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What is the Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS)?

BABS is a specialist, easy to engage, community-based Parent Infant Mental Health Service (PIMHS). Our main aims are to support parents, infants, families, and professionals to 'Probably the most important period in everyone’s life in the one they cannot remember' (Balbernie, 2008).

We aim to help them:

  • Build good bonds and attachment/relationship
  • Improve parent and infant mental health and support parents to separate out their issues/struggles, which can get in the way of the parent and infant relationship
  • Break negative life cycles and be the best parent they possibly can be, to enable their baby to thrive and grow up to be secure and happy
  • Build skills in the perinatal and early years workforce by working with professionals and offering specialist training, consultation, supervision, support and advice.

Who is the BABS Service for?

BABS supports parents/carers, infants and families who are:

  • Pregnant or have a baby of nought to three months of age (referrals are made for infants nought to three months but BABS works with infants up to two years+

  • Struggling with their emotional wellbeing and/or their relationship with their baby
  • In need of specialist, therapeutic, parent/infant mental health support, interventions, and psycho-education.

What support does BABS offer?

BABS offers specialist therapeutic parent/infant mental health and attachment based support (both on a one to one and group basis) to families in the community. The service includes a range of professionals including clinical psychologists, specialist therapists, health visitors and admin, working together to engage and support families in the community.

The service provides parent-infant mental health interventions tailored to supporting parents to build good bonds and secure relationships with their babies

Our patients matter

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust listens and responds to patients and their carers to help improve the services we deliver.

If you have any comments, compliments or concerns you can speak with a member of staff or contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and Complaints Team

Telephone: 0151 471 2377 
Freephone: 0800 328 2941 
Email: palsandcomplaints@merseycare.nhs.uk

To request this in an alternative format or language, please speak to a member of staff.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust,
V7 Building,
Kings Business Park,
Prescot,
L34 1PJ.

Contact us:

Telephone: 01513 518801 
Email: Mcn-tr.babsknowsley@nhs.net

If you are interested in seeking further information about BABS, please contact your midwife, health visitor, GP who can make a direct referral to the service.

  • Specialist attachment-based,parent-infant psychotherapy toenable parents to separate outtheir own past/presentstruggles and mental healthdifficulties from the parent-infant relationshi
  • One to one and groupinterventions to supportparents to improvecommunication and enjoypositive interactions whilst‘holding their baby in mind’in the perinatal period ** For example, learning how as a parent to be sensitive, responsive, reflective and in tune with their baby’s wants and need
  • Specialist PIMH training,consultation and support toprofessionals and othercommunity services workingwith vulnerable parents and infants in the field of childhealth, early years, perinatal and parent-infant mental health.

“The service has helped me build my confidence as a parent and build a close bond with my son.”

“ This therapy has helped me achieve my goal in being a much better parent than my parents were to me. I’ll be forever grateful for this.”

“I have suffered a lot with depression in the past. For the first time in my life I feel heard, listened to and not judged, BABS has given me the support and confidence that I need.”

“I haven’t had many people tell me ‘you are doing a good job as a mum.’ This support has made me feel and believe that ‘I am a good mum!’. This has built my confidence so much and has made me want to be the best mum I can possibly be to my baby.”

Alternative Formats

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