Our Listening Service
​Did you or your partner experience a difficult pregnancy, birth, feeding or postnatal period? Would you like to speak to one of our Listening Practitioners about your experience?
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Our FREE Listening Service is run by Breastfeeding Counsellors with additional training in perinatal mental health. Our practitioners are here to listen with kindness and compassion in a safe and confidential space on Zoom.
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You can talk to us about any experience that felt challenging for you in and around pregnancy, birth and the early months of parenting. Examples might include: pregnancy, giving birth, feeding your baby, adjusting to parenthood and family life, relationship struggles, high needs and unsettled babies, loss, medical or health complications, or simply if you're feeling overwhelmed, tearful or anxious or if you’re finding it hard to process your feelings.
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If you would like support to process your journey, our service offers a confidential space to talk about your experience and the impact it has had on you. You are completely in control of what you’d like to talk about throughout the session.
Our Listening Practitioners
Meet Laura and Jennie, our Listening Practitioners. Laura and Jennie have been passionate about setting up this service since the charity began, having experienced themselves what a huge difference a compassionate listener can make to each of our unique journeys through the huge transition of early parenthood.
Laura and Jennie are experienced Breastfeeding Counsellors having trained in using person centred counselling skills and holding a non-judgemental, safe reflective space. They have both undertaken additional training in compassionate listening skills over the years, and also trained with Mia Scotland (a well known perinatal psychologist) to learn even more about supporting perinatal mental wellbeing and listening safely to traumatic experiences.
Laura and Jennie are passionate about bringing difficult experiences in parenthood out of the shadows, recognising that so many of us struggle with this, and if we were only to find spaces safe enough to share we would recognise that we aren't alone.
Session Structure
Each session is up to 75 minutes long in a private space on Zoom with one of our Listening Practitioners and you can attend on your own or with your partner or supporter. Many people find it useful to arrange help/ care for their baby/ children during the session, but don’t worry if this is not possible.
Our Listening Practitioner will begin by introducing themselves and then will support you to talk about whatever you would like to for around 45 minutes. It is common to feel anxious at the start, but our practitioners are very good at helping you feel at ease and many attendees say they feel a great sense of relief after the session. We have a good knowledge of various support services in the area and will let you know if there are additional services that might be helpful for you.
At the end of the session we offer an optional guided relaxation to enable any feelings that have come up to settle before you return to your day. This is a grounding experience to calm your nervous system and encourage safe processing of any feelings that have arisen during the session.
The Listening Service is not a counselling service and we do not offer structured ongoing support, however families are welcome to book in for further support in the future if they should need it.
Confidentiality
Anything you tell us in a Listening Session is confidential, unless we are worried about your immediate safety or the safety of anyone else. In this case we may need to involve other professionals such as your GP but we will always try to talk to you about it first.
Our Listening Practitioners are supported by and may discuss their work with a Supervisor who is also bound by a contract of confidentiality.
Our practitioners hold brief written factual records of Listening Service sessions, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2018. These are stored safely and securely, in an anonymised format, separate from any personal or identifying information and not shared with anyone. If you see another practitioner at Baby Umbrella at any of our face to face or online services, they will be able to see that you attended a listening session but not what was discussed.
There are some reasons we might be legally required to disclose information for example a court order or if we become aware of a serious crime such as drug trafficking, money laundering or acts of terrorism. We are also legally obliged to report information about a child who could be at risk of harm or neglect.
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Please see our privacy policy for more information on how we hold your data.
Technical FAQs
When you book your appointment you will receive an email confirmation with your personalised Zoom link. You can either download the zoom app, or you can simply join from your browser (look out for the ‘Join from Your Browser’ option when you join the meeting).
You might want to test your microphone and your speakers before the session starts. Make sure your device is plugged in or has plenty of battery charge before the session starts.
If you are having problems joining, your practitioner will text you after a few minutes to offer support.