Light at the end of the tunnel
When a mother has just heard she has cancer, or dealing with post natal depression, sometimes it’s difficult to focus on your child, let alone yourself. Sometimes, family and whānau will rally around and provide that much needed soft place to fall.
But what do you do if you don’t have that support mechanism close by? For families on the North Shore they turn to Parent Port North Shore.
Linda Anstiss, ParentPort Coordinator says "we believe that by caring for the caregiver, you are caring for the child. In the past we have helped single parents, grandparents raising their grandchildren and migrants who don’t have family close by or the support during the day."
Parent Port provides a home service that focuses on safeguarding the child and alleviating the stress for the mum. For example cook a meal, change the bedding, hang out the laundry and care for the child. "We see ourselves as being there to support and listen rather than give advice. So when we see a situation escalating, we refer the family onto services like the Plunket, the local family centre and other social services" says Linda.
"In the past, we have looked after a baby while the mother attended a living without violence course, assisted a mother dealing with post natal depression and an ill baby and helped a mum suffering from a complicated caesarean operation.
The whole beauty of this service is that we are in the home within 24 hours of getting a referral. We provide an immediate response for a few days or weeks until other financial aid or services kick in, and then we go on to assist the next family."
Parent Port is a free service and takes referrals from social and health agencies, including Plunket, midwives, Maternal Mental Health and Waitemata Health. Clients can also self refer. It provides services to about 230 families each year. There are seven Parent Port/Aid organisations in Auckland.
For further information go to the Parent Port website.
