1. Babies Are Amazing! Jane Dickens
Health Visitor/Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champion

2. Main Points What is the Parent Infant Relationship
What does a good relationship look like
Why is it important
How do we know this
Understand some of the main terms used
What to notice if it’s not working so well
What we can do to help
Watch a couple of short films
Questions at the end
These are the main points we will be looking at today.

3. Begin Early
So we can see already how this tiny baby is responding to his dad singing.
His dad has known throughout the pregnancy that he is a separate person from his mother. His mother will have also known that.
We can see mind-mindedness in action.
There are also many occasions where the parents have not realised or not really thought about the baby before birth as a separate person.
Supporting parents antenatally encourages mind mindedness.
We can support families to change their thinking and realise the amazing potential of the baby, and change the whole outlook and development of the baby. The long term effects of very small simple interactions are really beneficial life long.
This changes the story for the parent and child from the old story, to the new story.
So, that shows us just how babies really do recognise things from pre birth. Why is that important?
Where does being a parent begin? There is no right answer, but science now shows that the baby is influenced by the mother’s wellbeing before birth. Important to notice if the pregnant woman is able to think of the baby as separate from herself, as their own being. This is being mind minded. Mind mindedness in pregnancy is a strong predictor of secure attachment.

4. What can new-born babies do?
The old story:
The new story:
Poo
Wee
Sleep
Feed
Cry
Babies are exquisitely sensitive and social beings:
Make relationships, they need a companion
Recognise care giver by voice before they are born, and within minutes post birth their know their mother’s smell and recognise them by sight
Make space in their mind for another
Communicate
Orientate to faces and their brains benefit from the bio-chemical release that is triggered by mutual gaze
A few months on: discriminate care givers emotions, follow signals and adapt their behaviour to keep the parent close
Have innate altruism
Have innate sense of justice
Love and comfort does not spoil a baby
Babies are amazing!

5. How Can We Do That?? Demistifying terminology and science…
Attachment bonding mind-mindedness Parental sensitivity and warmth mother-ease voice mutual gaze Cues Synapses neurons hormones Perinatal mental health Infant mental health Responsive parenting
Lots of terminology and science surrounding the parent infant relationship.
Lets have a look at some of these today, focussing on the development of a positive parent infant relationship with secure attachment.

6. Perinatal Mental Health
The mental health of the mother during pregnancy until 1 year after birth of the baby
Infant Mental Health
This develops from pregnancy and continues to develop in response to the way the baby is responded to and the environment the baby is in
Explain we all have mental health as we do physical health. It can be good sometimes and not so good other times. The infant mental health is not separate from the relationship. Helping parents understand this helps them with all other aspects of parenting. If you begin to understand your baby, you are more able to find a way to grow together, this makes a happier baby and a happier parent. Research has shown that the more a parent realisied the amazing capability of their baby, they are more likely to become responsive to cues and mind minded

7. Attachment
The emotional bond between child and parent/main care giver.
Relates to social and emotional development in early childhood.
Secure Attachment is a sign of a good relationship.
Also other types of attachment
Attachment style can change depending on the situation
Based on Bowly’s attachment theory. Not going into detail today – focus on signs of secure attachment.

8. Parent Infant Relationship
2 way, reciprocal
To understand the parent-child relationship, we must look at the ways that parents and children interact with one another physically, emotionally, and socially. Think about your parents. How did your relationship with your parents contribute to who you are today, or did it? The relationships between parents and children are very important in determining who we become and how we relate to others and the world.
Do we see responsive parenting? Is the parent responding to her baby’s cues? Or preoccupied with her own thoughts or got her own ideas about what the baby can and can’t do?

9. What does a Good Parent Infant Relationship Look Like?
Key components of secure attachment
Mind-Mindedness – the parent’s ability to see the child as separate from themselves, with own thoughts, feelings, needs
Parental Sensitivity – is the parent responding to the baby in a way which matches the baby’s needs? -Mother-ease voice, tone, choice of words, touch, body language
Key components of secure attachment
Mindedness- really importnat in pregnancy – as Elizabeth has explained.
Parental sensitivty/motherease voice – responding in a timely and adequate way – can be over responsive – parental intrusiveness overinvolved/controlling – can trrigger anxiety in the child
Indications of secure attachment whats happening inside the baby’s brain?– lets have a look at some neuroscience..

10. Neuroscience
Look at neurons and synapses – why they are important =- architecture of brain, building blocks, first 2 years

11. Born Ready to Relate
See the new baby seeking the mother’s face – babies are born ready to relate. The baby feels safe here in the mother’s arms –when the baby feels safe she releases oxytocin, this helps to regulate her heart rate, breathing and temperature- in other words – feeling safe enables better health – and also the opposite – feeling unsafe also affects the immune system. Physical and mental health from pre birth, birth – what ever the birth experience.

12. Mutual Gaze
Amazing interplay of hormones, responses, if parents realise what is going on when having mutual gaze and enjoy the science – 2 million synapses a second – more likely to be motivated to respond to cues.

13. Cues – baby’s language. From birth we can look out for cues – engagement and disengagement. We need to inspire parents about how amaxing their babies are, to help them spot their cues and how to respond, and how this will support their develpoment mentally physically emotionally educationally.

14. Engagement Cues Responses Play simple interactive games – peek-a-boo
Simple rhymes
Talk, smile, us mother-ease voice
Baby is most interested in the human face, doesn’t need toys or screens/TV to be happy

15. Disengagement Cues Responses Cuddle, Give space to be
Deep breath yourself to have a moment to watch baby and wonder
Talk in soothing voice
Baby may just need a short break before engaging – every day experiences can be overwhelming at times.

16. Too Much TOO MUCH cards help us remember that babies need some space
This baby needs a short break – mtual gaze is overwhelming! Mum just waits until baby is ready to engage again. Watch the mother-baby inteaction as this baby is overwhelmed by mutual gze, takes a miment out ad mum waits for baby to come back ready for more

17. Support Parents Support Practitioners
Interventions – use of Parent Infant Relationship Resource Cards
Training
Supervision
Support to refer on to other services when needed

18. Developing Empathy
Supporting parents to have positive relationships with their children
Supports the long term social and emotional development of the child
Improves the infant’s mental health with life-long benefits
Reduces violence in society
Why do we want to support parenting?
Many reasons – makes the world a better place!

19. Thank You jane.dickens@bdct.nhs.uk