Our Sponsor

 

      DadPad: Solving the perinatal service challenge of engaging  and supporting new fathers

Engaging with and listening to men during the transition to fatherhood is essential to support our families and communities of the future.

Here’s how DadPad can help...

For generations, dads-to-be and new dads have been under-involved in and under-engaged with during the perinatal period.
Working alongside colleagues within the NHS and other experts, DadPad has developed a package of physical and digital resources, written specifically for these men, which aim to provide the knowledge and practical skills that new dads need to support themselves, their partner and baby as they transition to fatherhood.

DadPad’s experience of working with ICBs and Trusts over the past ten years has highlighted that perinatal services need to better understand the needs of fathers so as to develop the workforce and strategies needed to truly start ‘thinking family’. We believe that DadPad resources give healthcare professionals the tools they need to achieve this.

The resources enable men to learn the essential, hands-on baby care and parenting skills in order to better prepare for birth and the early years of parenthood. This all encourages new dads to be more physically and emotionally present during the pregnancy journey, reducing their anxiety and giving them confidence in their ability to succeed in their new role.

But DadPad resources are aimed at being so much more than ‘just’ a guidebook to help dads learn the key baby care basics – not least because they also cover a range of other core topics, including the how and why of: creating a strong and secure bond with his baby; building stronger family relationships by sharing the load and learning how to parent together; and recognising the signs of post-natal depression and other forms of mental ill-health, in both himself and his partner, and getting help early. The resources are also intended to be used by frontline health professionals as an embedded engagement tool through which a relationship of trust can be established and built upon, as part of a whole-family approach to perinatal care. Simultaneously, the healthcare professionals will be able to gain a better picture of the true family dynamic, equipping them to provide that new unit with the utmost in personalised support.


Our existing DadPad areas - of which there are nearing 30 at the time of writing - use a mix of our hardcopy guidebooks (we have a more accessible Quick Read version, as well as our original DadPad) alongside our DadPad app which provides an accessible, personalised, safe space for dads to explore information and interact with peers and health professionals alike.

To find out more about how DadPad could work with your ICB, please get in touch -

Email - julian@thedadpad.co.uk
Phone - 07403 274757
Or visit our website www.thedadpad.co.uk

 

Our Exhibitors

Click on the images to find out more about our exhibitors.

 

Barnardo’s is the UK’s largest children’s charity and one of the most comprehensive providers of integrated health and social care services for children and young people, bringing over 150 years’ experience of supporting those facing the most challenging circumstances.


We work with a range of partners and commissioners to deliver cost-effective, innovative integratedhealth and wellbeing support.


Our services take a trauma-informed and inclusive approach that address health inequalities and operate right across the spectrum of prevention, early intervention, targeted and specialist support in a variety of place-based settings across geographical footprints.

@BarnardosHealth @barnardos

We’ve helped more than 40 NHS health visiting services to set up safe and secure messaging lines on our award-winning ChatHealth platform (www.chathealth.nhs.uk). This means families have easy, inclusive access to quality advice and support for perinatal mental health from local health visitors, helping to improve outcomes.


Nationwide, families can quickly find information about maternal mental health on the ever-popular Health for Under 5s website (www.healthforunder5s.co.uk). Localised advice and support services, supplied by NHS providers, is in the Local Area sections.


Speak to our team to learn about setting up ChatHealth messaging or Health for Under 5s local areas.

@ChatHealthNHS

The Manchester Hive

Mental Health and the Arts

A collective stand of all things Manchester! Showcasing the work of local Greater Manchester Parent and Infant Mental Health services, Home-Start and Dad Matters.

Featuring Art by Amy Dignam and books by Susan Elliot Wright, Jane Fisher, Dr Sue Smith, Dr Karen Bateson and Elaine Hanzak

Art by Amy Dignam

Amy's work is about everyday life, the domestic space, identity, motherhood, childhood, memories and longing. 

Her art practice explores the mundane and originates from the female body and its existence as a mother and artist. Her work is mainly autobiographical - about the process of becoming identity-less and finding herself yet again in some strange foreign place- motherhood.

Amy is also the founder and curator of the Desperate Artwives project, co-founder of Play the Race Card project, and on of the founding mothers of Maternal Journal. She's a hypnobirthing teacher, birth and postpartum Doula, and co-chairs the Maternity Voices Partnership for Chelsea & Westminster an West Mddlesex Hospitals. She has also illustrated a children's book written by Mental Health Nurse, Jane Fisher, exploring Maternal Mental Health.

The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood by Susan Elliot Wright

A powerful novel of motherhood, loss and loneliness.

The Story of the Cardiff and Vale Perinatal Mental Health Team by Dr Sue Smith

A book sharing the story of developments in perinatal mental health services and dedicated to the many women Dr Sue Smith has met over the years in her role as a consultant psychiatrist.

The Sun Will Shine Again written by Jane Fisher and illustrated by Amy Dignam

A beautifully illustrated book written by two mothers to help children and families understand perinatal mental illness.

Attachment Theory: The Basics by Dr Karen Bateson

A comprehensive and accessible introduction to key concepts of attachment theory, from the work of its founder John Bowlby to the most recent research within the field.

Another Twinkle in the Eye - Contemplating Another Pregnancy After Perinatal Mental Illness by Elaine Hanzak

A book to support parents and professionals in the decision-making process and in planning for another pregnancy and the postnatal period.

Eyes Without Sparkle - A journey Through Postnatal Illness by Elaine Hanzak

One day you will feel better... Eyes without Sparkle is a powerful medical autobiography describing the journey followed by the author into, through, and out of puerperal psychosis.

Ensure you've booked in time for our conference!