Pregnancy support project secures £74k funding boost

AN APPLICATION for funding to continue and expand a Blissful Bumps programme, offering fortnightly creative and well-being sessions to help support pregnant people has been successful.

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The Museums Association's Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund, funded by the Julia Rausing Foundation, has awarded the Rochdale charity £74,685 to expand the pilot project, which launched in April 2025, supporting maternal mental health through artist-led activity and wraparound support from local maternity services.

The programme was designed linked to Greater Manchester's Creative Health Strategy to support soon-to-be mums.

Two in five women will experience mental health challenges during pregnancy (three in five for women from the global majority), and research demonstrates that early intervention improves health outcomes. In addition to this, creative well-being can help create long-term strategies for managing mental health.