Navigating the first year of parenting

The period from pregnancy to the infant’s first birthday brings major life changes for parents as they navigate the emotional and practical tasks of parenting. In this episode, Emerging Minds Child and Family Partners, Sarah and Claudius give an honest account of navigating the first year of parenting: the joys, hopes, challenges and discoveries they’ve made since their son, Christopher was born.  

Sarah and Claudius share the challenges that came with navigating medication changes, Christopher’s neonatal intensive care admission, breastfeeding and exhaustion. They consider how continuity of care and collaboration with their general practitioner helped them to gain confidence, and how important it is to have clinicians who are responsive and attuned to each parent’s mental health needs as well as the overall family context.  They share the joy they feel as they witness Christopher expressing his own feelings;  and with great generosity, they reflect on their own childhood experiences, and how they are intentionally defining their hopes for Christopher and their family.

All too often parents are silenced by stigma and remain isolated rather than talking about the mental health challenges that can come with parenting. This conversation is a beacon of hope for parents and magnifies for practitioners the need for responsive and collaborative assessment practices that respect the family’s whole story.

In this episode you will learn:  

• ways to navigate the stressors of a neonatal intensive care admission after birth [10:02] 
• how to help parents find the joy in their child’s developmental changes [11:40]   
• the importance of continuity and collaborative mental health care during pregnancy and the transition to parenthood [15:36] 
• how consciously reflecting on childhood experiences and ways of moving forward together can help parents to define their hopes and values for their family [37:16]   

Further information and resources:  

Available now: 

Keeping the infant and toddler in mind online course (Emerging Minds) 

Coming soon: 

Practice strategies for infant and toddler assessment online course (Emerging Minds)