Daniel and Lucy had two children, Lottie (3) and Zoe (1 month). Newborn Zoe had a congenital heart defect and would need multiple surgeries.
Daniel and Lucy felt understandably anxious about this and Lucy had begun to feel very depressed. Home-Start introduced volunteer Pat to them.
Pat had several grandchildren, one of whom had had similar heart defects so she felt able to discuss what the family were going through and reassure them.
Pat took Lottie out to the park so Daniel and Lucy could have a rest – they had had little sleep since Zoe was born and were both exhausted. Lottie was finding having a new sibling wasn’t as fun as she had hoped. Lottie and Pat played games and talked about how Lottie would be able to play with Zoe much more when she was bigger.
Pat helped look after the children when Lucy had GP appointments and Daniel had gone back to work. This was really helpful as Daniel had had to take a lot more time off work than he had planned and had little leave left.
After 6 months of support, Zoe had had her first operation which was successful. Lucy and Daniel were feeling more confident handling Zoe and Lucy was accessing mental health support from her GPs surgery. Lottie was enjoying playing with her baby sister.