ATU hosts Mayo infant mental health event

ATU Mayo hosted 145 health professionals who attended an infant mental health event that looked at what’s been happening in Mayo. Attendees ranged from clinicians, managers and providers of services to parents and children in the 0 - 3 years age cohort, from HSE, Tusla and Mayo University Hospital, all curious to hear more about infant mental health, the social and emotional development of our infants which develops within the context of the parent infant relationship.

Mayo Infant Mental Health Forum (IMHF) coordinated the event in association with the Early and Active Years subgroup of Mayo Children’s and Young Peoples Service Committee.

Presentations included updates on Mayo IMHF’s journey to date and the key activities such as Mayo Baby Week June 2023, and the development of a Mayo Infant Mental Health network.

Mayo Baby Week will run again this year from June 10 to 16 to celebrate International Infant Mental Health Awareness Week. Mayo Baby Week will have a community focus for parents and families as well as a service provider focus.

Mayo Infant Mental network meets monthly and provides a network of support for clinicians and support workers to further develop their understanding of IMH. In essence it is building the capacity for services providers to meet parents where they are at, to build trust, compassion and an ability to sit with uncertainty, ultimately empowering and supporting parents to meet their children’s needs.

Attendees heard about the Preparing for Life Programme currently being piloted by Tusla Family Support Service in Mayo. This is a home visit programme, starting in the antenatal phases and lasting until the child enters primary school. This programme originated in Darndale in Dublin, and research carried out by UCD has found the families and children of this programme to have had life lasting benefits to their overall wellbeing and development.

Attendees also heard about the Circle of Security, attachment based parenting programme, and evaluation of the groups that have been delivered so far across the county from HSE and Tusla. The feedback from the parents who attended this programme was powerful. They found it very useful, they wish they could have availed of the programme earlier as it had strengthened their capacity as parents through a reflective and compassionate approach. They also found hugely beneficial the peer support that the group provided with the challenges of parenthood being normalised.

Maybe a highlight of the morning was the Building the Brain Architecture Game. Attendees engaged in a table top game to gain a compelling perspective on the powerful role of experiences on early brain development - what promotes it, what derails it, and with what consequences for society.

The atmosphere was engaging and enthusiastic and all look forward to further developing the connections this event has helped to establish and the continued collaborative efforts to raise awareness about IMH and supporting front line workers with children and families in early year’s services to bring an IMH lens to practice.