Evidence of Impact

Case Study : Targeted

◦             Parent M, 33

◦             Referred to Community
 Perinatal Team by her HV

◦             12 weeks postnatal

◦             Experiencing moderate to severe depressive episodes with anxiety

◦             Supportive partner present

◦             Mum struggling to bond

"Parent M feels she is not attuned enough to understand her baby's feelings and doesn't know how to respond.

I gave parent M an overview of GroBrain, the three parts of the brain, the wiring and how we help make the connections. Parent M said she now appreciates the importance of interacting with her baby, and the huge benefits of helping her baby when he is sad, unsettled and frustrated. She asked questions such as "am I cuddling my baby too much", and "should I leave my baby to cry". We were able to explore the rationale behind each question and link it to the wiring of the baby's brain.Parent M came to the right conclusions herself with my support and looking at the diagrams.

She is a visual learner and said it was all simple and easy to understand. Parent M suffers with anxiety and often finds it difficult managing her own emotions and worries how this might affect her baby's development. Having completed GroBrain she said she can now confidently nurture her baby with the 3 simple principles - Love, Comfort, Baby Talk. Parent M was enthused and said she will be sharing GroBrain with her partner and other family members.

As a mental health practitioner working with parents/caregivers with different needs including complex needs, I found the GroBrain course to be incredible. It is simple yet informative enough for the service users we work with who can be helped to understand the importance of brain development and how to build their bond. As a mental health practitioner working with parents/caregivers with different needs including complex needs, I found the GroBrain course to be incredible. It is simple yet informative enough for the service users we work with who can be helped to understand the importance of brain development and how to build their bond."

Case Study : Specialist

◦             Parent N, 22

◦             Pregnant with 4th child

◦             3 previous children removed due to neglect

"I used Grobrain resources as part of an antenatal contact with N who had just completed the full Grobrain course with their intensive parenting support worker. I am a PMH practitioner and felt a little nervous using the resources for the first time and was a little worried about how the session would go. I was prepared for it to mirror previous antenatal contacts where N is unable to engage and is focused on her own topics.

This was not the case. She was able to engage and quickly demonstrated a real understanding of baby brain development and how her ability to respond to baby's needs would impact on her baby across their life. She was able to reflect on the sessions she had already completed with her support worker and remarked 'This is the same as what they said too. I know now that's why they was taken into care - because of the impact my chaos was having on them’.

I was surprised at how N was able to understand brain development and to reflect on previous pregnancies and her older children. N was able to reflect that she now understood why services had been so concerned. It was so heartening to listen to her be able to link all her learning together and really understand why we had been so worried that she wouldn't be able to meet baby's needs in previous pregnancies.

It was a real 'lightbulb' moment to see how using these resources could have such a positive impact. It felt like this was what had been missing from previous pregnancies - she felt as a group of professionals we were just nagging - but this time round she was able to understand why we had been worried and what she needed to do differently.

I felt quite emotional when N remarked that if her parents had had access to this, she may have had a different childhood experience. For the future I will continue to use Grobrain to explain brain development and the need to be responsive and attuned to their baby. In the longer term I feel all parents would benefit from being able to access this course."

Case Study: Helping a parent at risk of having her child removed at birth

Action for Children Ymbarel Service has delivered the GroBrain Baby Course across Cardiff and the Vale, to parents who are pregnant and at risk of having their children removed at birth.

Parent K was pregnant when referred for support.  Two previous children had been removed from her care for emotional abuse.

K attended the GroBrain Baby Course as part of her safety plan, and the Ymbarel Worker adapted the pace of the programme to accommodate her Learning Disability and learning style. K enjoyed the programme and evidenced her understanding while in Court to decide the future of her baby S. When asked by the Judge what was different this time, K replied:

“I understand more about what S needs from me. I completed GroBrain before S was born and I felt prepared. I know how S’s brain works.  When I talk to her and she smiles or when I tell her I love her, this connects the wires in the brain and helps her grow and to feel happy and safe. When S cries, it’s OK, she is telling me something and I can usually work out why without getting too stressed. With my other babies, I would get angry thinking the crying was naughty behaviour”.

 With Support from Action for Children, using the GroBrain course, K was able to parent P independently.  She moved into a flat and was de-registered from Child Protection status to Child in Need status.

Sharon Smith, Team Manager, Vale Family Support Service, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan 

Case Study: Health Visitor

‘Mum was on medication for postnatal depression and was under the Perinatal Mental Health Team. Her partner was also suffering from low mood and had just returned to work following several months’ sick leave. The visual aids were extremely useful to the couple, unlike other tools we had tried e.g. film clips.

Because it was quick to use and facilitated conversation, it was easier to engage dad. He was particularly interested learning about feelings, due to his own anger issues. Over subsequent visits I noticed a definite shift in dad’s behaviour and he was generally much calmer.

I think GroBrain should be taught on Health Visiting and Midwifery courses. I really wish I had received this training earlier in my career as I think it is amazing to use with families.’

Evidence of uptake

Over 3000 practitioners have been trained to use GroBrain in their practice, including health visitors, midwives, family support workers, perinatal mental health practitioners, nursery nurses, speech/language/play therapists, childcare and nursery staff, social workers, voluntary agencies and anyone working with or supporting young families.

If each practitioner has an average caseload of 200 families, they are reaching 400,000 families in total.

100% of trainees strongly agree this course will have a positive impact on their practice

All report they intend to use GroBrain in their regular practice with parents 1:1 or in groups.

‘Staff felt they would be using the approach often, if not daily, in their work with parents.’

‘There were repeated comments on the usefulness of the resources in explaining brain.’