Support services

We understand that being a mum or dad can be hard sometimes. Please get in touch with your local Family Hub if you need some support.

We have a range of highly trained and caring staff who can offer guidance on a one-to-one basis, for any issues you may be concerned about in your family. For example:

  • your baby or child’s physical and emotional wellbeing
  • boundaries
  • your baby or child’s behaviour and routines
  • keeping you and your child safe
  • supporting learning
  • helping to increase your social networks or support
  • signposting around benefits or debt

Our team can help support and guide you with all those everyday parenting challenges, like potty training, sleep problems, and how to make a trip to the shops something you and your child both look forward to, rather than dread. They can also guide you to more specialist support, if you need it.

Throughout your pregnancy you will have regular appointments with your midwife to check your health and wellbeing and your baby’s, and to prepare you for birth and parenthood.

Amazing Babies

Our Amazing Babies sessions will help you understand and support your baby’s learning and development. The sessions will give you:

  • the opportunity to spend special time with your baby and enjoy making those early memories together
  • lots of ideas for free, low-cost activities which you can do again with your baby at home
  • the opportunity to meet other new parents

Each session includes free play, a nurturing check-in, a focused activity, rhymes and songs, and book sharing. Your baby can even join the library and borrow books!

Sessions are just for babies under 6 months. They’re delivered in 5-week blocks, each half-term, in all of our Family Hubs.

Once you’ve had your new birth visit from your health visitor, you should get a call from one of our Family Hub early years support workers. They’ll tell you all about when the sessions start and where your nearest one is.

If you have not had a phone call, let us know by calling the main Family Hubs number (01642 579120) or messaging the Family Information Service Facebook page, and we’ll make sure you get the details.

Mental health support

There is dedicated mental health support available for you and your family when you need it. Click on the drop-down buttons for further information or contact your local Family Hub if you need more help.

If you’re in crisis and need to speak to someone urgently, please call NHS 111.

The Family Action South Tees Perinatal Support Service supports families where a parent is struggling with their emotional health and wellbeing, or where they have been diagnosed with a low- to moderate-level perinatal mental illness.

They aim to:

  • improve mental health and wellbeing of new parents
  • support a positive relationship, attachment, and bonding between parents and their baby
  • reduce social isolation of families
  • increase self-confidence of parents

To discuss a referral, call 01642 062714 or email southteesperinatal@family-action.org.uk. You can also ask a professional to make a referral for you.

Leo’s offers dedicated mental health, wellbeing, and early intervention support to families who are experiencing the following:

  • a high-risk pregnancy with a chance of a hospital stay once baby is born
  • pregnancy after NICU (neonatal intensive care unit)
  • families currently in neonatal care
  • families who have been in the NICU in the last two years

Leo’s provides specialist care from a team who understands how difficult it can be on the neonatal journey. The team working across the neonatal service all have lived experience of having a baby born early or sick, where neonatal care was needed.

The team combine their own experiences with extensive training in:

  • infant neurodevelopment
  • the Brazleton NBO and NBAS
  • enhanced baby massage and yoga (the team has additional qualifications to work with children who have been in neonatal care)
  • forest school
  • Bath Babies
  • sensory play and sensory messy play
  • birth trauma
  • wider mental health training

Alongside this is their dedicated trauma service. Talking therapies, cognitive behavioural therapy, rewind therapy, flash and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) are offered to families. Many parents who go through neonatal care often have symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and birth trauma.

Leo’s also offers community groups exclusively for neonatal parents. These include:

  • neonatal swimming sessions at The Fish Tank
  • sensory play sessions at PenDragon, Senses, and Repeat4Kids
  • coffee and cake mornings at the Oakwood Cafe
  • peer support playgroup at West Middlesbrough Family Hub

Care and support is tailored to you, and can be given face-to-face or virtually.

Referrals can be made via the Leo’s website, or via BadgerNet (if under midwifery or obstetric care). For general enquiries, email care@leosneonatal.org.

Dedicated to helping young men and fathers, North East Young Dads and Lads (NEDYL) offers non-judgemental support to young men, young fathers, and their children. They have helped improve the lives of young men across the north east since 2015, and offer you the right help when you need it.

DigiDAD is their unique online peer support community. Packed full of easy to access father-friendly films, animations, podcasts, courses, and even a chat function, NEYDL celebrates young fatherhood without shying away from its challenges.

For young dads, there are opportunities to develop parenting skills, improve your relationship skills, learn first aid skills, focus on your mental health, learn about support services, and get involved.

Thanks to their funders, DigiDAD is freely accessible to other audiences too. Whether you are a professional looking to improve support for young dads, or a partner, friend, family member, or just plain curious person, they welcome you aboard.

If you’re a young dad, you know a young dad, or you’re interested in learning more, join and register for free on the NEYDL website.

The Solihull Approach is about emotional health and wellbeing for all children, their parents, carers, and grandparents. With a focus on sensitive relationships, early years support, and understanding brain development to help nurture kind, emotionally-aware children as they grow.

This is delivered face-to-face by the 0-19 Team, to families who are experiencing common childhood behavioural concerns.

If you would like more information, speak to your health visitor on 0300 303 1603.