Case Study – Listening and Feeling Heard
Support Provided by HomestartHOST as part of the Perinatal Family Peer Support Programme
Mum has been attending group for 3 months after being referred by her Health Visitor as she felt isolated in her community and alone after having the baby. Mum does not have a relationship with her own parents and now as a new mum, feelings about that relationship have surfaced. Mum was finding baby difficult as problems with reflux and a dairy intolerance meant that Mum felt like she was on her own and had nobody to discuss this ongoing issue with her baby.
Mum has reported that she finds the groups to be very welcoming and very supportive both from other parents and the staff. Having chats with another mum whose baby had reflux and struggled had made Mum realise that there were other parents that understood how she was feeling.
Sometimes mum felt down and low but still came to group as she knew that support was there to lift her by listening and feeling heard while she talked about the problems she was facing. The conversations also allowed mum to consider how her baby was feeling. This is something that mum hadn’t considered before as admitted she only thought about the impact on herself. A message is sent out to all mums each week and Mum has reported that this encourages her to come along to the group each week and once at the group mum has said, mum has said to me as group facilitator that the group is well set up and run by people who care and respect each parent and baby that comes in. Mum was very happy when a member of staff volunteered to hold her baby while she made a Christmas decoration, Mum said this is something that she very rarely gets to do and how relaxing it was. Information has been provided to Mum on the Weaning Sessions delivered by the Healthy Families Team.
