Our Team
Rachel Jenkins – Co-director
Rachel is an occupational therapist and has over 12 years’ experience in delivering and managing therapeutic services for perinatal mental health organisations. She designed the Perinatal Comfort Zone group programme and has led workshops on the programme at the international MARCE conference. Rachel is an Institute of Health Visitor Champion for perinatal and infant mental health and has delivered training to student midwives and nurses over many years.
With her own lived experience of both ante and postnatal anxiety and depression, Rachel is dedicated to passing on her experience and knowledge through training the next generation of support staff. She is also an amateur musician and often brings music into her training programmes, with bell ringing always going down a storm!
Paula Bentley – Co-director
Paula has over 10 years’ experience of delivering, developing, and managing peer support services for perinatal mental health organisations. She has delivered peer support within a large maternity hospital and has represented the voluntary sector on various perinatal multiagency groups. Paula is also an Institute of Health Visitor Champion for perinatal and infant mental health and has delivered training and awareness raising to many organisations, including student midwives, higher education colleges, Norland Nannies, health professionals and early years settings.
Paula worked as a solicitor for many years before changing careers to work in perinatal mental health after experiencing her own postnatal mental health issues. This lived experience has always driven her passion and dedication to advocate for the importance of peer support and to pass on her experience and knowledge through training and awareness raising. Paula’s training in counselling skills has been put to good use in her peer support work and she finds Pilates to be a very helpful wellbeing tool (she is a qualified instructor!)
