Gower AM visits innovative NSPCC service centre

NSPCC Cymru / Wales Head of Policy Viv Laing & Assembly Member for Gower, Rebecca Evans

Gower Assembly Member Rebecca Evans has today met staff at an innovative NSPCC service centre.

The charity’s Swansea base delivers the ground-breaking Baby Steps programme, which helps parents cope with the pressures of a new child.

Spanning the period two months before due date to a short time after birth, Baby Steps includes home visits and a number of group sessions. These consist of creative activities, films and discussions and cover a range of themes, including development of an unborn baby, their health and wellbeing and the changes parents can expect.

With a strong focus on building relationships between parents and with their babies, groups are led by a children’s services professional – such as a midwife or health visitor.

The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are hugely important for every baby and it’s crucial that all parents receive support to ensure they provide the warm, responsive sensitive parenting that all children need. This is why NSPCC Cymru / Wales has called for all new parents to receive an enhanced health visiting service and access to support to address any issues early.

Other services delivered at the Swansea centre include ‘Thriving Families’, which provides early support to parents, and Letting the Future In, which provides specialist support for four to 17 year olds who have been sexually abused.

Head of NSPCC Cymru / Wales, Des Mannion, said:

“The work delivered by our Swansea centre is exemplary and really helps many families, so it’s a great pleasure to welcome a local AM to see that for herself.

“Baby Steps is a hugely successful programme that puts a strong focus on relationships between the couple and with their baby in the weeks before and immediately following a baby’s arrival.

“This period shapes a child’s future and the innovative work taking place isn’t only changing lives in Swansea, it’s also providing an extremely useful evidence base for our charity’s research.

“Our committed staff continue to do an incredible job across Wales and today’s visit is further recognition of that hard work.”
 
Rebecca Evans AM said:

"It was a pleasure to meet the NSPCC staff - including midwives and social care professionals - who are working closely with mums and dads in Swansea to ensure that their babies have a good start in life."