It’s Maternal Mental Health Awareness week and this subject is very close to my heart and a lot of other single mums. As a single parent you are twice as likely to be depressed than a mum in a coupled relationship. I had Post Natal Depression with both of my children, and I want other mums to know that they aren’t alone in their dark feelings and thoughts at this difficult time of having a new baby.

I’m so happy to see that there is a lot more awareness at raising girls in a more gender-neutral way, teaching them to choose which toys they’d like to play with, not directing them to certain types of clothing, and raising them to be strong and independent. We are seeing the rise of lots of little feminists and even the media changing with amazing Disney role models such as Moana.

Life as a lone parent can often bob along without you really noticing that you are not in a partnership and that your child/ren don’t have a relationship with their other parent; but, BUT there are some days of the year where it really does come crashing towards you like an asteroid on the path to destroy your equilibrium and happy bubble.

My experience of having a life threatening illness taught me the absolute need to make memories for my son should I not be around to see him grow up. Putting photos up on Facebook for family and friends to see was the obvious storage choice for me but I realised I needed some kind of order to our enormous  photo collection.

We’re open to publishing a range of blog posts on topics such as self-care, health, wellbeing, free family events, life hacks, mental health services, personal stories and expert advice. Try to hone in on a particular area that you know loads about and this should make it easy for you to write about. Don’t worry if you’re not an expert, your personal experience still counts!