The Board is the decision-making body of the Association. There are annually between five and ten board meetings. The Board decides on the Association’s strategic activities, visions, and major policies. Deputy members have the right to speak and vote at meetings if there are not enough full members present. According to the rules of Äimä ry, a quorum is constituted when two full or deputy members are present in addition to the chairperson.

The Board will be elected at the Association’s annual meeting, the next of which is in the spring of 2024.

Äimä ry Board of 2023-2024

Changes to the formation of the board are considered and applied annually each spring.  This year, three (3) new members and one (1) Board member of the previous term were elected as Äimä ry’s Members of the Board. Johanna Wartio continues as the Chairperson and Marianna Pere is the Deputy Chairperson.

Chairperson:

Johanna Wartio

Members of the Board:

Marianna Pere (Debuty Chairperson)
Päivi Pellonperä
Susanne Vähäjylkkä
Netta Vahteri

Emphasis of the operations

Äimä ry’s most important goal is influencing attitudes. Depression during pregnancy and after childbirth, as well as postpartum psychosis, still carries a strong stigma that should be erased.

The false attitudes of health care professionals may even prevent access to help. We influence attitudes by providing information. The photo exhibition about dismantling the myth of what it is to be a mother, which started in the spring of 2019, has been popular and will continued both as a travelling exhibition and as an exhibition in connection with various events.

Our second focus is the involvement of Äimä in the new family centres planned in relation to health and social reform. These family centres will combine the services of families with children on the public sector and the services of associations under the same roof. If these plans will be realised, Äimä ry could be an active participant in every Finnish family centre, offering help, either through a peer support group or remotely.

Our most important goal is to continue taking good care of Äimä’s volunteers and their well-being. Peer support is our core value, without which the association would not exist.

We also want to ensure that mothers with postpartum psychosis (the Äpsy group) receive peer support in the form that best serves them.

It is essential that, in addition to helping mothers, the support provided by Äimä ry is also reflected in the overall well-being of the whole family. We will continue working with your new project partners on projects such as the fathers’ well-being activities as well as activities aimed at maintaining a strong and healthy relationship with your partner.