Our services
Little Minds Matter – infant mental health service
About the service
We support parents, carers and professionals to help babies get the best possible start in life. We offer therapy and support to families with babies and toddlers from conception to the age of two, and consultation to professionals.
Parenting can feel challenging and often people can feel unprepared. Little Minds Matter supports caregivers to bond with their baby. When babies feel loved, safe and secure, they learn to express their emotions and feel able to explore their environment and learn new things.
How to access
You can get in touch with us yourself if you would like to ask for support using the contact details below. We would love to hear from you.
While you are waiting for us to call you back, please feel free to look at the support on offer:
Visit our Facebook, Instagram or the Moments that Matter campaign.
If you would prefer, you can talk to your GP, midwife, health visitor, mental health practitioner, or other health, social care, or educational professional, to get referred to our service. You may want to let them know how you are feeling and that you feel you need some extra support.
Contact
Telephone 01274 251 298 or complete this online form and someone will be in touch.
Parents and caregivers can also email us at lmmsupport@bdct.nhs.uk
Use the tabs below to explore this section further.
FAQs
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We support families with babies and toddlers from conception up to the age of two.
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We have practitioners from many different professional backgrounds who can offer a range of support tailored to your needs. We can help you to:
• Explore the challenges that having a new baby can bring.
• Think about your relationship with your baby.
• Support you to play with and talk to your baby.
• Talk through concerns you may have about your baby.
• Consider the thoughts and experiences of your baby.
• Think about how your previous experiences are affecting you now.
• Build your enjoyment and confidence in being a parent. -
We work with families who are living within the Bradford Local Authority area.
We’ll try to see you face to face at a time and place that suits you and can include home visits or clinics elsewhere (for example a children’s centre). If that’s not possible, we could contact you through video or telephone call.
Useful links
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Better Start Bradford
Since 2015 Better Start Bradford has provided services for expectant families and families with children aged 0-3 in Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Little Horton, to help give children the best start in life.
Better Start Bradford
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The Association for Infant Mental Health
The UK’s leading membership group for infant mental health practitioners.
The Association for Infant Mental Health
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Parent Infant Foundation
We work to advance thinking and practice, improve collective understanding, provide a much-needed national voice, and campaign for policy change.
Parent Infant Foundation
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The 1001 critical days
Developed as part of the early years healthy development review, this document outlines 6 areas for action to improve the health outcomes of all babies in England.
The 1001 critical days
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UNICEF - building a happy baby
This leaflet offers advice and information for parents on getting to know their baby and setting up the foundations for a close and loving relationship.
UNICEF - building a happy baby
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Families and Young Persons Information
Free, impartial service offering advice, information and signposting to children, young people and families within the Bradford district. Here you can find information and advice pages for all aspects of family life, a service directory and a guide to local activities and events.
https://fyi.bradford.gov.uk/
For professionals
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We offer direct clinical work with families with babies or toddlers from conception to the age of 2, and consultation and training to professionals.
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We work with families where there are concerns or challenges with the parent-infant relationship. Difficulties in pregnancy, a traumatic birth or past parenting experiences, loss or bereavement, low mood or anxiety can all affect how parents feel about their baby and how they make sense of the world.
Being pregnant and having a baby can be a special and memorable time in a parent’s life. But it can be a difficult time too. Different emotions, experiences and expectations can get in the way and affect how parents feel about themselves, and how they feel about their baby. When extra support is needed, we can provide more intensive help to parents and their babies in these critical first two years of life
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Little Minds Matter can support you to support families. If you’re thinking of making a referral to our service, we offer optional telephone consultations (triage) for support, advice and discussion of potential referrals. We also offer:
- Drop-in consultations which offer a dedicated space for practitioners to reflect and receive advice relating to a specific family or a particular theme.
- Ongoing consultations regarding specific families, providing regular support and a reflective space for professionals working with the family to come together.
- Reflective practice groups (reflective discussions) with teams of practitioners to develop practice through the exploration and discussion of experiences in their work surrounding the parent infant relationship.
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We are a specialist multi-disciplinary team including community support, family therapy, health visiting, therapeutic social workers, midwifery, and psychology.
As a team we have many years of experience in working with parents and caregivers, babies, and children. Many of our team members have had extra training in the field of early attachment and parent-infant relationships, for example Video Interaction Guidance and Circle of Security.
We use our combined skillsets and knowledge to offer a comprehensive range of interventions for the families with whom we work. Depending on the needs of the family, our interventions may involve one-to-one work, groupwork, or both.
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We work with families who are living within the Bradford Local Authority area.
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Direct clinical work
Process
- Complete a referral form and send it to us
- If you are unsure whether or not to make a referral, please phone us for a telephone consultation (triage).
Criteria
We work with families with babies and toddlers from conception to the age of two, living within the Bradford Local Authority area.
Consultation
Give us a ring! We are always happy to discuss potential referrals or to think together about concerns and challenges you might have while working with families with babies or during pregnancy.
We would love to hear from you if you are interested in setting up a reflective discussion for your team or accessing a drop-in or ongoing consultation. We provide two online drop-in consultation sessions each week supporting professionals.
If you are interested in accessing a drop in consultation, please get in touch and we can send you available sessions.
Contact Details
Address:
Little Minds Matter: Bradford Infant Mental Health Service.
Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust
Level 5, New Mill, Victoria Road, Saltaire, BD18 3LDEmail: LittleMindsMatter@bdct.nhs.uk
Tel: 01274 251298
Experiences
I am grateful and happy I was referred to Little Minds Matter. Thank you so much for all your help and support and believing in me and helping me to build a bond with Ayesha.
Little Minds Matter helped me realise I was a good mother.
I was lucky to receive the support from Little Minds Matter. I hope people in my situation will be as lucky as me to receive the support. Because it is worth it to do the process with Little Minds Matter. Big thank you.