Support and Signposting for Cheshire and Merseyside

Talking Therapies in Cheshire and Merseyside offer a range of online information and self-help resources, as well as an option to self-refer into the local NHS Talking Therapies service in the following areas:

• • Cheshire West, Central, or South – Talking Therapies :: Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • Cheshire East- NHS East Cheshire Talking Therapies – The Big Life group
  • Wirral – NHS Wirral Talking Therapies | Everyturn
  • Warrington – NHS Warrington Talking Therapies
  • Sefton – www.mhm.org.uk/talking-matters-sefton

Koala Northwest supports families in Cheshire and Merseyside with parenting (including breastfeeding) and emotional wellbeing. 

Visit https://koalanw.co.uk/

Silver birch Hubs provide specialist NHS maternity wellbeing support across Cheshire and Wirral. 

For more information, visit www.merseycare.nhs.uk/mmhs or speak to your Midwife or Health Visitor.

Dad Matters supports dads and co-parents to have the best possible relationship with their children during the early years. They offer one-to-one and group support with bonding, mental health and wellbeing, and antenatal education. Services vary slightly between regions, but contact any group and they can signpost you to the most appropriate support.

National support – Dad Matters | Home | Home-Start UK

St Helens – Dad Matters | Home-Start St Helens

Warrington, Halton, and Cheshire Dad Matters Warrington, Halton & Cheshire Contact Details

Halton Emotional Wellbeing Team offers support to parents in Halton who are pregnant or have a child under 5. For more information, see https://www.haltonfamilyhubs.co.uk/emotional-wellbeing

The Smile Group provide a range of services in Cheshire East to support people experiencing perinatal mental health difficulties. These include peer support groups, 1:1 home visits, counselling, and family support sessions. Find out more at Postnatal depression and perinatal mental health support – Smile Group

PANDAS provide support for families experiencing perinatal mental health difficulties. National support is available via their website PANDAS Foundation UK, and there are local support groups in many areas.

Sefton – contact pandassefton@gmail.com

Search local support – Support Groups – PANDAS Foundation UK

Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS) provide specialist NHS-led parent-infant support to families struggling to bond with their baby, and those who have faced challenges such as mental health difficulties, drugs and alcohol use, domestic abuse, or child removal.

Local services are available in many parts of Cheshire and Merseyside. To find out more, visit Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS) :: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, or speak to your Midwife or Health Visitor.

Halton – Baby and infant bonding service for people living in Halton and Warrington provided by Mersey Care

Knowsley – Building Attachment and Bonds Service Knowsley (BABS) :: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Sefton – Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS) :: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

St Helens – Building Bonds and Attachment Service in St Helens

Warrington – Baby and infant bonding service for people living in Halton and Warrington provided by Mersey Care

PSS Parent-Baby Service support families build confident and healthy relationships with their baby, visit | PSS

NCT Parents in Mind are funded by local NHS boards to provide free-to-access support in some parts of Cheshire, including Halton, St Helens, and Warrington. To find out more visit North West Parents in Mind | | NCT

DadPad is a comprehensive suide for dads-to-be and new dads, including knowledge and practical skills to support dads and families. Versions are also available to co-parents and dads/co-parents with a baby receiving neonatal specialist care. Find out more at Home – DadPad | The Essential Guide for New Dads | Support Guide for New Dads – DadPad | The Essential Guide for New Dads | Support Guide for New Dads

Baby Steps is a free, friendly group that empowers parents-to-be, builds their confidence and helps them feel ready for the arrival of their new baby. From building stronger relationships to learning important parenting skills, Baby Steps looks at all the joys and challenges of becoming a parent.  

It is designed to help prepare people for becoming parents, not just for the birth itself. There are six antenatal sessions, three postnatal sessions and a one-to-one session with a Baby Steps practitioner.

Baby Steps tailor each session to meet the needs of the parents in the group, but they typically cover: 

• their baby’s development
• what could change for new parents and the people around them
• giving birth and getting to know their baby
• how new parents can look after themselves and their baby
• people and places that can offer support.

Baby Steps also cover a range of topics and exercises that will help new parents feel more prepared for welcoming a new baby. 

Visit – Baby Steps | NSPCC Learning

Pregnancy in Mind is a preventative mental health service designed to support expectant parents who are at risk of, or currently experiencing, mild to moderate anxiety and low mood during their pregnancy. It helps parents manage any difficulties they are experiencing and builds their capacity to provide sensitive, responsive care to their babies through the post-natal period and beyond as their children develop.

Pregnancy in Mind is delivered as an 8-week group intervention led by professionals after the first trimester of pregnancy. It aims to protect against the impact of parental anxiety and depression during pregnancy through building relationships, knowledge and skills.

The programme is underpinned by six core evidence-based themes:

mindfulness meditation

active relaxation

psychoeducation and coping skills

social support

developing a connection with the baby

couple and co-parenting relationship (communication and conflict management).

For more information, visit Pregnancy in Mind | NSPCC Learning

Maternity Action also offers specific local advice about work and money in Cheshire West/Merseyside (call 0808 802 0062) and Greater Manchester/Cheshire East (call 0800 201 0488), or visit maternityaction.org.uk.

The Martin Gallier Project provide suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention support in the Northwest of England, 7 days per week, 9.30am to 4.30pm.

Call 0151 644 0294 or visit https://www.themartingallierproject.org/