Ready Steady Grow

Ready Steady Grow promotes supported and healthy pregnancy and the social and emotional development of infants, toddlers and their families.

The parent and child support service was developed with local partners active in the delivery of ante and post natal support services in Ballymun.

The service design process included outreach consultations with young parents and research conducted by Dublin City University School of Nursing and out of  this work has emerged a new parent and child support service that is delivered by local service providers, both HSE and community.

The service is underpinned by the following principles:

• Continuity of care – service spans antenatal, birth and infant and toddler parenting
• Inclusive - a parent, child and family-friendly service
• Accessible – available in a variety of locations, and respectful of individual parent’s preferences
• Integration – clear pathways into the service and different parts of the service well connected to each other and to other service providers
• Smooth transitions – the transition from ante-natal supports through birth, from the birth / new born to home and community-based services all coordinated and supportive of the parents and family.
   

Click here for Ready Steady Grow service Fact Sheet

There are three strands to Ready, Steady, Grow

1. Antenatal Support

The service will build on the current Ballymun Primary Care Team antenatal service which provides 6 inputs (the final being in the Rotunda Hospital) informed by the primary care psychologist, physiotherapist, public health nurse, and dietician. The antenatal service will provide information and advice about health and well-being during pregnancy; preparation for birth; preparation for parenthood; and referral to the Parent-Child Psychological Support Programme.

2. Parent Child Psychological Support Programme (PCPSP)

This programme originates from Spain and has been successfully operating in Tallaght since 2001. It is now delivered in the specially designed Ready Steady Grow centre in Woodhazel Close. The parent/s and child engage with a multidisciplinary team on six occasions from 3 months – 18 months.

The objectives of the programme are:

• to promote the child’s optimum development
• to support parents in this early stage of parenting
• to cooperate with other services in providing supports to parents and infants; to promote good quality caregiver-baby interaction and attachment
• to support parenting that fulfils the baby’s basic needs and  their emotional and cognitive developmental needs
• to empower parents to look after themselves, in that phase of their lives and enjoy their parenting experience

This service is delivered in close partnership with the HSE Public Health Nurse team and Ballymun Home and Family Support Service and links as appropriate with other services.

3. Infant Mental Health training and capacity building

An infant mental health training strategy is being developed and delivered in partnership with the Michigan Association of Infant Mental Health and HSE Infant Mental Health specialists Catherine Maguire and Rochelle Matacz ( HSE Cork) together with local services. The purpose of this strategy is to increase the capacity of existing service providers that engage with parents and infants in order that they may strengthen and support infant and child well-being.
This area-based training strategy is aimed at meeting the training needs of a mix of service providers – both statutory and non-statutory and at supporting and empowering parents.

To date, key introductory training events have been delivered:

• November 2009 inaugural Infant Mental Health workshops by Catherine Maguire and Rochelle Matacz attended by 40 local practitioners.
• December 2009 by Master Classes with international experts Dr Stuart Shanker (Canada) and Professor Marie Angeles Cerezo ( Spain) in association with the Ready Steady Grow conference “ A Child is Born”, and a further master class with Catherine and Rochelle.
• January 2010, Dr Deborah Weatherston (Michigan Association of Infant Mental Health) along with our HSE Cork colleagues, provided further training and consultation on the importance of the early years in building a foundation for social and emotional health.

The implementation of the Infant Mental Health strand of Ready, Steady, Grow with a Michigan AIMH endorsed training programme and community-based supports to parents, infants and toddlers is coordinated in partnership with the Michigan Association of Infant Mental Health, infant mental health practitioners in Ireland  and with local services.

Ante Natal / Parents Support Service Design Team - the development of Ready Steady Grow is a clear example of the important role played by each service design team in shaping and informing the work of youngballymun. RSG service design team members were:

• Vanda Cummins  HSE Physiotherapist PCT
• Mary Kelly HSE Assistant Director of Nursing
• Marian O’Flynn HSE Psychologist, PCT
• Angela O’Malley HSE Public Health Nurse, PCT
• Duana Quigley HSE Senior Speech & Language PCT
• Mary Fanning Mater CAMHS Speech & Language Therapist Manager
• Siobhan Herbert Lifestart Manager
• Ann Keating Women’s Resource Ctr. Manager
• Ger O’Neill Trinity Comprehensive Chaplain
• Eilish McDonnell Rotunda Hospital  Senior Social Worker Dept
• Cathy Mooney Outreach, BRYR Outreach Worker
• Bernie Roe DCC Social Inclusion Manager
• Bernie Rooney Comm. Mothers Prog. Co-ordinator
• Jude McHugh DCC Social Support