Hands Across Canberra hopes to raise more than $500,000 for 55 local charities in its second annual appeal. Donations from the public will be matched by government and business.

Each organisation is running its own mini-appeal within the appeal, hoping to raise their own designated funds.

Among them is the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre (formerly PANDSI) which provides mental health support to families from pregnancy to when their children reach two years of age.

The centre's chief executive officer Dr Yvonne Luxford said demand for its services increased during the coronavirus pandemic, while at the same time it was unable to stage its most popular fundraiser, the Cake Off baking competition.

"The number of counselling calls we were doing went up by 57 per cent and were long and intense," Dr Luxford said.

"We had a lot more antenatal calls because can you imagine being pregnant during the bushfires, the smoke, the hailstorms, COVID."

Canberra mum Liza, 31, sought help from the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre for more than two years, starting when she was pregnant with her first child.

"I was just getting overwhelmed. My body and my mind were changing significantly, in a way I didn't expect. I knew when baby came, a lot would change. I didn't expect so much to change when I was pregnant," Liza said.

"I reduced my hours at work because I was so fatigued I just could not work full-time. Working part-time was very stressful because I had a lot of pride around working hard and achieving high standards."

From the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre, she received telephone counselling, which she found crucial.

"I started with weekly, then fortnightly, then monthly sessions and was able to adjust as my needs changed," she said.

"Part of why I'm so grateful for the service is it's not something we would have been able to afford or, even if we could access a government service, have had that frequency. That's something I really valued."

Liza also went to a support group through the centre, as well as the mums and bubs yoga.

She had a difficult labour, ending in a cesarean and the professionals at the centre helped her to work through any lingering doubts she had about her experience.

In the end, she felt seen and listened to.

"Having them call and ask, 'How are you?' was really special and really empowering," Liza said.