Deployment of the baby guides started
Chemnitz is the first municipality in Saxony to launch the support programme
The city of Chemnitz is the first local authority in Saxony to deploy baby guides. The certified programme is aimed at pregnant women, women who have recently given birth and families with young children up to their first birthday who are experiencing stress in their everyday lives and would like advice and support.
For a few weeks now, four experienced social pedagogues have been offering support to pregnant women and young families - if they so wish. Co-operation agreements have been signed with both the Chemnitz Clinical Centre and the DRK Hospital Chemnitz-Rabenstein. Since the end of January, the staff at the DRK hospital have been available three days a week, and this is due to start at Chemnitz Hospital in April.
The employees, who previously worked in areas such as pregnancy and pregnancy conflict counselling, youth social work and family education, support families with their questions and requests and guide them to the services on offer. They usually conduct one or two counselling sessions. This only takes place with the consent of the (expectant) mother. A special questionnaire, which the clinics ideally fill out with the women when they register for the birth a few weeks in advance, is intended to help identify potential psychosocial stress and establish contact with the baby guides.
Support can be provided, for example, with applying for child and parental allowance, finding a paediatrician, registering for a place in a daycare centre or finding a mother-child group. The aim is to show what help is available during pregnancy. In this way, needs can be recognised at an early stage and the development of children can be positively influenced by a supportive and helpful network.
The certified Babylotsen programme was developed in Hamburg in 2007 and now exists in more than 70 maternity clinics and over 30 medical practices across Germany. Chemnitz is a pioneer in Saxony and is now also a member of the SeeYou Foundation's quality network. The four newly recruited specialists receive funding from the state totalling 100,000 euros per year, supplemented by the city's own contribution.
The Babylotsen service is part of the Chemnitz Early Help and Preventive Child Protection Network, which has existed since 2013 and is based at the city's youth welfare office. The network offers an early and coordinated service focussing on the development of children, especially in the first years of life. Family midwives and family, health and paediatric nurses have been working in Chemnitz since 2014. In addition to the baby guides, a welcome visit has also been offered for a few months now. This service is also voluntary and non-binding.
www.chemnitz.de/babylotsen