Perinatal support team and volunteers welcome ICB Chair Kathy McLean for visit
Dr Kathy McLean, Chair of Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board, has been back to the floor, visiting volunteers and staff at not-for-profit organisation Connected Perinatal, who support new parents.
She spent an afternoon with the staff team and volunteers and explored the positive impact their work has on families plus the opportunities and challenges of working in the integrated care system.
The organisation carefully recruit and train volunteers to provide evidence based, non-judgemental peer support to new and expectant families.
This can be provided on a one-to-one basis during pregnancy, at labour and birth if required and until baby is between three or six months old with a community offer that runs up to five years old.
They are commissioned by Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Family Hubs Derby, helping more than 1,500 families last year and supporting over 60 families with more intensive one-to-one support. They also work in the community holding daily coffee mornings for new families thanks to their 30 volunteers.
People can self-refer or referrals are taken from health and social care professionals. The volunteers are trained in many areas and in some cases attend labour with the new mum.
Kathy said: “Mums and their new babies are some of the most vulnerable members of our society and need as much support as we can offer. It was insightful and hugely helpful to get closer to this work and understand more about the offer that’s available for families. As we know the first 1001 days of life are so important to the rest of the life of the child, so this is crucial work.”
Shelley McBride and Emma Roberts are the Connected Directors, launching the service in 2021. Shelley said: “We see families with a wide range of challenges, everything from just sign posting and understanding more about how to take care of baby, to parents who have experienced child loss or might have debt, housing problems or mental health challenges. We’re seeing demand for our service grow every day and our volunteers, who receive a lot of training, do fantastic work with these families ensuring they get the best start available.”
One of the volunteers said: “It’s such a wonderful organisation to be a part of. I’ve learned that you don’t need to be working with families for a long time to make a difference, you can help in so many ways. Helping families connect with their babies during baby massage for example or someone to ask what feels like silly questions who isn’t a medical professional. These are the things that are needed but make a huge difference and those connections can last a lifetime.
The visit is part of a series Kathy is holding with frontline workers across Derby and Derbyshire to help inform decision-making in the ICB.