Working together for parents and infants

Now in Year 3, the Parent-Infant Partnership is working across Edinburgh to support parents and babies experiencing adversity – and to improve our collective response to early parenting. PIP is a collaborative effort – we are trying to create clearer referral pathways, embed more reflective tools, work in closer ways and amplify the voice of the infant so we can create the best opportunities for parents and infants to stay safely together and to be safe, healthy and supported in those first 1000 days of a new babies’ life, starting from conception.

Our PIP practitioners are trained in trauma-informed care, infant observation and working with relational risk. They work alongside social work, health and multi-agency teams to provide intensive support which also includes a range of evidence-led interventions:

• Parents Under Pressure

• Alarm Distress Baby Scale

• Solihull Approach

• Video Interaction Guidance

Across Year 2 we have seen evidence of the impact PIP is making for parents, infants and professionals across Edinburgh:

Parents / families

• approx. 40–46 unborn babies screened per period

• 24–27 active families at any time

• Up to 50%+ of closed support is linked to positive progress

• Evidence of improved infant developmental indicators (ADBB scores, parental engagement)

Professionals / system

• 80% of practitioners say tools like ADBB are improving the inclusion of infant voice in assessments

• 100% of practitioners say our reflective practice approach is improves the infant-centred working and ability to keep the baby in mind at all times.

• 35+ practitioners trained in key evidence-based tools