CTM health visitor who prevents babies entering the care system up for top award

A specialist health visitor who has developed bespoke health education and support to help parents care for their children has been shortlisted for a prestigious UK award.

Sarah Terrett, from the Baby in Mind team at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board works with women and their partners at an early stage of pregnancy to try to prevent their babies entering the care system.

Sarah has been selected from hundreds of entries as a finalist in the Community & General Practice Nursing category of the RCN Nursing Awards 2022.

She will find out if she has won at a ceremony on Thursday 6 October at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in London.

The RCN Nurse of the Year 2022 will be selected from all the category winners and will also be announced at the event.

Sarah develops and delivers bespoke programmes of health education, support and care to empower and encourage parents to change entrenched and complex behaviours and improve how they care for their child.

The Baby in Mind team provides weekly contact during pregnancy, sometimes as soon as it is confirmed, and up to two visits a day after the baby is born.

The programme has had an 86% success rate by tackling issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and poor parenting experiences.

Sarah said: “The service provides the parents with the opportunity to evidence their commitment to change and ultimately have their infant remain in their care.

“It provides the necessary support before and after birth to equip parents with the necessary tools and confidence to fulfil their parental role.

“The service focuses on doing everything it can to establish positive attachments between parent and child.”

She added: “We are still very much in our infancy as a service due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The awards offer a huge opportunity to share with others the work we have been doing for the most vulnerable families in our community, who can sometimes be difficult to engage and can be extremely mistrusting of services.”

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “This shortlist showcases the very best of nursing and highlights the work we do day in, day out to improve the health and well-being of our patients. I am so proud of all of these finalists.”