Somerset Pre-Birth Workbook - Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership

Welcome to the Somerset Pre-Birth Workbook, this resource has been produced collaboratively with practitioners from across the partnership to help you to work with new parents in the pre-birth period.

Please read the Practitioner Guidance below before using the resources.

Practitioner Guidance

These resources have been put together to help you to work with new parents in the pre-birth period. They are not intended as a resource to forward on with an expectation that families will complete them independently, they are intended to be collaborative. Whilst they will undoubtedly help and inform assessments, the primary goal of these resources is to help parents to understand how to care for their new-born baby and to develop their parenting skills so that they are able to keep their baby safe.

Whichever professional role you have with families in the pre-birth period these resources will help you to support new parents and prevent them from having to keep repeating their information. They are intended to enable all professionals to have a shared understanding of the strengths new parents have, as well as the areas they are struggling with and may need additional support. This work can be part of and compliment other plans for the family.

The resources are broken down into modules, each of which focus on a different aspect of parenting / family life. Section one and three are intended to be undertaken in their entirety, modules in section two are to be selected according to the family’s identified needs.

Please bear in mind that these resources have not been designed for use with parents with additional learning needs. If you are working with a family that has additional needs, you will need to apply your professional judgement on a case-by-case basis as to what and whether any of these materials are appropriate to use.

There are additional resources in the section Useful Links tab on the top bar of this page, which may help and compliment the materials contained here.

Please ensure to print a copy of the Introduction for Parents/Carers (more info in the next section) for the parents/caregivers you are working with.

Introduction for Parents/Carers

Please print a copy of the Introduction for Parents/Carers (below) for the parents/caregivers you are working with.

Download here.

Section One – Getting started

All modules need to be completed:

Module 1: What is your Leaning style?

The VARK Learning Style Questionnaire helps people to work out how they learn best, in other words, what their learning style is.

There are four types of learning style and completing the VARK questionnaire will help your social worker deliver this module in the most effective way for you. Please answer the questionnaire with your social worker or, if you would prefer to, complete this in advance of the session. Once you have identified your learning style your social worker will present the learning in the format host helpful to you.

1(a) The questionnaire is available to complete online FREE via Vark Learn.

If you would rather not complete the questionnaire online, or do not have access to the internet, please download a printable version of the questionnaire:

1(b) Exercise: The VARK Questionnaire

1(c) VARK Recommended Learning Strategies

Module 2: Your Story

For parents, their own life story will often guide what type of parent they will be. Some people think that because no-one has experienced the same life as anyone else, only an individual can truly understand their own reality. This exercise gives parents the chance to share their life stories with their social worker, to help them understand their life experiences up to now and how this has shaped them as a people and parents.

2(a) Exercise: My Life Story

2(b) Exercise: The Miracle Question

2(c) Booking and Complex Care History (to be undertaken with a midwife)

Module 3: Your Support Network

Thinking about who parents have in their life to support them will help them to think about who can help and support them with their baby too. Their support network will probably include more than just family members. Different people will have different levels of involvement with them and their baby.

3(a) Exercise: Who is in my network?

3(b) Exercise: Genogram

3(c) The Family Group Conference – family members and significant friends

Section Two – Learning about the impact of parenting behaviours

Modules to choose from:

Module 4: Learning about attachment

4(a) Developing Secure Attachment

4(b) Exercise: The Matching Game

4(c) Exercise: Secure Attachment – Spider Diagram

4(d) Exercise: The Wall of Good Care

4(e) Video Learning: Why does all this matter?

4(f) Exercise: Why does all this matter? – Discussion

4(g) Exercise: Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ)

4(h) Learning: Adult Attachment – What does that all mean?

Module 5: Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing

5(a) Exercise: Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale

5(b) Exercise: Thinking About Thinking

5(c) Exercise: Reframing Your Thinking

5(d) Exercise: How can par e ntal problems such as mental health impact your baby now and as they get older?

5(e) Exercise: What are the things that you find helpful when your mental health becomes difficult?

5(f) Exercise: My Panic Plan

Module 6: Children Experiencing Domestic Abuse

6(a) Learning: Children Experiencing Domestic Abuse

6(b) DASH Risk Assessment Tool – to assess the risk of harm from domestic abuse

Understanding Power and Control: Violence between a couple is understood to be the only reality of domestic abuse but for many couples domestic abuse is perpetrated in different ways. In some circumstances, a victim may not be fully aware of how their partner is being abusive, particularly if they have experienced abuse in other situations in their lives.

6(c) Video Learning: The Duluth Wheels

6(d) Exercise: Duluth Wheels – Power and Control

6(e) Exercise: Duluth Wheels – Equality

6(f) Exercise: Our Relationship

6(g) Exercise: Healthy vs Unhealthy

6(h) Exercise: Possible impacts to children of experiencing domestic violence

The Voice of the Child: Watch the video learning via the links below and then discuss the following questions with the parents:
– What story in the video upset you the most?
– How can you protect your child from becoming like the children in the video?

6(i) Video Learning: What About Us?

6(j) Video Learning: Monsters In the Closet

6(k) Exercise: My Safety Plan (this can be completed jointly between a couple or as an individual plan)