News

“Look at You, Aorha Atu, Aroha Mai” is an initiative of Counties Manukau District Health Board. It is the first of a series of DVDs showing the ways in which babies are social and communicate right from birth. The DVD is aimed at helping parents, whaanau and professionals understand and respond to the social and emotional needs of babies, in the first three months of life. The DVD is given to every family/whaanau who delivers a newborn baby in Counties Manukau via the Lead Maternity Carers (LMCs).

It is also available free of charge for any organisations who holds a contract with the Counties Manukau District Health Board for delivering services to families with young children. Other organisations or individuals who wish to order a copy of the DVD can do so through the South Auckland Health Foundation. The cost is $10 plus postage and packaging. Order forms are available at:

12 June, 2009

The guidelines for protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in early childhood education settings are now available in draft format for the second round of consultation. For the first round of consultation we contacted 249 individuals and/or organisations directly, received eighty-nine submissions on the web page created specifically for the consultation purpose and also received sixty-nine emails. We have been delighted with this initial response rate.

The information received within these submissions, the extensive forty-eight page literature review, with 179 references which we compiled, and previous work carried out on the topic of protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in early childhood education settings informed this draft document. We wish to acknowledge the previous work done by Judith Galtry, Sarah Farquhar and Marcia Annandale that informed our work also.

The development of the draft guidelines did not begin until after the completion of the literature review and the compilation of all submissions. Numerous meetings with individuals and groups, which include consumers, have also occurred and the breastfeeding and early childhood education project has been presented at hui.

Please find attached the guidelines for consultation. We envisage that the final version will be converted into user-friendly visual documents for ECE staff, with an adapted version for families. Other suggestions for consideration are welcomed.

Final deadline for feedback and suggestions on this document is 5pm on Wednesday 24th June, 2009.

Guidelines have to be submitted to the Ministry of Health on June 30th 2009. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the first round of consultation and we look forward to receiving the second round of submissions.

Contact: Carol Bartle at Carolbartle@omwwl.maori.nz or Judith Duncan at judith.duncan@canterbury.ac.nz

Carol Bartle - Canterbury Breastfeeding Advocacy Service
Associate Professor Judith Duncan - School of Maori, Social and Cultural Studies

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Appendices for Breastfeeding Guidelines for Early Childhood Settings.pdf	294.94 KB
Breastfeeding12June09draft.pdf	439.4 KB
Guidelines4safebottle.pdf	144.98 KB

The subject "Why is New Zealand failing in many crucial areas in Early Childhood Education?" was presented at the "Nine to Noon" programme of the National Radio on 19 May 2009. Listen to the IMHAANZ President, Kimberley Powell presenting the IMHAANZ point of view.
Listen to the interview at http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/ntn/2009/05/19/early_childhood_education.

Judith Duncan and Carol Bartle, have been contracted by the Ministry of Health to write draft guidelines for breastfeeding in early childhood centres. They are engaging in two rounds of consultation.

Here is their invitation for contributions:

"1. We are inviting open comments on experiences and stories which will guide our thinking in the writing of the guidelines (by the 18 of May). Information on how to do this attached.

2. We would like feedback on the draft guidelines themselves (early June).

We would be delighted if you would be able to circulate the invitation for stories and experiences, to be sent to us, to and if you would also consider providing us with feedback on the draft guidelines. Your input would be greatly appreciated."

For more information, please contact:

Associate Professor Judith Duncan
School of Maori, Social and Cultural Studies in Education College of Education
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140 New Zealand
Phone:(direct): +64 3 364 3466 ext. 3466
Email: judith.duncan@canterbury.ac.nz
Physical location: Wheki, W226. Dovedale Campus

Research Profile can be found at:

http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/UCResearchProfile

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The Vic Davis Memorial Trust, which operates under the terms of a trust deed detailed in Mr Davis’ will, is expected to distribute more than $100,000 a year in grants and scholarships with a focus on mental health, with the first year of applications being 2009.

This Trust offers four distinct categories of funding support in the field of mental health:

1.      Scholarships for individuals wishing to undertake training as a mental health practitioner

2.      Scholarships for individuals who are about to study at post graduate diploma or masters level in the field of mental health

3.      Research fellowships for individuals researching in the field of mental health

4.      Research grants for organisations researching in the field of mental health

With regard to the two study scholarships, preference will be given to those applicants who are able to demonstrate an association with the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Individuals applying for scholarships must be able to demonstrate an interest in the field of mental health.

With regard to the two research categories the research and host organisation may be local, regional or national. Research applications will only be considered from individuals or groups who have a prior history of work in the field of mental health. The scope of the research considered by the Trust includes:

• The nature of mental health
• The origin and causes of mental health disorders
• Prevention of mental health disorders
• Diagnosis
• Treatment and cure

Travel, equipment and conference attendance will only be considered where a clear case is made for them within the research or scholarship budget outline and where such expenditure is integral to the study or research.You can find further information regarding the intent of each of these categories in the application guidelines and the application forms, available on the website http://www.vicdavistrust.co.nz/index.html.

Applications will be considered annually, and this years application must be received by the UOC Research Office no later than 21st August 2009.

Nought to Five - The Daycare Experiment. Article by Peter Feeney and Lauren Porter of IMHAANZ which appeared in the April 2009 edition of North & South magazine.

Two members of IMHAANZ have published their article “Nought to Five The Daycare Experiment” in the April 2009 issue of North & South Magazine. Experts in the early childhood field – Elisabeth Muir, Steve Biddulph, Kimberley Powell, Sarah Farquhar - and reports from OECD, UNICEF and national and international child health organisations have been referenced.

"In the current social climate, there’s a great deal of support and encouragement for mothers to put their baby in care and go to work. Mothering has been subsumes by the prevalence and even lauding of childcare and, in particular, early childhood education. If you say a mother and a caregiver are interchangeable, what are you saying? You’re saying anyone can mother a baby and it’s cheap at the price. Well, I disagree. The cost is societal and ultimately in human terms is very high”. Elisabeth Muir

"One of the most consistent results of many studies has been that children in group daycare situations are more likely to be aggressive. Research from the US National Institute of Child Health and Development has shown that the more time children spend in daycare up to four and a half years of age, the more aggression, disobedience and conflict with adults they show at age five.”

"Attachment specialist Richard Bowlby (John Bowlby’s son) says from birth to 30 months the right hemisphere of the brain – concerned with the emotional skills that are needed for relationships and empathy – develops rapidly. Babies learn these unconscious skills best by experiencing sensitive and responsive one-on-one care.”

Read more in the attached article.

 

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Infant Mental Health is a new specialist service within the Mental Health Division at Counties Manukau DHB. The focus of this service will be to provide specialist assessment and treatment for families/whanau experiencing a moderate to severe problem in relation to the emotional or social development of infants aged 0-3 years. Download the attached document for more information.

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Clinicians IMH.pdf	195.94 KB

Dr. Elliott Barker, founder of the Canadian Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children and currently an adolescent psychiatrist for the Ontario Ministry of Health states: ‘What can I say. It's all there. If and when consumerism dies people will be able to see the wisdom of Peter's book. Until then, mothers and fathers will continue to delude themselves with rationalizations to support part time orphanages for their very young children - to the detriment, if not demise, of generations to come.’

Says Steve Biddulph about this book:

"Just recently, with the growth of technologies that can look inside the living brain, and videocameras that can watch the tiny movements and gestures of mothers and infants, we have realized that in our basic assumptions of Western industrial life, we were terribly wrong about something very important. We thought that minding babies was a casual, inconsequential thing that could be left to underpaid teenagers, or done in bulk with one person to five babies or ten toddlers, without any problem.

It now appears that mother-baby interaction, in the first year especially, is the very foundation of human emotions and intelligence. In the most essential terms, love grows the brain. The capacities for what make us most human—empathy, co-operation, intimacy, the fine timing and sensitivity that makes a human being charismatic, loving, and self-assured— are passed from mother to baby, especially if that mother is herself possessed of these qualities, and supported and cared for, so that she can bring herself to enjoy and focus on the task.

Just as we were wrong, in our industrial culture, about almost everything related to sustainable and happy living on this earth, we were wrong about childhood...."

Here’s is Peter Cook’s own request for distribution of the book free on the net.

"The attached document is a pdf of my new book, Mothering Denied – How our culture harms women, infants and society, (as updated to Dec 5, 2008). I decided to self-publish it and make it freely available at no cost, via the net, and anyone may pass it on to anyone else, as they wish.

I do not intend to publish a normal soft-back edition, but if anyone wishes to do so, I shall be glad if they contact me. Likewise, if there are any errors, I would be glad to know of them (but this does not claim to be a conventionally “balanced” presentation). It is fitting that, as we enter 2009, it presents: firstly, what follows from a biological, evolutionary perspective on mothering, and then much other converging evidence from different directions; secondly, it discusses under what conditions departures from the natural, best-fit, pattern of human mothering has adverse health and developmental consequences; and thirdly, what we could do about it.

While fully in accord with Early Years Study 2, it goes beyond it, and I think that far too much money and attention is being devoted to the early ‘education’ parts of modern evidence, to the eclipse of the more basic and important early mothering, that is fundamental in laying good foundations for future physical and emotional health and wellbeing, as well as for forming a good basis for later academic achievement.

As most people have little time to read most of what is published, this book has a Synopsis of 1170 words at the beginning, and a longer Summary of 3250 words near the end. In between is a fully referenced Main Text of 41.750 words. These are followed by ten Notes and a detailed list of references. So it is not a long book, it’s language is as simple as the topic at the time will allow, and its evidence and conclusions are meant to be easily available to readers in however much time they choose to give it. So far as I know this book is unique, and I hope timely.

The book has been edited to American style, but this attached pdf is designed to become an A4-size book of 115 pages using both sides of 58 sheets of A4 paper. Anyone can print it out, but I have found that Office Works do it well on A4 bond paper for $22.50 per single bound copy, with a firm maroon backing and a clear plastic front cover. The rate comes down for multiple copies. There is a one-off charge of $5.45 to load the printer from a memory stick. A version for printing on US letter-size paper will become available early next year.

For those who do not even have time to open the attached document, I append an Abstract. (Why is everyone busier than ever, these days?)

Abstract

Although the word ‘mothering’ has become politically incorrect, five complementary lines of evidence now converge to show that there is a natural, biologically-based, best-fit pattern of human mothering, and it includes breastfeeding, carrying, secure attachment, mutual rewards, enjoyment, and empathy—meaning a mother’s sensitivity to her baby’s feelings and responding accordingly. Mutual playfulness and joy help to sustain healthy development if the environment is supportive and meets basic human needs. These five independent lines of evidence are described in five chapters in Part one. (This is a form of triangulation.)

Part two outlines how and when disturbed development can arise if departures from natural patterns of mothering create environments that fail to match the biologically-based needs of babies and very young children. Such ‘eco-genetic mismatch’ can disrupt important biological mechanisms that are based in the human genome. It can be especially harmful when it occurs during pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood. It can stem from actions that derive from teachings and practices that neglect human needs, and from ignorance and ideologies that are misconceived.

Part three outlines some remedial directions towards more healthy families and societies. To improve physical, emotional and mental health it is urgent to distinguish the needs of children nearer school age from those of infants—defined as ‘without speech.’ Their primary need is for nurturing early mothering, within supportive and sociable environments.

We should aim to bring our society—that we can change—into better harmony with our biological ‘givens’ that we cannot change and would therefore do well to accept. This involves supporting healthy mothering, breastfeeding, and attachment, with generous maternity leave. Natural patterns of mothering work best with the support of a father and an extended family and/or social group, within a suitable environment. There are models we could follow that offer many benefits—even for ‘the economy’. It is necessary to work with Nature and not against her to promote health and wellbeing in young children, their mothers, and society. Prevention is better than cure, and a normal mother-child relationship is a love affair that needs the right conditions to flourish. Infancy cannot be re-run later.

Sincerely,

Peter S. Cook

You can download the book here.

The government's External Advisory Group to the Taskforce for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment is currently discussing the value of approaching child maltreatment from an antenatal point of view - the early intervention approach.

The approach is a positive step but simultaneously, knowledge of the research in this area says that, antenatal interventions don't always have good success in reducing child maltreatment or in many other areas of parenting, most likely because one can simply not imagine neither the conscious nor unconscious experience of parenting and what it will be like.

If you know of any research and/or have experience in the area of antenatal prevention, please send your thoughts about a government focus to lauren@centreforattachment.com.

In response to an item on Close Up’s programme aired on October 1^st about children’s bad behaviour in classrooms from the age of 5 years, I agree with Cindy Kiro’s comments that we need to look at children’s health and lifestyle to see why these children are acting out. Sadly in many discussions about children, a key issue of why children are unable to manage their behaviour is the lack of awareness on what children need to be able to self-regulate their emotional states. This is important developmental work which begins in the cradle.

Children need to be surrounded by grown-ups with whom they trust to manage and support their innate biological need to be protected from sources of fear. In an infant this fear could be as simple as experiencing pain, or anxiousness about who will stay with me until I feel safe enough to sleep. An early secure attachment to a primary caregiver lays the foundations for better social integration and respect for others in the formative years.

Like Kiro states, working out what children need is a process that belongs with a family’s agencies and the communities in which they live.

For as long as government Ministries ignore the essence of preventative early intervention programmes across all domains of children’s development we will continue to need more expensive treatment programmes at less optimal times in later childhood years when the child’s neurobiological system is less likely to achieve or repair.

Gill Graham

Executive Committee Member IMHAANZ (Infant Mental Health Association of Aotearoa NZ)

 

On behalf of the Committee of the Infant Mental Health Association of Aotearoa NZ, I would like to thank all of you for your enthusiastic and much appreciated support this past year as we officially launched IMHAANZ. It has been fantastic to hear from you throughout New Zealand. The passionate commitment to work with infants and their families that you have all expressed is very encouraging as we all collectively aim to increase awareness of infant mental health throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. There is certainly much work to be done in the future, but I believe that all of you have made great contributions so far in demonstrating to all professions involved in child/family work that it is so important to collaborate across disciplines. This will be vital if we are truly going to improve the service provision we offer as we promote the emotional health and well-being of our youngest New Zealanders. 

Here are some of the most recent IMHAANZ happenings, and some of the events and ongoing projects in development for 2008. We would very much like to hear news of member activities relating to infant mental health from your region or programme. The next edition of the IMHAANZ newsletter is in progress, so last minute news items, conference or seminar announcements, or even resource links for books/web sites and so forth would be welcome. We hope to have the new IMHAANZ web site up and running in early 2008.

1. The IMHAANZ Committee has met three times since the symposium in April. In the upcoming newsletter, we will publish tentative dates for committee meetings so that members can forward their concerns and interests to the IMHAANZ committee members for discussion.
   
2. Dr. Denise Guy, IMHAANZ Vice-President, attended the 20th Australian Association of Infant Mental Health Conference recently and was honoured for her role as one of the founders of AAIMHI. Apparently the establishment of IMHAANZ and our contributions as a new WAIMH affiliate were publicly noted at the conference.
   
3. Various conferences around New Zealand this year have included significant contributions from IMHAANZ members. Some of these conferences have included the PORSE  Network conference in Hastings, The NEONZ conference for Nanny Educators in May, the Midcentral Health Conference in Palmerston North, the Centre for Attachment workshop days, the Ministry of Health sector days and the Biennial National Early Childhood Conference in Rotorua. There are many more and we appreciate members keeping us informed of your conference and professional activities.
   
4. Regional infant mental health groups are now successfully operating throughout New Zealand and include Otago, Christchurch/ Canterbury, Wellington, Manawatu and Auckland. We are expecting a new group in Waikato in the new year. Please consult the upcoming Newsletter for contacts of regional coordinators.  IMHAANZ wishes to acknowledge the very dedicated work of coordinators in those areas including Jocelyn Johnstone, Gill Graham and Norah Fryer, Deinise Guy and Maree Foley, Janet Gregory,  Bianca Sava, Hanne Jepsen and Lauren Porter.
   
5. The primary plans for IMHAANZ activities in 2008 will be focussed on regional training and support in infant mental health through clinical or practically based workshops that cater to all disciplines within infant mental health.  Committee plans and design for suitable training workshops to support regional IMH efforts are being undertaken by Dr Denise Guy and Maree Foley.
   
6. We encourage you to let your colleagues know about IMHAANZ membership. A new brochure will be available shortly. Membership runs on a fiscal year basis from 1 April -31 March.
   
   We encourage groups or organisations to encourage their professionals to become individual members of IMHAANZ but also endeavour to take out WAIMH memberships which then given your organisation the opportunity to receive the Infant Mental Health Journal, The Signal and to vote at the world organisation level on key issues.   The more members in IMHAANZ and WAIMH, the stronger we become in improving the well-being of infants, toddlers and their families. All membership enquiries should go to k.connor@massey.ac.nz.
   
7. Media activities have been the focus of much IMHAANZ discussion since April's launch. Recently, Lauren Porter and Kimberley Powell, IMHAANZ Committee members, were interviewed on December 7 by Nine to Noon Radio (interview is on the web) regarding the BBC show, The Baby Borrowers, now airing in NZ. IMHAANZ, along with Centre for Attachment, Brainwave Trust, NUMB, La Leche NZ, NZ Playcentre Federation and Perinatal Mental Health have launched an official complaint against TVNZ through the Broadcasting Standards Authority process to protest against the maltreatment of infants and young children in this show. You can access the interview until about Dec. 17 on the following link, and after that on the nine to noon web site-  http://www.radionz.co.nz/podcasts/ninetonoon.rss
   
   Any concerns from IMHAANZ members about the well-being of infants in NZ which you feel should receive media exposure can be forwarded to Dr. Kimberley Powell at k.powell@massey.ac.nz Peter Feeney, a journalist, an Auckland member and founder of The Baby Club, and IMHAANZ member has offered to use his media experience to assist in the media release preparation process for any IMHAANZ concerns.
   
8. IMHAANZ has been involved in some submission work this past year. Most notable have been written submissions on the draft Well Child Framework and the Werry Centre contract draft for the Mental Health Workforce. If you are involved or know of any government policy issues that are forthcoming and involve infant mental health plus its related disciplines and professions, please notify the IMHAANZ President.
   
9. Finally, allow us to keep in touch with you. If you are moving or changing jobs in the coming months, please inform the national administrator, Kaye Connor at k.connor@massey.ac.nz Thanks for a superb job coordinating all our mailing lists, membership and other fun things this year, Kaye!

 

On behalf of IMHAANZ, I wish you all a safe and relaxing holiday season. Please keep us posted about your activities and work with infants and families. With each of us doing the best we can, the support of professionals in New Zealand working with infants will be enhanced and strengthened. Let us know what we can do for you in 2008. We look forward to hearing from you.

Ka pai to mahi

Kim Powell

President IMHAANZ

(January 2008)