Celebrate Volunteering in Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond
Sharing, connecting, adapting and surviving
Tuesday 13th October and Thursday 15th October
Parents1st UK Virtual Conference via Zoom
About this Event
Quality peer support during pregnancy, birth and beyond makes a unique contribution to the wellbeing of parents and babies. Fantastic initiatives across the country have adapted quickly to the pandemic and continue to provide a lifeline to vulnerable and isolated parents.
This conference will not only celebrate excellent examples of initiatives operating across the country but will also explore how these amazing initiatives can adapt, survive and flourish.
- Come together to share learning about adapting to COVID-19
- Hear the latest research about ‘what works’
- Listen to inspiring stories from volunteers, pregnant women and fathers
- Connect with practitioners who are coordinating initiatives
- Explore sustainability, successes, challenges and funding issues
- Join an on-line community that is passionate about perinatal peer support and the positive change it is achieving for parents, babies, families and communities
Click here to purchase your ticket and reserve your place.
Key speakers include:
- Jenny McLeish, Researcher, who writes extensively about perinatal volunteering
- Emily Slater, Director, Maternal Mental Health Alliance
- Sarah McMullen, Head of Knowledge, National Childbirth Trust
- Sarah Darton, CEO, Family Links
- Tayo Medupin, Innovation Director, Shift Design
- Jo Robins, Independent Public Health Consultant
- Celia Suppiah, CEO, Parents 1st UK
- Robert Woolf, Director, Made Open, who creates online communities to create positive social change
This two-day virtual event gives you flexibility as different topics are covered on each day. Opportunities to join an on-line community of practice are woven into both days. There will be lots of opportunities for:
- Q&A discussions
- Focused breakout sessions
- Exclusive networking opportunities
This conference will be suitable for…
Anyone currently involved with or interested in planning, delivering or funding a perinatal volunteer initiative including:
- Midwives, perinatal mental health practitioners, health visitors, social workers and early years practitioners
- Maternity Voices partnerships
- Social Prescribing Networks
- Voluntary & Community Organisations
- Commissioners
- Policy Makers
- Parents and Volunteers
Agenda (subject to change)
Day 1 (13th October) 9.45 – 2.30 (including half hour lunch break)
Topics
- Findings from the latest research about perinatal volunteering
- Practice examples: adapting perinatal peer support during COVID-19
- Survive and thrive experiences of existing perinatal volunteer programmes
- Inclusive approaches to volunteering: engaging with Muslim communities
- Going Global: the Australian Family by Family project, building social capital and family resilience
Day 2 (15th October) 9.45 – 2.30 (including half hour lunch break)
Topics
- Successes and challenges experienced by two NCT perinatal volunteer programmes: the Birth and Beyond and Parents in Mind programmes
- Achieving improved perinatal mental health outcomes: Maternal Mental Health Alliance
- The Shift Design ‘Parent People Boosts’ project: Recognising, supporting and rewarding informal support for vulnerable, at risk and isolated parents and babies during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Funding and sustainability issues