Emotional wellbeing support for parents and parents to be

Family Hubs are here to support you, from the moment you find out you are having a baby. We support all parents, including biological parents, people who are fostering or adopting a baby, step-parents, and Kinship Carers (people taking on the role of a parent, such as aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters). See Help for families - your virtual Family Hub.

Support during pregnancy and beyond

Midwifery team

The midwifery team can support you throughout your entire pregnancy, during the birth, and until your midwife feels you no longer need support. When you find out you are pregnant you need to contact your local midwifery team. Your GP practice will tell you how to do this. If you're not registered with a GP practice, telephone your nearest one and they can give you the information.

If you have an existing health condition that you take medication for, or require regular care, speak to your GP when you find out you are pregnant. This is to make sure the care you receive throughout your pregnancy is still right for you.

Classes to help you prepare for the birth of your baby

These may be called Antenatal classes, Preparing for baby classes or Parentcraft. We run these in the Family Hubs and if you are pregnant, you can attend with your partner, or with someone who is supporting you. These are delivered in partnership with midwifery and health visiting teams. Ask your midwife or local Family Hub for details - Find out what's on at your nearest Family Hub. 

There are also many courses available for free online. Visit our Solihull courses page and create an account. Courses include:

• Understanding pregnancy, birth & your baby
• Understanding your baby
• Understanding your child 0-19 years
• Understanding your child with additional needs
• Understanding your child's feelings
• Understanding your teenager's brain (short course)
• Understanding your brain (for teenagers only!)

You can also get lots of free advice about being a parent, including information about free courses for parents and the whole family on Help for families - your virtual Family Hub.

Aqua-natal classes

Aqua-natal classes take place in the swimming pool and are a fun way to get moving during pregnancy and to meet other pregnant people in your area. Keeping fit is not only good for you and your baby, but it can help you feel more relaxed. Classes are held in our leisure centres - see Leisure website: leisure centres to find details of your local leisure centre or ask through Find out what's on at your nearest Family Hub.

NHS Tees, Esk and Wear Valley's telephone listening service

This listening service is free and available to anyone over the age of 18. You can talk to someone over the phone about what is worrying you. Talking can often be enough to help you cope. This is a safe space to talk, you don't even have to give your name. Call 08000 516 171, press option 1 then option 3.

NHS Durham and Darlington Talking Therapies

This service offer free support to mams, dads, adoptive parents and kinship carers, to help with the changes you experience when becoming a parent. They can help you understand your feelings about giving birth, becoming a parent, and if you are dealing with grief. They provide support with mental health problems such as stress, anxiety or depression, as well as panic, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Please let the service know that you are expecting a baby, have a child under the age of 2, or are grieving the loss of a baby. The team will put you in touch with the best people to support you, and you will receive support in less than two weeks.

Telephone 0191 333 3300 or visit NHS: Durham and Darlington talking therapies.

Baby Steps

New mams and mams-to-be who have low mood and anxiety can join a free weekly online support group called Baby Steps. This runs over 6 weeks, covering a new topic each week. It will help you to identify who can support you (your support network) and provide techniques to help you challenge upsetting thoughts, find new coping strategies and ultimately feel better about yourself, and your baby's development. Each session lasts approximately 1.5-2 hours. Give the team a call to find out more and book a place.

Telephone 0191 333 3300 or visit NHS: Durham and Darlington talking therapies

Kooth

Kooth is a free online mental wellbeing community and is available to everyone under the age of 25 in County Durham, 24 hours of the day. Access is free and immediate, no waiting lists and no need for a referral. Chat to professionals online about anything that's on your mind, join conversations on the discussion boards or read helpful articles, personal experiences and tips from young people and the Kooth team. Go to Kooth to join.

Financial support

Having a baby can be expensive, and this may cause you to worry. There is support available during pregnancy, and to help you with the costs of bringing up a baby. There is lots of information about financial support on our help with your money page.

Surestart Maternity Grant

This is a one-off payment of £500 to help towards the costs of having a child. The grant does not have to be paid back and it will not affect your benefits. You may also be able to get a grant if you're adopting or becoming a surrogate parent. To find out if you are eligible visit Sure Start maternity grant.

Healthy Start

If you're more than ten weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk. If you're eligible, you'll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. This card will be topped up every four weeks. Visit Healthy Start to find out more and apply.

Baby banks and pre-loved baby equipment

There are lots of places where you can get free or low-cost pre-loved equipment and clothes for your baby. Your local Family Hub may have items you can take and will be able to tell you what else is available in your area.

Just for dads

Durham Young Dads Project

This project provides free one-to-one support to young dads and dads-to-be (aged 25 and under) in County Durham. Find out more on our Durham Young Dads project page.

DadPad App

The DadPad App is available for free to everyone in County Durham with a smartphone or tablet. Visit your usual app store or DadPad to download.

Dad Matters

Dad Matters help dads have successful relationships with their families, and to support dads with anxiety, stress and mental health issues. 

They offer FREE New Dads workshops for dads-to-be and new dads with babies under 12 weeks old, talking about:

• Labour, birth and beyond from a dad's perspective
• Attachment and bonding
• Mum's and dad's mental health and wellbeing
• Access to appropriate services.

This is your chance to learn about helping your baby's development, consoling your baby, how to cope with a crying baby, how to look after yourself in this major life transition, how to support your partner, where to go for help, support, advice and education about new babies!

Visit the Dad Matters website and sign up for one that suits you!

When your baby has arrived

When your baby arrives the first few weeks can feel overwhelming for the whole family. This is quite common, and we are here to support the whole family. 

Health visiting team

When you have a new baby your health visiting team are here for you, they will support you until your child is six years old.

You can contact your health visiting team for some reassurance over the phone or through a home visit, to help you and your child as you adjust to your new family life. Nobody will judge you, so don't be afraid to get in touch. You can call your health visiting team on 03000 263 538.

Mam's will be offered a maternal mental health appointment with their GP around 8 weeks after giving birth. This is as well as the baby's "6 week check" appointment. Some GP practices only offer one appointment, unless you ask for a separate one.

GPs

Your GP is also there to help when you feel like you need a little extra support. Both mams and dads can experience postnatal depression/post-adoption depression. You're not wasting anyone's time and nobody will judge you, so don't be afraid to make an appointment.

New Parent Community Connectors Project

This offers free one-to-one support for families who are expecting, or have a new baby and are struggling to get out into their community. The team can help you with all the things you're finding tricky either during pregnancy or just after giving birth. To find out if you are eligible contact the Durham Mental Wellbeing Alliance on 0300 304 5527 or visit Durham Mental Wellbeing Alliance.

Infant Feeding Support Groups

Breastfeeding gives your baby the best start in life. It has health benefits for your baby and can help you and your baby build close relationships. In Durham we have the UNICEF Baby Friendly Award.

No matter how you feed your baby, we are here to help you learn how to recognise when your baby is hungry, thirsty or needs comfort. We offer really practical help in a number of ways from one-to-one support to friendly groups, ask your Find out what's on at your nearest Family Hub for what's on offer near you or visit Breastfeeding for more information.

Got a breastfeeding question anytime, day or night?

You can chat to the Start for Life chatbot for fast, friendly, trusted NHS advice. Find out more at NHS: Breastfeeding chatbot

Baby and Me and Toddler and Me groups

These informal groups run in all of our Find out what's on at your nearest Family Hub and will help you to understand your child's development and give you the chance to meet other parents.

Baby and Me is for families with babies from birth to 12 months and Toddler and Me is for families with children aged 1-2 years.

Both groups are free and run for 90 minutes, once a week. Don't worry if you can't make the start or need to leave early - these are drop-in sessions, and you can stay for as long as you like. Contact your local Family Hub to find out more

Birth Reflections Service

Do you wonder about the birth of your baby? Have you got unanswered questions regarding this important time of your life? If so, then this service may be able to help.

The Birth Reflections Service has a team of experienced midwives who will meet with you to review your experience of pregnancy and childbirth, to help you get clear in your head about what happened.  You can access this service from 6 weeks after giving birth.

You can attend with your partner, but they can't go without you, as it is your medical record that is discussed. Contact cddft.birthreflections@nhs.net or call 01325 342 254 to book an appointment.

If you have your baby in a hospital outside of County Durham this service will be provided by the NHS foundation trust for that area.

• North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust Birth Reflections Service
• South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust Birth Reflections Service

Make Birth Better - birth trauma support

Make birth better provide support to people affected by traumatic birth experiences, including new parents and their families. They help you understand what birth trauma actually is and how it might be affecting you now, or how it has in the past.

Find out more at Make birth better or contact them by emailing hello@makebirthbetter.org