Publish date: 6 February 2025
A West London NHS partner has been awarded the Roxhill Media Award for Best piece of coverage, for its work on the press launch of a new mental health service for perinatal mothers in three boroughs.
Battenhall took home the award for its efforts on the May 2024 launch event for the new NHS/SHOUT text support service, for struggling pregnant people and new parents in Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith and Fulham.
The confidential 24/7 text support service encourages pregnant people, new parents with toddlers up the age of two, and those who have experienced baby loss, to text the word HUG to 85258 if they are struggling to cope or need help “in the moment.”
Local parents have hailed the service a necessary resource for a generation which routinely uses short electronic messages, or text messages to communicate.
The service is a West London pilot project with the charity SHOUT, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. It will run for two years.
More than a quarter of new and expectant parents in the UK experience what’s called perinatal mental health problems, which occur during pregnancy or in the first year after a baby’s birth.
The launch event garnered press coverage across multiple broadcast, print and digital media channels, on programmes such as BBC Breakfast, BBC London lunchtime an evening news and ITV.
You can find out about the campaign by visiting our website.
Congratulations to the Battenhall team.