postive planner to the forefront and create a community that will help us get talking about PND.

It has been reported that 81% of mothers experience some form of mental health issue after giving birth, and there are many websites and blogs that will help you feel less alone but nothing tangible that you can buy, this needs to change! It looks as though self-care is a positive step in the right direction and I think that this product can help.

The good news is things under the surface are changing, the government has committed to a five year programme to transform mental health services for women in the childbearing year, backed by a £365 million fund.  There is now widespread acknowledgement that vulnerable women are currently being let down by the NHS, with a study showing only 7% get the support they need. This is why I see this product as a powerful movement that will link the health care system to women in this position.

It is a paperback journal with beautiful calligraphy and encouraging words on each page,  taking the panic out of the daily routine and breaking it down in to small bitesize sections so that the user is able to feel that they are actively trying to navigate their way through their week and process their emotions.  It encourages the mother to write down the good, the bad and the ugly in a way of understanding their own thoughts. Sometimes you may write what you wouldn't be able to vocalise.

One of the main aims of this is to encourage the use of theraputic journaling and list making as opposed to the many hours some women find themselves stairing at screens and scrolling through unhelpful online content which adds to the stress and anxiety and often the feeling of failure. Days can be long and lonely, I want to expose these women to people in similar situations so they can offer support to each other through a network of sufferers and also recovered mothers linking them through a specific Positive Planner Instagram account that they can choose to look at and only experience the positive sides of social media rather than the bad. This will help build confidence and the notion that they are not alone in their journey.

Ways in which it will help:

• By helping to compartmentalise their lives with quotes, prompts, grattitude moments and links to a community of women using their planners to get through the day to day. Simple actions such as meal planning can be overwhelming so wil help with the small daily tasks. Sections will include logging feeds and naps to help find a routine in the day, but also self-care prompts such as how many glasses of water have you drank? Why not take a walk today? Choose one goal for the day etc.
• An emotional tracker system that colour codes your mood of each day, this will help to know if they are making progress or even provide a talking point with health visitors and GP's. 
• By locating everything in one place.  Thoughts and general goals for the day will provide a mindful platform that allows pen and paper to help heal, manage and reflect.
• Using the iconic logo as a way of letting people know you are suffering on some level through pin badges and tote bags it is a simple way to start conversations with others and help break stigmatism that surrounds PND.  

This Planner can of course be bought by anyone as a useful tool and not specifically for PND sufferers but I think it's important as a way to recovery that there is a specific product that speaks to them, it can be bought as a way of firstly admitting something may not be right but also a coping mechanism to help get on the road to recovery. It can also be bought by friends and family, it will come packed with love with lots of links to useful companies that can help.

I would eventually like to set up a link to well known PND charity PANDAS foundation to ensure each sale will feed directly in to a charity that is often forgotten but so vital to many.

It is a simple idea developed by myself on my own personal journey through motherhood and depression and I need to take my designs to the next level in order to share with others. 

This project closed unsuccessfully on 9th April 2017