Dyadic Health and Wellbeing
5 Talks
Mothers and their babies cannot be cared for in isolation. As an innate pair, all care, education and intervention must consider them as a dyad, assessing the impact on the mother, fetus and neonate. This boxset explores dyadic health across the perinatal period, considering maternal experiences and effective care practices.
Do maternal experiences of childbirth influence infant behaviour?
2019 | 18 mins | Dyadic Health and Wellbeing
In her internet study of 1000 mothers, Carmen Power, PhD student, explores the relationship between infant behaviour and psycho-physical childbirth experiences in the six months postnatally. Using interviews with birth workers, healthcare professionals and mothers, she aimed to examine the how infant behaviours can be mediated by perceptions of birth. Using statistical analyses of five behavioural methods and a novel 24-hour baby scale, a bi-directional correlation between neonatal scores and levels of psycho-physical distress was found. Carmen finishes by discussing the implications of these results on practice for midwives and health visitors.
Carmen Power, PhD student, University of Swansea
A systematic review of the effectiveness of infant massage programmes in improving mother and infant attachment and dyadic attunement
2017 | 15 mins | Dyadic Health and Wellbeing
Rebecca Balakrishna, Consultant Nurse Manager, CAMHS, points in the background that interventions for mother and child mental health have been declining. She describes a care pathway for ways of detecting mental wellbeing and the different scales used for assessment. Rebecca shares the background, development and conclusion of the systematic review looking into infant massage programmes to improve attachment.
Rebecca Balakrishna, Consultant Nurse Manager, CAMHS
Mindfulness as an intervention to improve maternal and infant wellbeing
2020 | 20 mins | Dyadic Health and Wellbeing
Despite the scepticism around mindfulness, doula, Mary Tighe, discusses the accessibility and benefits of mindfulness for pregnancy, labour and parenting. Exploring the importance of personalisation and practice, Mary explores perinatal mindfulness promoting acceptance of the present rather than focussing on what could have been, supporting fear reduction and promoting informed decision making. Including an interactive demonstration of mindfulness tools, the talk concludes exploring the evidence in relationship to improving parental mental health and infant bonding.
Mary Tighe, Managing Director, DoulaCare Ireland
Protecting pregnant women and infants against influenza and pertussis
2021 | 30 mins | Dyadic Health and Wellbeing
Pregnancy is a state of immunocompromise, and with increasing numbers entering pregnancy with comorbidities, the risks of contracting influenza are significant to both mother, fetus and neonate. Furthermore, with recent spikes in pertussis, particularly in young infants, discussing vaccinations is central to public health messages. In this talk, David Green, Nurse Consultant from Public Health England discusses vaccination programmes in pregnancy. David provides an overview of the influenzas and pertussis immunisations, discussing the ‘what and why’ of the vaccinations, going on to discuss recent statistics and safety and efficacy information. The talk ends with some useful resources to support midwives and healthcare professionals in promoting vaccination programmes in pregnancy.
David Green, Nurse Consultant, Public Health England
Engaging new mothers in the subtle rituals of deep bonding
2019 | 22 mins | Dyadic Health and Wellbeing
There is a growing body of evidence that early parent-child interaction promotes long-term wellbeing for both the parent and child. However, parents can find it difficult to instigate bonding and communication with their newborn baby. Rehana Jawadwala, Director of Mummy Yoga Ltd, discusses how to break down these barriers to bonding through the ritual and mindful actions, promoting meaning in everyday cares and bringing bonding and interaction into routine.
Rehana Jawadwala, Director & Co-Founder, Mummy Yoga
