Postnatal Services:  Early Days™ courses or Drop-ins are growing in popularity in Children's Centres and the NHS as they are one of the only commissioned services which addresses the mental health of the mother.  Early Days™ groups give new mums the opportunity to explore different approaches to important parenting issues with a qualified group leader and other new parents in your area. These sessions are designed to help new mums feel confident about the decisions and choices they make for their babies. Mothers will be encouraged to share ideas and experiences and help others to do the same so they can support each other as they learn more about skills as a parent.

 Issues covered include:

• Expectations and the reality of parenthood
• Ideas for settling a crying baby
• Getting the most out of the data
• Returning to work (or not)

A course is generally 6–8 weeks in length, with meetings being held once a week. Each meeting lasts about 2 hours. Each course is tailored to the needs of those parents attending.  Drop-ins are more informal and the facilitator works with whoever attends on issues that are relevant to them.  

For more information about running a postnatal service for parents, please contact Amy Maclean, NCT Transition to Parenthood Manager, on a_maclean@nct.org.uk or 07889 405 720.

NCT also offers NCT Professional Training for health professionals for the postnatal period including Postnatal Depression Awareness. For more information about NCT Professional Training, please contact Helen Hunter on h_hunter@nct.org.uk or 07713 570 253.