The theme is year is Baby Blindspot. Let’s think and talk about babies, and how we can better meet their emotional and social well-being needs
Babies Can’t Wait: More than ever we need all hands on deck to ensure all babies across Greater Manchester have a good start to life. The first 1001 days is a crucial period– babies cannot wait.
LOOK! UNDERSTAND! INVEST! ACT!
The pandemic has had a serious impact on some babies and their families. While telephone and video contact has been invaluable, seeing babies in person has been notably lacking. The impact of what we may have missed is still unfolding.
This week we remember all the babies, and their parents, who have experienced the physical and emotional challenges over the past year. Babies react from instinct, and that instinct is for them to feel warm, nurtured and fed. We cannot assume that babies know why they are crying. Many parents will have experienced additional stress resulting from COVID. Understandably, babies may have sensed this and been more unsettled.
We are beginning to see the impact of giving birth during lockdown, with worrying presentations of trauma in parents, not least those who have experienced a loss of a baby during lockdown. The experience of a loss of a baby affects parents, their families and also their relationship with future babies they may choose to have. We are also hearing from more parents who are concerned about attachment issues and sensory problems in children who experienced neonatal care. Support with these issues can be hard to access and this is causing stress and anxiety for families.
Baby Ava has written about being born during lockdown – Ava’s letter
