Our Parents in Mind project provides safe, sensitive, and impactful perinatal mental health peer support, delivered by local parent volunteers.

Find out how to access the service, become a peer support volunteer, or commission a service in your area.

Parents in Mind logo

About NCT Parents in Mind

Bringing a baby into the world can be a joyous experience, but this transition might also present some challenges to a parent’s wellbeing. Connecting with others who have a similar experience can make a huge difference. 

Our Parents in Mind service is available for parents: 

  • who are mums and birthing people, and for dads and non-birthing partners in some areas
  • with mild to moderate mental health challenges
  • in the perinatal period, from pregnancy up to two years after childbirth
Indoor parent support group
Parents and children with a peer supporter

Peer support for parents

Our peer supporter volunteers provide support for parents. 

Peer supporters have lived experience of the challenges that early parenthood can present. They are passionate about making sure new parents don’t feel alone. 

Our peer supporters undertake accredited training to provide a friendly listening ear. This support can be one-to-one or in group settings, online or face-to-face.

Parents in Mind project aims

 

Enable parents to build their confidence and a social support network with other parents

 

Empower parents with access to information and signposting to other helpful services

 

Value parental wellbeing and reduce stigma around mental health challenges

Find a Parents in Mind service

Parents in Mind is currently available for mums and birthing people in the following areas:

Coventry and Warwickshire

Hartlepool

Newham

North West

Our service for dads and birthing partners is available in the following areas:

Dads and Partners in Newham

Dads and Partners in North West

The East Sussex Parents in Mind service ended on 31 March 2025 due to funding. For all enquiries, please email parentsinmind@nct.org.uk.

How Parents in Mind makes a difference

I found Parents in Mind when I was at my lowest. I was isolated, struggling with the pressures of having a newborn and battling anxiety and depression. Through the amazing work of the peer support volunteers and regular contact from the staff, I was able to move from one to one support and join a group. It was my ‘safe place’. A non-judgemental space that I could escape to once a week where there was a hot drink and an empathetic ear. It may not sound like much, but when you feel you can’t summon the energy to leave the house, it was a light to focus on each week.

Service user

This service was vital for me; I couldn’t even leave the house with my baby by myself. I was struggling with day to day life. The support I’ve been given is outstanding…I’ve felt cared for and supported the whole way.

Service user

Become a Parents in Mind peer supporter

We are looking for peer supporter volunteers to join an amazing team, offering a judgement free, welcoming space to new parents who are feeling anxious, isolated or are struggling with their mental wellbeing. 

As a supporter, you will be able to empathise with the ups and downs of parenthood and be that vital listening ear.

We are looking for volunteers who have lived experience of either: 

  • perinatal mental health difficulties
  • supporting someone closely who has experienced these challenges
East Sussex Parents in Mind volunteers

How you can help

As a Parents in Mind peer supporter, you will:

  • provide one-to-one and group-based support for parents, online or in person
  • offer local and national signposting for parents
  • liaise with local Parents in Mind staff, who will co-ordinate parallel or more suitable referrals

Training and support

We will provide you with:

  • 21 hours of OCN accredited training
  • safeguarding and GDPR training and enhanced DBS checks
  • regular reflective and clinical support from a psychotherapist

How to apply

You can apply to become a peer supporter by completing an expression of interest form.

After you submit the form, a member of the team will get in touch with more information.

Commission a Parents in Mind service

The Parents in Mind service cultivates referral pathways between itself and clinical, maternity and community partners. This offers a useful step up from universal support, and a helpful step down from therapeutic intervention.

Clinical support for parents can be well complemented by social and emotional connections with other local parents and partner community services. This aids confidence and builds resilience, putting the family at the centre of joined up provision when pathways are integrated and cohesive.

Volunteers at a NCT Parents in Mind promotional stand

Funding

Our current operational sites are funded by NHS integrated care boards, Public Health and the Family Hubs provision. 

We are an integrated and integral part of the local perinatal mental health pathway.

Data

We provide anonymised data that is both qualitative and quantitative, and reported quarterly. This data captures service performance to identify: 

  • progressive service improvement
  • partnership strengths
  • areas for development
  • local trends in parental need 

Contact us

You can discuss support options and the possibility of commissioning Parents in Mind in your area by contacting programme.delivery@nct.org.uk.

Parents in Mind has been a vital for us in Newham, easing pressure on stretched perinatal NHS services through its compassionate, peer-led approach. The service has excelled in reaching global majority communities and offering culturally sensitive support, including for dads - an often under-supported group.

Mental Health Programme Manager – Newham Place Based Team, North East London ICB 

The Halton Parents in Mind Team are one of my favourite services. They provide exceptional perinatal mental health peer support to new mums, and show genuine passion and commitment in everything they do, whilst always looking for opportunities to do more.

The consistent positive feedback received from happy mums, shows just how much their support is appreciated, that some of them have gone on to become peer support volunteers or secured permanent positions within the team, ready to help others, with their own understanding and lived experience of perinatal mental health.

Faye – NHS Cheshire and Merseyside

As a commissioner at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, I am incredibly proud of the Parents in Mind service in St Helens and the positive impact this has had on our local families. This invaluable service provides parents with a safe and friendly space to share their thoughts and experiences, offering essential support during the perinatal period. 

By promoting emotional wellbeing and helping parents to build a strong bond with their babies, the service empowers families to navigate early parenthood with confidence, resilience, and compassion.

Yvette – NHS Cheshire and Merseyside

Coventry Parents in Mind are a lifeline for parents who struggle with their mental health after birth. Parents in Mind have partnered with family hubs, training family hub staff on how to recognise, listen and signpost parents who need that extra support.

They have created a friendly, caring and nurturing environment for parents in the family hub, helping them to bond with their baby. Their friendly, non-judgemental staff have the skills to win the trust of parents and bring them on board to the family hubs for holistic support around the family.

Samina, Start for Life Project Lead – Citywide, Children’s Services, Early Help & Protection

Parents in Mind is such a valuable service, and in this current landscape where services are dwindling and capacity is stretched, your service becomes even more vital in supporting parental mental health.

Eileen Perrins, Specialist Health Visitor – Parent & Infant Mental Health, Warwickshire