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"Being able to take both of my boys to the sessions was great and access to the hubs was easy. Talking to the professional and getting the sense my feelings were valid helped me. Thinking about my anxiety, the root of these feelings was insightful"

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"I found the space to talk helpful especially when not feeling listened to elsewhere. My feelings were validated. It was helpful especially during pregnancy when I felt most alone and needing emotional support"

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"It is good to know that a service is available. Quicker access was important and it was a straightforward process. I go to the family hubs anyway and the information was all in the leaflets. Professionals were aware of the services on offer and being in the hub was helpful. As a step into the service it was good not feeling clinical, because asking for more help can feel like a big step. This feels easier"

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Information Advice and Guidance Sessions

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Information Advice and Guidance Sessions

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IAG's are sessions delivered by the BIM team in Family Hubs around Bolton. At the moment due to some service developments, please get in touch with the team via babyinmind.pairs@gmmh.nhs.uk to find out more information/when we will be at a Family Hub near you!

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BIM

Baby in mind currently do not have a referral form and the way to seek consultation would be through emailing the baby in mind generic email.

PAIRS

The referral form for a PAIRS consultation can be found on the information for professionals padlet along with the email to send the form to.

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Bolton Council's website provides information, advice and services for residents, businesses and visitors to Bolton.

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Here is a link to a padlet containing lots of resources for professionals working with families. There is information on healthy relationships, PAIRS consultation offer, training and supervision offer and much more!

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Here is a link to a padlet containing lots of resources and information for parents caring for young children. There is information on, feeding, siblings, relationships, crying, developmental information and much more!

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"I would like to express my gratitude at having the pleasure to work with the team. I have found the individual and holistic way the work has been moulded around the family is outstanding.

Multiagency services and families of Bolton are incredibly fortunate to have support of the PAIRS team".

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Dedicated specialist midwifery team provide expert mental health support

Team help women having their baby in Bolton

Wraparound support from team, community and voluntary workers

We are here to reassure and help is the message from specialist mental health midwives at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

A dedicated team of expert midwives and support worker provide mental health assistance to women and their partners during their pregnancy journey.

Fran Ireland, Lead Specialist Mental Health Midwife at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said:

We offer women individualised support around their mental health needs during pregnancy and up to four weeks post-natal.

"Early identification and assessment for women's mental health needs is so important; during the perinatal period women's mental health can fluctuate so it may be women feel fine and then begin to find things difficult.

"We are here to reassure and to help ensure women get the support they need.

"I love making a difference for women, their partners, families and babies.

Fran had trained as a clinical midwife but after she experienced post-natal anxiety wanted to specialise in making a difference with perinatal women's mental health when she returned to work.

Bolton's specialist mental health midwifery team give support to women once they have booked to have their baby with Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, until baby is four weeks old.

@boltonnhsft Specialist mental health midwife Fran tells you about a patient who remains close to her heart 💙 #fyp #midwife #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #nhs ♬ original sound - boltonnhsft

Approximately 1,500 women and their partners each year at Royal Bolton Hospital and throughout Bolton's communities are referred to the team, who are linked into a number of healthcare, charity and voluntary teams throughout Greater Manchester.

Women are referred to the team by their community midwife, GP or another healthcare professional.

Laura received help from the team when pregnant with her baby having been referred to Bolton's team due to a mental health diagnosis.

She said:

Knowing that somebody is there and it's somebody you can rely on makes all the difference for this.

"I required a lot of support towards the end of my pregnancy when I was having problems with pre-eclampsia, and Fran, Libby and the team really supported me, making sure that I understood everything while I was there.

"If I needed extra accommodations because of my mental health they went to a really great effort, always being there to listen when I needed them and offering support and advice on the mental health front.

Support given to women is variable but is personalised to their individual needs.

George and his partner, Abbie, recently asked for help from Fran and the team during the birth of their first child.

Fran and team assessed Abbie needs and referred her to the perinatal community mental health team, and provided help when she was in Royal Bolton Hospital.

George said:

Abbie had been made redundant just after finding out we were pregnant and everything went downhill, and in the end we just said we needed that help and support.

"The support has been amazing, in and out of the hospital, to help the mind when it needs that little bit extra to get through the days.

"The hardest step is asking for help, but do not battle on by yourself.

"100% ask for help.

@boltonnhsft So many women go through so many struggles with their mental health in pregnancy. Please ask for help! #fyp #nhs #pregnant #pregnanttiktok #help #mentalhealth ♬ original sound - boltonnhsft

Libby Gundlach, Specialist Mental Health Midwives Support Worker at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said:

The difference you get to see from a woman coming in and feeling so vulnerable to being seemingly a whole new person, it's amazing.

"There is so much support available for women and we absolutely change lives.

Laura added:

You've got nothing to lose from asking for help, but you've got everything to gain.

"I know sometimes you might be worried about what other people will think about you, but you can't be the best mum that you're going to be without that support.

"Talking about it and getting some support is the best thing for you and your baby.

"You can do this.

Find out more about the maternity services we offer.

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"You can do this" - so many mums helped by Bolton's maternal mental health support - Bolton NHS FT

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We are here to reassure and help is the message from specialist mental health midwives at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

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Parent Infant Mental Health looks at the relationship between the parent and infant. Having a positive relationship can lead to good emotional health and wellbeing in the infant and gives them a good foundation for future mental health.

PIMH difficulties can look different in different families for example, feelings of disconnectedness, struggles adjusting to parenthood or anxiousness about caring for infant, as well as much much more.

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This psychoanalytic intervention involves non-directive therapeutic work, which primarily focuses on the relationship between parent and infant, in an attempt to support healthy infant development.

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Perinatal CMHT is the service that supports mother's with significant perinatal mental health needs up until the baby is one.

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Community Services

Perinatal Community Mental Health Team across Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust are the new provider for the Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) across Greater Manchester.

The Specialist Perinatal CMHT has been invested in as part of the NHS England Perinatal Mental Health Community Services Development Fund and funding was awarded to Greater Manchester through the Health and Social Care Mental Health Programme.

The Specialist Perinatal CMHT is commissioned to support women who experience high-risk mental health problems during and after pregnancy, and for their infant up to the age of one year.

The team will work to provide assessment, care and treatment including; the prevention, detection and management of maternal mental health problems that complicate pregnancy and the postpartum year. Poorly managed, perinatal mental health problems can have serious consequences for the mother, her infant and other family members. Perinatal mental health problems affect at least 1 in 5 women, with 3-5% of women experiencing a serious psychiatric disorder and the single greatest indirect cause for UK maternal deaths in the perinatal period.

Examples of these illnesses include antenatal and postnatal depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and postpartum psychosis

The team will have a shared care ethos and work closely across Greater Manchester with all Maternity Services, Adult Mental Health Services, Early Years Services, Primary Care, IAPT Services and independent sector organisations to ensure that all health professionals have access to specialist advice and guidance on supporting all women with mental health needs throughout the perinatal period; support to women already using secondary mental health services where psychiatric disorder predates pregnancy, and is expected to continue beyond, plus new referrals of perinatal presentations.

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Community Services Perinatal Community Mental Health Team across Greater Manchester Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust are the new provider for the Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) across Greater Manchester.

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Perinatal Trauma and Loss Service (PETALS)

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Perinatal Trauma and Loss Service (PETALS)

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PETALS is a service to support bereaved parents

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Perinatal Trauma and Loss Service (PETALS) bolton

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Perinatal Trauma and Loss Service (PETALS)

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We are driven by compassion, and we value relationships to help people feel emotionally safe. We work with and alongside you, empowering you to have choice and control over your care. These difficulties can impact everyone in our community, and our service strives to reflect the diversity across Greater Manchester.

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PAIRS

Currently professionals can complete a referral form on the professionals padlet and email this to PAIRS (contact details available via the PAIRS for professionals PADLET)

BIM

Currently the professional working with a family should contact via email at babyinmind.pairs@gmmh.nhs.uk

Please see professionals padlet for more information on which team to refer to and contact details

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Bolton Council's website provides information, advice and services for residents, businesses and visitors to Bolton.

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Bolton Parent and Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS)_Without Bolton Ft including antenatal (0.1)

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The 1001 Critical Days manifesto highlights the importance of intervening early in the 1001 critical days between conception to age 2 to enhance the outcomes for children.

"There is a growing acknowledgement that those first early years of a child's life are absolutely crucial. Getting it right as parents with professional help and public resource to support where needed has the potential to make a huge difference to how that child will grow into an adult contributing to society. Putting this approach at the heart of what Government does, across all party divides, has the potential to be life-changing literally which makes the work of the APPG so important".

Pregnancy Loans When on Benefits

If you are in the first 1001 days and need a loan for baby products, there are easy borrowing options available. You can try and take out an overdraft from your bank. You may also qualify for loans for people on benefits from WageDayAdvance. If you borrow from a payday loans company it will be easier to be approved than using mainstream lending options.

Tim Loughton MP for East Worthing & Shoreham and Co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group Conception to Age 2: first 1001 days
Download 'Building Great Britons' Report

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"There is a growing acknowledgement that those first early years of a child's life are absolutely crucial. Getting it right as parents with professional help and public resource to support where needed has the potential to make a huge difference to how that child will grow into an adult contributing to society.

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CFT helps support parents and carers to navigate their own stress and difficult emotions whilst considering their baby. CFT then promotes a more compassionate and rational way of thinking for the caregiver, to try and experience the world and their baby differently.

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Consultations are something offered to the professionals working with a family. They are offered by both Baby in Mind and PAIRS.

The aim is to support these professionals to think about the families' difficulties and what might be helpful to consider in order to make some positive changes.

Families are not involved in the consultation process although they should be aware it is happening and have given consent for information to be shared with other professionals.

Following the consultation it might be suggested that a specific intervention would be beneficial and this would be delivered by PAIRS or Baby in Mind.

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Interventions are the types of therapy or sessions that we use to make positive changes in Parent Infant Mental Health.

In the PAIRS service we use a range of evidence based interventions, which means we can help lots of families in lots of different ways. We will always try to discuss which intervention we think would be a good fit and take into consideration any difficulties each individual would have when accessing these.

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The Toy Library offer drop-in sessions to support parents/guardians with babies and children. They also loan specialised learning resources and have a 'Multi-sensory room' for children to experience and explore.

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We are a Registered Charity based at the Harvey Children’s Centre, Bolton. We have a wide range of quality resources including specialised resources available for low cost, improving the home learning environment and relieving financial hardship.

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MHIST offer groups (Small Steps) across Bolton to families of children under 2 or who are expecting. These are designed for families to meet other people and share experiences in a supportive environment.

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"Dear whoever is reading this, I just want to say thank you [to MhIST] for giving me a bit more confidence in myself and for coming in doing the wellbeing sessions. They don't do these kinds of sessions in school, we don't talk about mental health in school enough and it has helped". - Bolton Secondary school student

"If I could go back in time, 5 years ago I would ask for help, connect more with my family, trust my parents' advice, they are only trying to help. MhIST has really helped me to ask for help and advice. Push myself when opportunities arrive ... jobs, courses, joining group and being more active sign up for activities and just do more. - Bolton young person.

These are just some of the things people value about how we help. MhIST, the Mental Health Independent Support Team, is a user led specialist community Mental Health support organisation based in Bolton established in 1992. The number of people including children and young people who experience poor mental health and ask for help from MhIST has increased significantly. Our team knows what it means to experience mental distress and they provide services that help.

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"Dear whoever is reading this, I just want to say thank you [to MhIST] for giving me a bit more confidence in myself and for coming in doing the wellbeing sessions. They don't do these kinds of sessions in school, we don't talk about mental health in school enough and it has helped".

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Dad Matters is a wonderful service designed specifically to support dads. This service has a wide range of support options designed to suit various levels of needs.

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Dad Matters Bolton exists to support dads to have the best possible relationship with their families. We work closely with other professionals within Greater Manchester and nationally to better support dads in the first 1001 days of their parenting journey. We offer Outreach services/drop-ins

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Home-Start are a fantastic service who support families with mild/moderate relational difficulties.

They have groups - With You In Mind and offer peer support services too.

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It's the power of little moments that make the biggest difference. By making a donation today, you will give a child in crisis a magical moment. Your donation will support Home-Start UK's work around the country. Donate now because childhood can't wait. Read more
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Home-Start HOST (Bolton office) contact details

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PIMH Services should all work together to ensure there is the right support at the right time for each family.

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Watch me Play! is a bit different to how we might normally approach play with babies/children, as it is more intensive.

It uses a baby/child-led approach to play.

It also helps parents/carers to reflect and think about the experience of play for both them and their baby/child.

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Watch Me Play! is a simple way for parents or carers to support and enjoy being with their baby or child, aged from birth to around eight years old.

In this approach, parents or carers watch their baby or child playing and talk with them about their play for between five and twenty minutes, twice a week, or more often if possible.

Play is a very important part of children's lives.

As they play, children find out about the world around them and practice skills that will help them when they start school.
This short video shows how parents and carers can feel more confident and closer to their baby or child through play:
Download the Welcome to Watch Me Play! Video text here.

Download the Welcome to Watch Me Play! Video text in Bengali here.

Download the Welcome to Watch Me Play! Video text in Japanese here.

How children play changes with their age, but the same key ideas about play can be helpful with babies, toddlers and older children:

Key Points
Having one to one time with your baby or child Letting your baby or child make the choices in their play Talking with your baby or child about their play, Talking with another adult about your baby or child's play. Finding a quiet place and some simple toys for 5 to 20 minutes
You can find more information and free resources in this website.

Watch Me Play! guidance has been developed together with families and professionals in a range of services for children and families.

In some areas, trained Watch Me Play! practitioners in services for children and families and early years settings can support parents by joining them to watch and talk about their child's play. Sessions can be in the family home, in a children's centre, a clinic, or online. See the Links section for suggestions for finding services providing this kind of support in your local area.

Watch Me Play! resources may be downloaded for free and shared with family, friends and colleagues by individuals and non-profit organizations, as long as they are not modified in any way and are provided with no charge.

To see this website in Japanese, please go to
https://watchmeplay1.w.waseda.jp/

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Watch Me Play! is a simple way for parents or carers to support their baby or child, aged from birth to around 8 years old.

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Baby Bonding helps parents to see the world through their baby’s eyes.

It can support them to be able to understand their baby’s needs and how they communicate these.

It also helps parents to reflect and think about their own experiences as a parent.

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VIG is an intervention which aims to promote and improve parent-infant relationships and communication through the use of video.

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What is Video Interaction Guidance? (VIG)

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See Parent Infant Foundation for more information

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Baby in Mind is a collaboration between Bolton Start Well and Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust. The service has been funded for 2 years initially, via the national Best Start For Life initiative. The aim of the service is to provide PIMH support to universal services and families across Bolton.

It has recently been confirmed that the funding for Best Start In Life has been extended until 2029!!!

Stand by for updates as to what this means for BIM and some new exciting service offers.

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Parent And Infant Relationship Service PAIRS

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Parent And Infant Relationship Service PAIRS

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Who can we support?

We offer support to mums, dads, partners and caregivers from pregnancy up until baby is 2 years old, who may be experiencing difficulties adjusting to parenthood and would benefit from support in developing a positive relationship with their baby.