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Building a joined-up parent-infant relationship strategy where none existed

Local authority — needs assessment and strategy development

The Challenge

Local providers were working in silos, with no shared understanding of the gaps in parent-infant relationship support across the area. The council needed to understand the landscape, strengthen collaboration, and develop a coherent strategy — but lacked the in-house expertise to lead that process independently.

The associate has been instrumental in the development of the perinatal mental health strand for Derby. Her knowledge and expertise has been incredibly useful and has supported us to work in a collaborative approach to understand the sector and identify the gaps in our delivery.

Derby City Council

What We Did

  • Facilitated a workshop with local providers to explore barriers to joined-up working and agree a more coherent approach
  • Conducted a review of current parent-infant relationship practice as part of a wider needs assessment
  • Produced a set of recommendations for service development, including the commissioning of Parent-Infant Relationship and Perinatal Mental Health training for the local workforce

What Changed

  • A parent-infant relationship strategy with an accompanying pathway, sitting alongside the council’s recently developed perinatal pathway — giving the area a clear, integrated framework for the first time
  • A workforce development plan, including targeted training commissioned for frontline practitioners

This may be relevant to you if you are

  • A local authority or system leader looking to develop or strengthen your parent-infant relationship offer
  • Working on a Start for Life programme and needing to embed a parent-infant relationship focus
  • Dealing with fragmented provision and no clear strategy or pathway to unify it
If you are developing or reviewing parent-infant provision in your area, we would welcome an initial conversation. Get in touch.
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