Referrals are made via our website contact form or via email.

Everyone who expresses an interest in referring to Mothers Matter is sent a referral form, to be completed and returned to us. This is the same procedure used for both self referral and for organisations.

When referrals are received, they are sent to our Support Manager for first point of contact. We then book a date to visit the patient within seven days. It’s really important to visit Mum at the earliest intervention so that Mum has a point of contact from that moment on.

EPDs

Our mums are given EPDs forms upon our first visit. This is a great tool to assist us in working out the level of support needed.

We offer support on a level 1-3 basis, with Level 3 being psychodynamic counselling. Anyone requiring support beyond this would need to be signposted on for alternative support. However, they would stay in our care whilst waiting for further assistance.

When going through the EPDs, we make it essential that all questions are answered to enable us to gauge a clear score from the client.

Assessement and Monitoring

We are looking to visit Mums at the earliest intervention we can at home. We carry out EPDs with Mum, look at wellbeing and complete a Mental Health assessment to better understand Mum’s needs. It is paramount to us to listen to Mum, being congruent and present with them to build a trusting relationship. We continue to monitor Mum by carrying out weekly or fortnightly evaluation visits. To encourage opportunities to reflect, we journal with Mum as we believe it’s important to Mum’s progress to see how far they have come, and how well they are doing.

We also look for triggers and significant changes, such as obsessive behaviours, intrusive thoughts, self harm, self neglect and home neglect. Our staff are trained to safeguard and signpost. Where there are concerns, staff would look to contacting GP, reporting back to their referrer, perinatal mental health team, CMHT, CAMHs, Crisis team.

Governance

Counselling: Mothers Matter’s CEO – Katy Thomas – is a full qualified Counsellor and psychotherapist, and Level 5 Integrated Therapy Diploma. All of our counsellors are Level 5+ and registered with a governing body such as BACP or NCPS.

Our team: Those who work with us require enhanced DBS checks beforehand, as volunteers or staff members. Our staff team are issued with an employment handbook and an employment policy to adhere to. All of our staff sign a confidentiality disclosure upon starting.

Training: All support staff have new enhanced DBS, Safeguarding training, Mental Health and Wellbeing training, and Mental Health toolkit training. Our office staff all have enhanced DBS, safeguarding training and mental health training.

Policies: All of our policies are up to date, and all staff have to read and sign again when updated.

Safeguarding: All staff adhere and sign our safeguarding policy. This is regularly updated by our business manager and all staff are safeguard Level 3 trained. Safeguarding is a core feature of our welcome pack for Mums. We explain and go through our policy, along with confidentiality and GDPR.