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We are a specialist Parent and Infant Mental Health Team from Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust.

Our team consists of:

Clinical Psychologists

Parent and Infant Therapists

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist

Art Psychotherapist

Assistant Psychologist

Psychotherapist

Clinical Psychology Doctorate Trainees

Undergraduate Student Psychologists

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Always responding to my baby will spoil them...

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Always responding to my baby will spoil them...

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...FALSE

You cannot spoil a baby

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I need to meet my baby's needs 100% of the time for them to have a secure attachment...

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I need to meet my baby's needs 100% of the time for them to have a secure attachment...

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... FALSE

The research tells us that meeting our babies' needs just 30% of the time is enough to build a secure attachment.

Our children need us to be good enough parents not perfect parents!

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Babies do not socialise until they can speak...

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Babies do not socialise until they can speak...

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... FALSE!

Babies are born social beings

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What do we offer to parents and infants?

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What do we offer to parents and infants?

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We offer specialist assessment and intervention to parents who are facing difficulties in their relationship with their infant. We aim to improve this relationship by supporting parents to better understand their infant's needs, emotional responses, and communications. We also support parents to explore their history and own experiences of being parented which might be impacting on their role as a parent now.

Can we help you?

Are you finding things with your young baby more difficult than you expected?

Are you concerned you have not formed a bond with your baby in the way you had hoped?

Has becoming a new parent stirred up some unexpected difficult feelings?

Parents and babies start family life in a range of circumstances; and if you are facing additional difficulties such as physical or emotional ill health, financial stress, housing difficulties, isolation or relationship breakdowns, being a parent can be even harder.

Often our knowledge of being a parent is influenced by our own experience of childhood. Sometimes we want to repeat good experiences of childhood for our own children. But sometimes we want to provide our baby with a different and better experience. You are doing the best you can with the knowledge and experience you have.

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As a specialist service we offer our expertise to those working in Early Years professions through teaching, consultation, and reflective practice. To find out more please contact us on:

Email: epunft.pimhs.eput@nhs.net

Tel:  01621 866900

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"Circle of Security is an attachment-based parent reflection model. It uses video to help parents to reflect on how children communicate their needs through their behaviour and to consider how best to meet these needs."

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The Newborn Observation (NBO) is a tool whereby the practitioner explores a baby’s communication and behaviour to support the parent’s understanding of their baby. Click on the attached link to read about one Dad's experience of having an NBO and what it involves.

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Before I start talking about my journey, I'm sure there will be plenty of you who have read the title of this blog and thought "What is a Newborn Behavioural Observation?". So let's begin with a brief explanation.

The Newborn Behavioural Observation (NBO for short) is a set of shared observations, designed by the Brazelton Centre, to help practitioners and parents observe the baby's behaviour together. Since a newborn baby's method of communicating is their behaviour, taking time to observe and understand these signs, movements and responses, means understanding what that baby is saying, who they are, what they like and what they dislike. The NBO can be used with babies from birth to 3 months old. There are 18 items in total that can be observed on the NBO. Each session is individual, because the practitioner and the parents will be guided by the baby, but it will typically cover:

* Capacity to habituate to light and sound (sleep protection)

* Motor tone and activity level

* Capacity for self-regulation (including crying and consoling)

* Response to stress (indices of the infant's threshold for stimulation)

* Visual, auditory and social-interactive capacities.

So that's a bit of background, but how did my journey to being a certified NBO practitioner begin?

At Dad Matters, we regularly see Dads/parents with newborn babies and in order to enhance our skills and help us to help the parents understand their babies better, myself, Nick and Dan were offered the chance to attend the two-day training course for the NBO.

This was initially offered in September 2020, with the training scheduled for the 4th & 5th November of that year. As you probably don't need reminding, 2020 was an Annus Horribilis (as Her Majesty would say) for most of the world and therefore it was tentative as to whether the course could go ahead. Luckily, it was agreed that we could partake in the face-to-face training, provided certain social distancing and infection prevention measures were put in to place. So after many months of only seeing people over Zoom, we finally got together to begin our training.

We had been asked to do some pre-course reading and bring a doll with us to use during the training. Despite having a 2-year-old daughter, she was yet to get to her doll-phase, therefore myself and Buzz Lightyear (who brought Woody and Jessie along for moral support) set off in eager anticipation of what lay ahead. Day 1 was fascinating, learning all about the history of both the Brazelton Centre and the NBO itself, along with seeing how the NBO is conducted and learning about the different observations involved. We also heard some case studies and learnt a little about how to administer an NBO.

Now the eagle-eyed of you will have spotted the dates of the training course and will remember the announcement made around lunch time on the 4th November, that the UK was to go back in to lockdown as of midnight that night! Annus Horribilis indeed! Thankfully, due to the strict measures the organisers already had in place, we were granted a stay of execution, so myself and Barry the Sloth (Buzz was needed for an emergency in the Gamma Quadrant of deep space) and Nick and Dan (along with their dolls Donald and Sheila) were able to reconvene the following day and continue with the training. Phew!

Day 2 consisted of learning more about how to administer the NBO, along with how to record and report our findings. We were also shown the NBO in action, albeit with the trainer and a doll as opposed to a family and actual baby, and given the opportunity to perform some of the observations on our own dolls. We then had to complete a full NBO, along with the relevant reporting, on our dolls, in small groups. This really helped us to grasp how we both observe the babies and how we report this accordingly.

The final parts of the training involved learning about vulnerable families and high-risk infants, implementing the NBO in to practice and information on how to obtain our certification. In order to become a fully certified NBO practitioner, you are required to go and administer 5 NBOs and send copies of your reports and the parent questionnaires to the Brazelton Centre. Once this has been completed, you are then sent your certificate (from Harvard University!) and your practitioner pack so that you can deliver NBOs as a fully qualified practitioner. Ideally, the above is to be completed within 1 working month of completing the course. But due to the pandemic, we were assured that we could take a little longer, given the circumstances.

Little did any of us realise that almost 2 years later, I would be writing this blog having finally completed the required 5 NBOs!

Thankfully, in August 2021, I was able to get my first NBO under my belt due to a nursery friend of my daughter having a younger sibling. The delightful little lad, at just 6 weeks old, was absolutely textbook and I was able to perform the NBO with great ease and perform almost all of the 18 tests without fuss. Given that almost a year had passed since my training, I was a little bit nervous as to how the NBO would go and I was massively relived to have had such a perfect first subject.

I now had the bit between my teeth and was ready to power through to get the other 4 done as quickly as I could. Sadly, the opportunities were few and far between and the next chance I got was in October. This time, it was a little girl at almost 11 weeks old. She was again a dream and this time there wasn't even any crying to witness. Sadly this meant not all 18 tests could be carried out, but this was not the end of the world.

I was all ready to find baby number three! Cue the tumbleweed......

Christmas came and went and we were now into 2022! As luck would have it, some close friends welcomed their new son in to the world just before Christmas and so in February, whilst he was just over 10 weeks old, I was able to perform my third NBO. Another baby who was developing well and despite being a little unsettled after waking up, he was able to complete the observations and show both myself and his mum just how much he was capable of.

And just like buses, you wait ages for one and two come along at once!

My fourth NBO was in early March, with a young baby boy who was just 1 day shy of being 6 weeks old. Although I was able to complete the observations with ease, there were a lot of tears and baby was struggling to self-soothe so relied on both Mum and Dad to soothe and reassure him. It was quite evident that the stimulation threshold had been exceeded for this young baby and he needed a break and a cuddle. Once settled, he was much happier and alert and it was a great example for me of how sometimes you can catch the baby at the wrong moment and the NBO might not go as smoothly as others.

Four down, one to go.....

Despite a couple of months wait, my fifth NBO soon came around in late May. This was with another baby boy at 10 weeks old, who was by far the most vocal of all of the babies seen in the most delightful way. As with all of the babies seen, it was wonderful to see their response to the observations and also see the parents' reactions to just what their little one was both capable of and telling them. I was able to witness some great examples of Serve and Return between baby and Mum and highlight just much baby was responding to her when she spoke. Alas, there was no crying witnessed this time, but I was lucky that he fell asleep just as I was about to leave, so that we could complete the majority of the tasks.

And with that, I had my five NBOs completed and was able to finally obtain my certificate and Practitioner Pack! But the journey doesn't end there, in fact, it is only just beginning! I hope to be able to deliver as many NBOs as I can in the future and would urge all new parents to ask about these either via ourselves or via their Health Visitor.

I am so glad to have been offered the chance to undertake the training and am also extremely grateful and honoured that the five families I have delivered the NBO to so far have allowed me in to their homes to do so.

If you have a baby under three months old and are interested in hearing more about or indeed receiving the NBO*, drop us a line and we can provide more details and can arrange for the NBO to be carried out Alternatively, visit Brazelton.co.uk/parents/ for lots more useful

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My Newborn Behavioural Observation (NBO) Journey

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Before I start talking about my journey, I'm sure there will be plenty of you who have read the title of this blog and thought "What is a Newborn Behavioural Observation?". So let's begin with a br...

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Summary

Together with Baby is a specialist parent and infant mental health service designed to help parents better understand their baby's emotional responses and communications, as well as strengthen the relationship between them. Many parents find that they have not bonded with their baby in the way that they had hoped. Some may also have difficult feelings regarding the experience of parenting, which may feel confusing and uncomfortable. The Together with Baby service works with parents and their infants in the first 1001 days of their life, from conception to age two.

Service Information

The service offers a safe and non-judgemental space to help parents further understand the difficulties they are encountering. We are a team of Clinical Psychologists, Psychotherapists and Parent-Infant Therapists who offer a range of therapeutic treatments including both individual and group-based interventions. We initially meet with parents and infants for an assessment to gain an understanding of their needs and jointly create an individualised treatment plan.

Alongside our therapeutic work we also offer teaching and consultation to healthcare professionals working in Early Years settings. We are keen to build closer working relationships with local services and share our specialist infant mental health expertise through consultation. If you are a professional working with families that are struggling with their parent-infant relationships, please get in touch via telephone or email to discuss the support we can provide.

We work Essex-wide and cover the following localities:

North East Essex (Colchester, Clacton, Harwich)

Mid Essex (Chelmsford, Maldon, Braintree)

South Essex (Basildon, Southend, Thurrock)

West Essex (Stansted, Harlow, Loughton)

Our team work in the community and are currently offering a largely remote service using both telephone and video software due to Covid-19 safety measures. Face-to-face appointments can be offered in parents' homes or local children's centres but will be assessed on an individual basis in line with current guidelines.

Referral Information

Parents can self-refer or their involved staff such as a GP, mental health worker, Health Visitor or Midwife, can refer of their behalf. Our referral form and a guide for completing the form can be found in the additional documents section. When making a referral it would be helpful to know what other services are already involved. Please contact us directly for more information or for support with making a referral.

The referral will be processed and the referrer will be informed of receipt of referral within five working days.
Referral criteria

Parent is concerned that they are not bonding with their baby

Parent is concerned that they do not have a positive relationship with their baby

Parent is concerned with negative thoughts and feelings about the relationship with their baby

Parent has encountered a traumatic experience that is impacting on the developing relationship with their baby

Parents are facing additional difficulties such as physical or emotional ill health that may be having a negative impact on their experience of becoming a parent.

Exclusion from the service

The parent and infant does not live within Essex

The referral is not for the primary carer

The infant is over 24 months of age

The infant is not in contact with the parent

The parent is not available to attend the assessment and interventions appointments

The relationship with the infant is not under stress

Additional Information to support referral criteria
When making a referral it would be helpful to know what other services are already involved

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Together with Baby | Essex Partnership University NHS Trust

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Together with Baby is a specialist parent and infant mental health service designed to help parents better understand their baby's emotional responses and communications, as well as strengthen the relationship between them. Many parents find that they have not bonded with their baby in the way that they had hoped.

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Information taken from the Parent Infant Foundation Website:

"The first 1001 days include pregnancy and the first two years of a child's life. There is clear, compelling evidence that this is a significant and influential phase in development. This is an age of opportunity. What happens during this period lays the foundation for every child’s future health, wellbeing, learning and earnings potential. It sets the groundwork for children’s developing emotional wellbeing, resilience and adaptability; the competencies they need to thrive. During this period we can lay a foundation of health and wellbeing whose benefits last a lifetime – and carry into the next generation."

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Parents can self-refer or their involved workers (GP, Midwife, Health Visitor, etc) can refer on their behalf using the referral form on this page.

Referrals will be processed, with the referrer receiving acknowledgement of the referral, within 5 working days of receipt. We encourage professionals to seek consultation with us prior to making a referral.

Email: epunft.pimhs.eput@nhs.net

Tel:  01621 866900

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Our service is based at Cherry Trees, St Peter's Hospital in Maldon but we work in the community across all of Essex. The locations we cover, but are not limited to, are:

North East Essex (Colchester, Clacton, Harwich)

Mid Essex (Chelmsford, Maldon, Braintree)

South Essex (Basildon, Southend, Thurrock)

West Essex (Stansted, Harlow, Loughton)

We work remotely via video consultation and in person at parent's homes, NHS buildings, or can arrange to meet at local children's centres/family hubs.

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"Parent-infant psychotherapy is a psychoanalytical and attachment-based intervention which aims to help the parent(s) reflect on past and/or present experiences which may be influencing their view of their infant and their relationship with them. The psychotherapist models sensitive responding and helps the parent to interpret their baby’s behaviour appropriately. Psychotherapy pays particular attention to the unconscious and non-verbal aspects of communication between parent(s) and their baby. Parent-infant psychotherapists are trained to work with the parent and infant (dyad), and parents and infant (triad), the couple relationship and systemically (including wider family members) as required."

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"The Watch, Wait and Wonder intervention involves parents being encouraged to play with their babies in a way that follows the baby’s lead. The parent is then invited to explore the feelings and thoughts that were evoked by what he or she observed and experienced during the play. The intervention aims to enhance parental sensitivity, mentalization and responsiveness, the child’s sense of self and self-efficacy, emotion regulation, and the parent-infant relationship."

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Together with Baby - Evaluating a New Parent-Infant Relationship Team

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Together with Baby - Evaluating a New Parent-Infant Relationship Team

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This video outlines the results found from an evaluation of the Together with Baby service.

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Together with Baby - Evaluating a new parent-infant relationship team

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For support with completing the referral form please get in touch

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2022_New Together with Baby Referral Form

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"In VIG, practitioners are trained to use video feedback through a series of filming and review sessions in order to encourage parents to see and build on what they are doing to help things go well and thus become aware of the positive aspects of the caregiver-infant interaction. The intervention is based on principles for attuned interactions and guidance."

More information can be found on https://videointeractionguidance.net/

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Association for Video Interaction Guidance UK

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The Association for Video Interaction Guidance UK (AVIGuk) works to promote the delivery and development of the evidence-based intervention method Video Interaction Guidance, as developed in the UK...