On the Threshold has been a long time coming and this is the story of its creation. I was lying in bed at home in Cheshire last night pondering on what I wanted to say and several things came to me that have influenced what I want to do and the values that I hold.

It was about twenty-five years ago that I was going through investigations for secondary infertility .. not the most pleasant of experiences .. and I remember asking the consultant about emotional support and help for patients getting over not only my condition but breast cancer and depression as well : “Oh no we don’t do anything like that” was his response. Was that the time I threw a wobbly in the middle of out patients? I can’t remember.

And a few years later, after I had set up a support group for women who were childless or subfertile (I guess that was me although I never did have a diagnosis), I remember one day suddenly thinking “ I’m getting over this, I want to move on with my life now”. So I did .. but wouldn’t it have been great to have had someone to move on with, someone to help and support me?

And then as my health visiting career progressed supporting the emotional wellbeing of my clients was something that became increasingly important to me. However in the NHS it was very difficult to quantify and so that service experienced a chronic lack of investment. It didn’t fit with the medical model. But I’m out of it now and thought it was well behind me and I was happy in my own Chester based business but truly fulfilled? I don’t think so.

I retrained as a coach and was eternally looking for my “niche” .. and then it arrived. I was at a meeting of my women’s networking group and the ladies there were asking my why, with my nursing background was I not supporting and helping with women who had suffered breast cancer and post-natal depression for example? And I guess it’s just grown from there and I now realise that my health visiting and coaching experience create something rather special that I can bring to my clients.

And so here I am writing my first blog for On the Threshold feeling really excited. And maybe I’m finally in a position where I can challenge consultants to consider the emotional health of their patients whilst providing strong help and support to women across Cheshire, Wirral and North Wales who are getting over breast cancer, post-natal depression, miscarriage, hysterectomy, childlessness and subfertility and other trauma or illness.