Anne* has twins of 18 months. Anne says she didn’t have a clue about babies before the twins arrived; neither she nor her partner had ever had any real experience of looking after an infant before and it was all new to them. Anne’s family lived quite far away, and her in-laws, while closer at hand, were not on the door step either. When she was pregnant, her midwife put her in touch with Home-Start Deveron for support, as having twins is very different from having one new baby. Anne didn’t think that the service was really for her and declined the help. However after the twins were born she struggled to cope as the twins were demanding and suffered from bad reflux, Anne became exhausted and felt unable to cope – but she felt under pressure to keep up the appearance that she was ok and enjoying motherhood.
Anne developed post-natal depression. Looking back she says that her experiences probably weren’t too different from other new mums but when she was depressed she lost her sense of perspective. Anne has recovered well and is able to cope with the twins. Her Health Visitor suggested she get back in touch with Home-Start Deveron to try Baby Massage. Anne really enjoyed the sessions and also started to attend Twinkles, our group for parents of twins/multiple births.
Anne has since highlighted that before she actually used Home-Start services, she thought they were for socially disadvantaged people, not for financially secure, well educated , professional parents. She now feels quite strongly that this perception of Home-Start Deveron is wrong, and people from diverse backgrounds can use this type of support. Home-Start Deveron provided a good access point for her when she was reluctant to ask for help, and she thinks there could be other parents in the same situation.
E :enquiry@homestart-deveron.co.uk