A Chester pregnancy and post-natal yoga teacher has been invited to the House of Commons to participate in a nationwide call to bring perinatal mental health issues to the forefront.

Dr Rehana Jawadwala, who runs Hoole -based Mummy Yoga, will go to London on November 20 to raise awareness of issues on mental health during pregnancy and into parenthood and hopefully direct much needed resources to support vulnerable new mums and dads to seek support and help.

In order to get an idea on the scale of the issue, Rehana ran a very short survey on her social media platforms, hoping a few of her regular yoga attendees might respond to give her a clearer idea of the issues she can raise at the meeting in Westminster.

Within the first 24 hours the survey had been answered by more than 200 women and when it closed four days later the survey had over 300 responses. The survey consisted of just two main questions, one was to identify if the respondent was pregnant or had been in the past 12 months and the other was if they thought anyone they knew (including themselves) would benefit from mental health support. Out of the 316 responses just under 70% of the respondents were pregnant or had been recently. And an overwhelming 78% of them said yes to support with regards to mental health.

A Mummy Yoga session

One-third of respondents completed the optional open-ended box for additional comments. People shared their stories of birth trauma, isolation and anxiety with the requirements of parenthood.

Rehana felt compelled to act so she gathered her contacts within the NHS, the local health visiting team headed by Laura Evans and local mothers to raise awareness of the issue.

The team is hoping to raise funds through grants and other avenues to put together a project to support parents in the area.

With her extensive academic and industry background in exercise science and yoga, Rehana is keen to explore various avenues of using the power of breath and movement to help improve levels of anxiety and other mild to moderate levels of mental health conditions. She and her team are urging all local parents who may have any way of helping this cause to get in touch.

For more details or to contact Rehana visit www.facebook.com/mummyyoga .