Lived experiences :: Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Keila's story: from patient to peer support

From patient to peer support

Kelia is one of a growing number of Derbyshire Healthcare peer support workers, whose personal experience of mental ill health allows them to help others with similar struggles.

"Helping people at one of the darkest times in their life is such a privilege and a blessing. I feel honoured to be walking with them on this journey."

"It really can happen to anybody, even people who’ve never suffered with their mental health before. You can be so happy to have got pregnant, really excited about having your baby and then you end up really poorly in ways you’ve never experienced before."

Have you or your partner experienced support from the Perinatal Community Team, Beeches Mother and Baby Unit or Maternal Mental Health Service?

We are looking for Experts by Experience to help shape the future for other women and families.
At Derbyshire Perinatal Mental Health Services, we strive to provide the
highest quality care. We want to be compassionate, safe and responsive. We aim to support recovery from perinatal illnesses for women and their families whilst promoting equality and fairness in all we do. We truly believe the best people to help us achieve our goals are the Experts by Experience.

The experts are YOU, the people who have recent personal experience of accessing our services or supporting someone who has accessed our services. We are keen to hear your views AND work with you to shape and improve our future service developments.

If you have experienced our service and would like to get involved, please contact us using the form here and we will be in touch.

“I feel so honoured to be in this role. It is a blessing to be able to help people.”