Parent-Infant Relationships and Perinatal Mental Health Support

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Parent Information

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Guidance and Documents

Parent–infant relationships is the quality of the relationship between a baby and their parent or carer. Although we call them ‘parent’-infant relationships, we mean any caregiver that regularly meets a baby’s needs – for example, a father, foster carer, or grandparent. Good parent–infant relationships nurture ‘secure attachments’, which are the basis for optimal infant mental health promoting healthy social, emotional, and cognitive development. The scope of the start for life funding is to support primarily universal parent–infant relationship difficulties.

Perinatal mental health refers to mental health difficulties that emerge antenatally or in the first two years of a baby’s life. This includes a mother, father, or any other caregiver struggling with their mental health in this time. The term captures the full spectrum of perinatal mental health difficulties, from mild to severe. The scope of the start for life funding is mild-to-moderate perinatal mental health difficulties rather than more severe / acute difficulties.

Training

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