Becoming a parent can be an anxious and exciting time for many, and it can be difficult knowing what advice to follow and what support is available. On this page you will find links to various advice and support pages, as well as useful services in and around Rutland.
If you have any questions that you need answers to that you can’t find here, then please do get in contact with your surgery or midwife/health visitor.
E Red Book
Your child’s red book has now gone digital!
Register on the eRedbook website to create you child’s eRedbook. Starting during your pregnancy, and right up until your child is five, eRedbook will post age-appropriate guidance that is clinically validated by the NHS to help you keep you and your baby healthy.
You can use eRedbook’s interactive charts to keep track of your child’s weight and height and can also create a secure photographic record of your child as they reach developmental milestones as a keepsake for yourself. This is all available from any device, including your mobile phone.
When should I worry?
‘When Should I Worry?’ is a booklet developed by researchers at PRIME Centre Wales, Division of Population Medicine, Cardiff University. It provides information for parents about the management of respiratory tract infections (coughs, colds, sore throats, and earaches) in children, and has been designed to be used in primary care consultations.
You can also use it to help you to communicate to your GP about the symptoms that your child is experiencing. Its use was evaluated in a randomised controlled trial, where it was shown that use of the booklet could result in a two-thirds reduction in antibiotic prescribing without impacting on parental satisfaction.
Pepper’s parent and baby drop in
Every Thursday 10-12AM.
Are you expecting a newborn or already a parent and feeling overwhelmed? Have you been suffering from prenatal depression or an ongoing mental health condition? Or have you been feeling alone and could benefit from a support network? Pepper’s is here to support new parents looking to improve their mental wellbeing, share experiences, connect with others and combat any loneliness you may be feeling.
Join us for a hot drink and a chat with a lovely group of fellow parents (or those soon to be), with plenty of toys and activities to keep your little ones occupied.
For more information and opening times click here
email: [email protected]
call: 07714 503 556
Or see the window of 2A High Street, Oakham, LE15 8HS
Visions children’s centres
We are here to help local families with children 0-11 years old, by providing activities, information, advice and services in one place.
We have access to a whole range of professionals including Health Visitors, Midwives, Early Help Workers and Early Years Practitioners, who can offer advice and support which is specific to you.
Our main hub is at Visions Children’s Centre, Catmos Street, Oakham, LE15 6HW. We also have spokes at Uppingham Scout Hut, Kendrew Barracks and St George’s Barracks.
Remember, we are here to help you. So please contact us if you need assistance!
Phone: 01572 758 383
Email: [email protected]
Click here to access the website
Cry-Sis
Support for parents with crying or sleepless babies. In 1981 a small group of parents, who were experiencing problems with their crying and sleepless babies, set up a support group. They discovered how important support is and how reassuring it can be to talk to someone.
Today that support group has become Cry-sis, the only UK charity offering help and support to parents with babies who cry excessively or have sleeping problems.
Click here to access the website.
Gingerbread
We are the leading national charity working with single parent families. Since 1918, we have been at the forefront of shaping policy and services that support single parents. Today, there are two million single parent families in the country. We champion their voices and keep their needs at the heart of everything we do.
Click here to access the website
APNI (the association for post natal illness)
Postnatally depressed women may feel unable to go out of their house, and meeting people may cause them a great deal of stress, therefore contact made on the phone or by e-mail can be ideal.
Women often find that talking, or writing to someone, who has had the illness and recovered, allows them to discuss the most distressing symptoms of the illness. The phone and e-mail volunteers also give women hope that they will eventually recover. This service is also available to women who would prefer to be supported by post.
The Association has a countrywide network of phone and e-mail volunteers, who have had, and recovered from post-natal illness. The volunteers are carefully vetted to ensure that they are completely well, that they have had no previous mental illness and that they are not opposed to drug therapy.
If you have been diagnosed with postnatal illness we do advise you to try talking to one of our volunteers. You can call our helpline on 0207 386 0868 (Monday to Friday) or email us at [email protected] and we will gladly answer any enquiries that you may have.
Click here to access the website.
Text Services
Mum’s Mind on 07507 330 026. The service provides advice on a range of issues ranging from sleep problems, anxiety management and panic attacks to depression, psychosis, obsessive compulsive disorder and medication concerns. The service can signpost service users to other support from GPs, midwives and health visitors, psychological therapies, benefits advisers and social care providers.
It can help with practical advice on issues such as mums who may be identifying bonding and attachment issues in pregnancy and after the birth of their baby. The Mum’s Mind service is not a crisis service and does not provide general advice on baby care – this is available through the original ChatHealth service 07520 615 382.