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Who we are
Relationships are Everything!
Sometimes things can get in the way of you enjoying your relationship with your baby, such as depression, anxiety, a difficult birth, worries about your baby, or your own parenting experience and difficult events from the past. Having a baby can activate so many of our own insecurities and vulnerabilities as parents.
By offering specialist, therapeutic parent-infant mental health support during pregnancy and in the postnatal period – we can help parents to 'separate out' their own past and present struggles and issues, which without this specialist support, can have a huge impact on the parent-infant bond, relationship and mental health of both.
We believe that most parents want to be ‘the best possible parent they can be to their baby’ (and be a better parent than their own parents!). We want to support parents to build secure attachments and loving bonds with their babies, and go onto break tough negative life cycles which get in the way of what is the most important relationship – the parent infant relationship.
We provide easy to engage, non-judgemental parent-infant therapy and support, for pregnant women, new parents and their partners, who struggle with their emotional wellbeing, other vulnerabilities, and who have concerns about their bonding and relationship with their baby. We are a team of clinical psychologists parent infant therapists and multi-disciplinary professionals and volunteers who are passionate and committed to supporting parents in the Knowsley and Sefton communities.
Again, we are specialists in supporting parents/carers and infants with their mental health, emotional wellbeing and struggles from their babies and building happy, secure and loving relationships with their babies. Sessions are offered to families either in the family home or in the community.
Knowsley
Our service accepts referrals for parents and carers in Knowsley who are pregnant or have a baby aged up to three months, who are struggling with their emotional wellbeing and/or struggling in their relationship with their baby. We work with them until baby is two.
Sefton
Our service is for parents and carers in Sefton who are pregnant or have a baby up to three months at the time of referral and be registered with a GP or living in Sefton.Referrals need to be made via any professional working with the parent, such as a health visitor, midwife, family nurse, GP, Social Worker, Early Help workerWe welcome telephone enquiries to discuss suitability prior to referral.
Please call us on 07787 277 524 if you would like to arrange this.
Halton and Warrington (BIBS)
Here to help any mums and dads who are having difficulty bonding or developing their relationship with their baby.
To access support, you will need to be expecting a baby or have a baby under six months at the time of referral, and you will need to be registered with a GP in Halton on Warrington.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Dr Lisa Marsland-Hall | Consultant Clinical Psychologist and BABS Service Lead |
| Clare Gibson | Team Manager |
| Jennifer Young | Service Coordinator |
| Rachel Jack | Clinical Psychologist |
| Rebecca Gladwinfield | CYP IAPT Health Visitor |
| Andrea Sissons | Health Visitor Student CYP IAPT worker |
| Matt Foster | Health Visitor Student CYP IAPT Worker |
We welcome telephone enquiries to discuss suitability prior to referral. Please call us on 07787 277 524 if you would like to arrange this.
We work closely with health colleagues and care professionals to make sure families are fully supported.
We work in partnership with:
- Liverpool Women’s Hospital
- St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospital
- Ormskirk Maternity Hospital
- Perinatal and mental health services
- Sefton Breastfeeding team
- GPs
- Wellbeing Centres and Family Hubs
- Children’s Social Care
- Local Early Help Services
- Talking Therapies Services
- Third Sector and Voluntary Organisations
- CAMHS.
Building Attachments and Bonds in Sefton
In January 2022 Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust secured funding from Sefton Council for a 12-month pilot of the Building Attachments and Bonds Service (BABS) to enhance its early years support for children and families in the local area.
BABS offers therapy and support for pregnant women/new parents who struggle with their emotional wellbeing and other vulnerabilities and have concerns about bonding and their relationships with their baby.
BABS has now reached the target number of referrals agreed as part of the pilot and will continue to work with 70 families until December 2022. Providing support during pregnancy and in the early weeks after the baby is born. This support will continue to be offered in the family home or local Family Wellbeing Hubs in the community until the end of the contract/pilot study.
Alongside the clinical support provided to families, specialist parent infant mental health training and consultation to multi-agency professionals has also been provided.
Now that the service has reached its pilot target no further referrals will be accepted. Any families who would benefit from parenting support can continue to access services such as Family hubs, Perinatal services, IAPT, CAMHS, Early Help and 0-19 service dependent of their needs. Commissioners are aware that we have reached our referral target and fully involved in discussions
Referrals can be made by any professional such as a health visitor, midwife, family nurse, GP, Social Worker, Early Help Worker.
Information for professionals
For information on how to refer in Halton, Knowsley, Southport and Forbmy, south Sefton, and Warrington, visit our GP and referrers sections.
We welcome telephone enquiries to discuss suitability prior to referral. Please call us on 07787 277 524 if you would like to arrange this. Referrals can be sent to mcn-tr
In addition to the clinical support we provide to families, we offer specialist parent infant mental health training and consultation to multi-agency professionals locally.
Further information
If you’d like to find out more about how BABS can help, speak to your GP, midwife, health visitor or any other multi-agency professional who is supporting you.
They will be able to refer you to our service if they think we can help. Referrals can be sent to mcn-tr
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Where we are
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Or we can visit you at home.