Claire Allcutt is a family development nurse in the Community Mothers Programme, which offers free monthly home visits to new parents from experienced mothers in the community
The Community Mothers Programme aims to develop parents' skills and to build their self-esteem and parenting practices. It exists in the greater Dublin area and is free. I work in north Dublin, predominantly in Coolock and Darndale, and my job as family development nurse is to find, interview, recruit and train community mothers, who are experienced mothers living within the area.
Generally they are kind and generous, they have had some parenting skills and have coped with whatever life has thrown at them and, essentially, they are of the same community of the families they visit.
The main part of the programme is a monthly visit from a community mother starting soon after the baby is born until the age of two. This involves discussing with the parent how the child has been developing since the last visit and what new things they have learned to do.
The parents set themselves targets of what they hope to achieve each month and they are asked how they are getting on.
The community mother also gives the parent some health information and parenting educational teaching tools produced by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The community mother is in a supporting role and she brings up topics that raise discussion with the parent. It may be anything from weaning and nutrition to immunisation and how to talk to the baby to develop language skills, education, joining local libraries, reading to the baby.
There is also a huge emphasis on home safety. A randomised control trial showed that children whose parents had received the Community Mothers Programme were less likely to have admissions into hospital due to household accidents.
Community mothers also help to run two major additional services. In all areas they would have a parent and toddler group. We also have a weekly breastfeeding support group where the breastfeeding mums in the locality may come along, whether they are having visits from a community mother or not. It is very much an informal support group and not a breastfeeding clinic.
Although I am a public health nurse by background, there is no clinical nursing in my role.
I have around 14 community mothers in my charge at the moment, and I'm always on the lookout for potentials. Much of my time is spent speaking to women in the community and finding out who would be suitable and just making links and networks with other community organisations and it is remarkable how they interconnect.
There are very few truly primary healthcare models in Ireland - the immunisation programme is one and the Community Mothers Programme is another. This is trying to reach parents before they get post-natally depressed or while they have still not decided whether to have the baby immunised or to reach parents who might not have thought about buying safety locks and stair-gates.
I think the most rewarding aspect is seeing the confidence in parents increase. And it isn't unusual for mums who have received the programme to go on to become community mothers themselves.
They definitely seem to be more connected with their own community and are much more capable at rationalising why they may have made a particular choice in the way they chose to bring up their children.
For further information, see www.communitymothers.ie
(In conversation with Claire O'Connell)