Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) was founded in 2012, and offers peer support to mums and dads suffering from the illness.

A Honiton mum-of-two is aiming to secure national lottery funding for her charity - but needs a flurry of votes to secure top spot.

Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) was founded by Naomi Gilbert, who lives in Honiton. Naomi suffered from a rare postnatal mental illness, called postpartum psychosis, after the birth of her daughters in 2005 and 2011.

The illness affects around one in every 1,000 new mothers. APP was founded in 2012, and offers peer support to mums and dads suffering from the illness.

Naomi said: “After the first week of birth, I was very energetic and talkative. Unfortunately, what can happen in the next few days, you start to have unusual beliefs and start to hear things.

“For example, I believed the end of the world was coming, but it was going to be lovely and everyone would be healed.

“I was elated, but for my husband looking at the outside, it was very scary.”

Fortunately for Naomi, she was promptly treated in hospital and fully recovered after a year of treatment.

She added: “Because it’s a rare illness, we also offer the support online.

“We also campaign for better services, and are particularly concerned about the lack of inpatient mother and baby unit beds in the whole of Devon and Cornwall. This affected my treatment personally, as I was separated from both my baby daughters while receiving treatment in hospital.”

Naomi added: “I would love to give the public the chance to vote for a charity that will champion the need for improved inpatient services which keep mothers and their babies together in the South West.”

To vote for APP, visit bit.ly/voteforapp. If the charity scoops the funding, it will also get a prime time spot on BBC1.

Voting closes at 12 midnight on Wednesday (July 29).