Parents across Essex have identified a need for more peer support during pregnancy, birth and the first year of baby’s life.
The Essex peer to parent network strives to achieve this by:
- Improving access to peer support
- Raising awareness of the benefits of peer support
- Addressing gaps in peer support provision
- Growing and strengthening peer support provision
What we WILL do
- Create comprehensive, easy to find information about all perinatal peer support available to parents across Essex;
- Signpost parents to peer support available to them and create easy systems that help parents decide what’s suits them best, how, and when;
- Connect mothers, fathers, co-parents and potential volunteers with what’s going on in their local area;
- Create an easy referral system so parents can be referred to support that is local to them;
- Value, contribute to, share, and strengthen peer support initiatives already available across Essex;
- Identify areas where there is no/or little support so we can help to grow support in those areas;
- Offer training and development for volunteers, coordinators, trainers and peer support workers
- Involve parents, peer supporters and professionals in decision making;
- Create a learning network that enables quality perinatal peer support to flourish;
- Facilitate stronger partnerships alongside clinical services.
What we WON'T do
- Replace any existing peer support already in place;
- Encourage peer support initiatives to compete with each other.