Publish date: 13 October 2023
Our Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS) in Sefton has re-opened for referrals.
BABS support parents/carers (both mums and dads) and families needing help with bonding and attachment.
In addition to the clinical, therapeutic support we provide to families, we offer joint-working, training and consultation to multi-agency professionals in Sefton.
The service is for:
- parents who may be struggling to bond with their baby
- families who are open to past or present safeguarding services
- parents who struggle with their mental health, wellbeing
- families with factors such as drug or alcohol use or domestic abuse
- parents with mild to moderate mental health vulnerability or past trauma/abuse
- Parents who struggle with relationships, insecure attachment, separation and loss
- Parents who may have had other children removed from their care in the past.
Parents accepted for BABS support will be assessed using the following:
- Psychological/psychotherapeutic assessment of parent-infant mental health, bond and attachment relationship via clinical interview/sessions
- Parent-infant observation
- Collaborative, joint MDT assessments, and ‘think family assessments.
We accept referrals from midwives, health visitors, GPs, social workers and other multi-agency professionals working with families. An initial home visit will take place within four weeks of referral being accepted. We welcome telephone enquiries to discuss suitability prior to referral. Please call us on 0151 351 8801.
Our service accepts referrals for parents and carers in Sefton who are pregnant or have a baby aged up to six months, who are struggling with their own wellbeing and/or struggling in their relationship with their baby. Although the referral window is short, we can work with families up until the baby is two.
Referrals can be sent to cmicb-ss
And more about the service can be found online: Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS) :: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust