Parent and baby mental health

The Head Trash + Healing Show with Alexia Leachman

Parent and baby mental health are not discussed enough in my opinion. And yet they are incredibly important not just for the families involved, but for society.

One of the reasons why I’m so passionate about helping women to build their emotional resilience during pregnancy is that it’s powerful place to start if you want to support the mental health of the whole family. The ripple effects of a positive birth experience for the mother go far beyond the mother; they affect the baby, the partner and the whole family.

That’s not to say that a positive birth experience will guarantee that all will be well. Absolutely not. It simply stacks the odds in your favour.

So what else can we do to support parent and baby mental health?

This is something I wanted to find out. So this is why I’m speaking to today’s podcast guest, Selma Bacevac. Selma is a psychotherapist who specialises in working with infants and toddlers who have been hurt through trauma in their early childhood. Her work involves working with all members of the family to help to improve the mental health of the child. So she seems a great person to help us all better understand parent and baby mental health.

What is baby mental health?

Baby mental health, or infant mental health, as it's called in the professional world, is essentially ensuring that every single baby out there has the capacity to learn social and emotional skills in a safe, secure and well connected environment with a caregiver who is consistently present.

During our chat, Selma talks about

• Some of the signs that something might be amiss with a baby’s mental health
• The direct link between a mother’s mental health and that of her baby
• The importance of pregnancy and the in-utero experience
• Why women who are planning pregnancy or pregnant should seek mental health support
• The important role of the partner in maternal and infant mental health
• Improving baby mental health starts with the parents and them working on their own emotional health
• How our parenting style will come from the way that we were parented
• How being aware of our own head trash, and dealing with it, can be crucial part of the process
• Why parenting books aren’t the answer to being a better parent…. And what is!

This is an important conversation that I urge you to listen to, especially if you’re not yet a parent. Preparing for parenthood starts much earlier than you think!

About Selma

Selma Bacevac, MA is an entrepreneur, mum, international consultant and promoter of baby mental health. She is an expert on how attachment related problems and developmental trauma affect infants and toddlers. She provides webinars, workshops and online training to parents and professionals who are wanting more information on this specific topic. Selma is also the host of Raising Baby, a podcast devoted to helping parents and professionals understand the world from the babies perspective. Selma is a mom, a wife and in her free time enjoys the beach, biking, and more recently kayaking.

IG: @selma_parentchildrelationships,

Selma's website: www.parentchildrelationshipinstitute.com Selma's podcast: Raising Baby with Selma Bacevac Facebook https://www.facebook.com/parentchildrelationshipinstitute/

Podcast Transcript

For a full transcript of the podcast head over here.