Publish date: 18 March 2022
Last Friday, Joe Rafferty and Trish Bennett were in Seaforth to meet the BABS team there in Sefton. The Building Attachment and Bonds Service is an innovative and specialised parent-infant relationship team. They comprise clinical psychologists, IAPT workers, health visitors and volunteers, plus, it’s fair to say, a lot of love and passion.
BABS is led by consultant clinical psychologist Dr Lisa Marsland. Lisa had a real drive to create a service to address complex issues in some early parent-infant relations. Lisa told Joe and Trish that mental health support for babies and toddlers is very different from services for older children as you’re working with preverbal individuals and new parents with particular therapeutic needs: “It’s all about relationships” was a good summary.
A week after that visit the team’s next high profile guest was the Minister of State for Care, Gillian Keegan MP, whose portfolio includes mental health and vulnerable groups. The Minister visited the BABS service in Knowsley yesterday evening.
Dr Lisa Marsland was joined this time by Medical Director Dr Noir Thomas, to meet team leads and users of the service. The service has won awards and was quickly brought into the NHS to fill the gaps in services providing much needed support for families, working in both family homes and in local wellbeing community hubs.
Read more about the service launch here: https://yourspace.merseycare.nhs.uk/babs-sefton