“Their model of being trauma-informed is one that I’d like us to get across the whole of our service”
Stakeholder
Collaborating with others and driving system change
We amplify our impact by sharing our innovative learning and working with others to influence practices, policies and systems.
Driving common outcomes
Core Outcome Set for domestic abuse
The For Baby’s Sake Trust has been working with others to establish a core set of outcomes, indicators and measures to be used when creating, delivering and evaluating programmes to prevent and reduce domestic violence and abuse, whether working with those who use abuse, those experiencing abusive behaviour, children, babies and whole families.
The intention is to drive positive change, innovation, communication and genuine collaboration across professional boundaries and systems and the fragmented fields of early child development and infant mental health, early and earlier intervention, services for complex families and for those experiencing abuse or using abusive behaviours.
Towards a common outcomes framework for all for children and families
Building on our work on common outcomes for families and children affected by domestic abuse and child maltreatment, the Trust’s ambition has expanded and the collaboration has grown ….
There is great inconsistency in how the experiences of children and families are defined, measured and talked about. The difficulties that arise from using many different terms and definitions to express outcomes and the impact of efforts to improve lives and life chances comes up time and again in reviews, reports and conversations. It means that too often we talk at cross-purposes and cannot compare results, build on or share our learning in a meaningful way. Consequently, we waste time, effort and money.
Our partnership work, including our joint report with Kindred Squared sits at the core of the Children’s Commissioner’s report on establishing a common outcomes set, as part of her recommendations from the Family Review, published in December 2022 – ‘Outcomes Framework: Annex to a positive approach to parenting: Part 2 of the Independent Family Review‘ HERE.
The CCo strengthened the work by bringing in the voice of children, young people and families gathered through The Big Ask in 2021 and the family review consultation in summer 2022, leading to the addition of a fifth high-level outcome (‘All children feel engaged in a community’). Thanks to support from Kindred Squared, we’ve recently created a new circular graphic and updated the original high-level illustration of what a national outcomes framework might look like by including the fifth outcome (both attached). We’re now working to create a graphic to help map out existing and planned projects and programmes, at national and more local levels, towards the common outcomes approach, alongside more technical processes and tools that would enable the work.
For further background on our collaborative work, promoting common outcomes to drive system change in support for families, READ MORE
Influencing policy and practice
Through our contributions to legislation, policy and guidance and by joining our voice and expertise with others, we advocate for babies and parents receiving the support they need, when they need it, to break cycles of domestic abuse and childhood trauma and to build lasting resilience. Our collaboration includes training and practice development for a wide range of professionals working with families. Examples of these contributions include:
- Securing recognition in the Domestic Abuse Act Statutory Guidance of the needs of babies, including unborn babies, and their parents. You can find out more about the Statutory Guidance and our campaign in partnership with the Institute of Health Visiting and the First 1001 Days movement. The brief video opposite is an extract from Baroness Armstrong’s speech, supporting legislative measures proposed by Baroness Stroud in one of two House of Lords debates prompted by our campaign. You can also download our briefing paper and listen to the full debate .
- Contributing good practice to reports by the National Safeguarding Practice Review Panel with references to our multi-agency safeguarding and distinct strength as one of very view programmes visibly engaging with fathers of babies within a whole-family approach
- Co-creating the Institute of Health Visiting ‘Changing Conversations – Domestic Abuse‘ online training and toolkit for health visitors
- Launching Trauma Insight Resources and training multi-agency professionals in strengths-based, trauma-informed work with families
- Empowering mothers and fathers in Blackpool to work in partnership with professionals to co-produce an innovative response to the Born Into Care initiative
- Being the domestic abuse lead delivery partner in the Safer Beginnings Programme, led by Best Beginnings and White Ribbon Alliance UK, to reduce inequalities in birth and maternal outcomes and improve physical and emotional safety for all
Tools & resources that can support you
We share tools and resources which may be useful to parents or professionals. Some of these are used within our own programme, For Baby’s Sake, or we’ve created them based on our experience of working with parents, or we’ve worked with partners, such as in the creation of Safer Beginnings resources. We also suggest resources or support from other organisations.
Is my relationship abusive? Who should I tell?
Safer Beginnings films with parents and professionals, helping you to recognise signs of domestic abuse and to seek support
What will happen if I tell someone?
Safer Beginnings film with parents and professionals, showing how expert support (including For Baby’s Sake) can help keep you and your baby safe
Is my behaviour abusive? A father’s story of breaking the cycle
Safer Beginnings film with a dad who sought support from For Baby’s Sake and the difference for him, his co-parent and his children
Emotional Safety Plan for Parents
It explains the Emotional Safety Plan, which expectant parents can use to record what they need to feel safe before, during and after birth
Guide to using the Emotional Safety Plan for Parents
Emotional Safety Plan for Parents
You can choose between three different styles of Emotional Safety Plan.
Click the images below to view and download
Guidance and briefing on Emotional Safety Planning for Professionals
Guidance on using the Emotional Safety Plan for Professionals
Briefing on why this matters – emotional safety planning in the context of emotional labour
Safer Beginnings resources in the Baby Buddy app
Baby Buddy app’s ‘Discover library’ includes information on care and relationships before, during and after birth
National helplines
Want to talk to someone? Here are numbers for some national helplines
Mindfulness
Two voice-guided tools, with audio and video, for experiencing mindfulness
Relaxation
Two voice-guided tools with audio and video to help with relaxation
Pressure Pot
Animated tooland drawing to help with understanding and managing anger
Self-esteem
A drawing to help understand your self esteem and how to build it up
Trauma Insight: Overview of the three tools, and Growing up with Adversity
A short film which acts as an overview of all three Trauma Insight Tools
The Adversity Cycle
Trauma Insight: Children
How practitioners can take a strengths-based approach to support children’s recovery from trauma. Tool and guidance
Trauma Insight: Parents
How practitioners can take a strengths-based approach to support parents’ recovery from unresolved trauma. Tool and guidance
Serve and Return video
A video from Harvard Centre on the Developing Child, showing ‘two-way’ parent-child communication
Serve and Return 5-step guide
A 5-step guide to using serve and return to build your baby’s brain
Parental Relationships Spectrum
Helping professionals (and parents) to distinguish between healthy, conflictual and abusive relationships
How Racism Can Affect Child Development
A note from Harvard Centre on the Developing Child explaining how racial prejudice can affect child development and why we need to tackle it.
What We Can Do About Toxic Stress
A note from Harvard Centre on the Developing Child about toxic stress and how to move from surviving to coping to resilience
COVID-19 guidance
Guidance on trauma & resilience provides context around risks of Covid-19 measures to mental and emotional health and offers advice on supporting vulnerable families.
Overcoming barriers to seeking help if you’re experiencing abuse
Overcoming barriers to seeking help if you’re using abusive behaviours
For Professionals - overcoming barriers to enquiring about domestic abuse
Understanding what might be getting in the way might help you reach in and start more conversations
Brain Story
The science of brain development – link to University of Oxford website with information for parents and professionals (including course for professionals)
Domestic abuse and baby's first 1001 days
Evidence on the scale and impact of domestic abuse and the need that our programme is helping to meet
Supporting both parents, starting in pregnancy
Infographic with key lessons from the evaluation of For Baby’s Sake
Building the evidence base
We contribute to the growing evidence on issues that are fundamental to the wellbeing of individuals, families and society. We focus on infant development from conception to age two, domestic abuse, the impact of childhood adversity and the hopeful science of how those who have suffered trauma can build their resilience.
The major academic evaluation of For Baby’s Sake covers all these themes – see below for this report. Additional published papers drawing out findings from our work include:
- Intervention Development and Evaluation Design of a Whole-Family Perinatal Intervention to Break the Cycle of Domestic Abuse – Journal of Family Violence
- Breaking the cycle of intergenerational abuse: A qualitative interview study of men participating in a perinatal program to reduce violence – Journal of Infant Mental Health
- For Baby’s Sake: breaking the cycle of intergenerational abuse – International Journal of Birth and Parent Education, Vol 8 Issue 2, January 2021
Academic evaluation of
For Baby’s Sake
We commissioned a major four-year independent evaluation of For Baby’s Sake and published the final report in May 2020.
The evaluation, led by King’s College London, identified the programme as the “first” to “fill an important gap in provision” through its “unique approach” to tackling domestic abuse.
The report found that For Baby’s Sake “addresses key limitations” of existing whole family domestic abuse interventions by working with both parents, starting in pregnancy and through its trauma-informed and attachment-focused model.
King’s College London led a team of academics from University of Warwick, University of Central Lancashire, University of Cambridge and McMaster University, Canada in the evaluation of the feasibility, acceptability and impact of For Baby’s Sake in the first two prototype sites in Hertfordshire and London.