It’s crucial to develop good relationships with local professionals – midwives, perinatal mental health nurses, health visitors, social workers, early years workers and voluntary and community sector professionals.
An example consent form can be downloaded below:
Consent form for pregnant women
Added 24/02/2020Please sign in to download this file.
Developing a collaborative approach to providing care to vulnerable pregnant women is vital and includes two-way referrals and joint visits.
Regular networking and collaboration are important so that professionals:
- Know how peer supporters can complement and enhance their work, not replace it
- Are supportive of the organisation and confident in referring families to you
- Can recommend potential new peer supporters to you
- Promote your work to other professionals and families in the local community.
It is important to provide opportunities for volunteers and professionals to meet and develop rapport.
Key messages about peer supporters include that they:
- Can reduce professionals’ workload pressures by providing informal, preventative support to families
- Help marginalised parents overcome fear and mistrust of professionals
- Help parents understand what help professionals offer
- Are carefully recruited, including DBS checks and references, and appropriately trained (including safeguarding, confidentiality etc.)
- Have regular supervision and personal development support.
Read more in our Manual Guide: Keeping professionals engaged which is downloadable below:
Manual Guide: Keeping professionals engaged
Added 24/02/2020Please sign in to download this file.