Former paediatric nurse issues warning about post-lockdown impact on new mums

Suzanne Scott worked in oncology at Yorkhill Children's Hospital before setting up her own business in 2007 offering expert tuition in everything from baby first aid to weaning, massage and yoga.

She claims the Scottish Government "completely overlooked" the importance of baby classes, letting new mums and infants down in the process.

Suzanne said: "The minister for children and young people should have been pushing for baby classes to be treated as part of early years rather than grouping us in with things like soft play.

"Instead, the whole issue of baby classes was completely overlooked and now mums who have had babies in February and March will have not met other mums.

"These poor mums have been left with nothing to do, alone in the house with a new baby and that's hard.

"We talk about how we need a village to raise a child: you need other mums to talk to about how you're feeling when you've had a really bad night.

"You want little tips and advice. We are not supposed to raise our babies in the house on our own.

"You need to have an army of mums behind you."

When lockdown came in to force in March Suzanne moved her Partick-based business, Baby 'n' You, online with classes held over Zoom.

But, she says, it was not as effective as allowing mums to meet up in real life and her clients were "desperate" to resume in-person sessions.

As lockdown eased and early learning and childcare guidance was issued by the Scottish Government, Suzanne contacted her local MSP to ask for advice.

As well as speaking to Bill Kid's office, she also contacted Trading Standards at Glasgow City Council.

On August 12, a representative of Bill Kid emailed Suzanne to say her classes were included in the early learning guidance and she could reopen.

Suzanne had undertaken coronavirus safety training and implemented social distancing policies to make the classes safe for new mums and babies.

She contacted her clients to inform them of the reopening and had nine fully booked classes ready to start on August 19.

However, on August 18 Trading Standards contacted Suzanne to say she was not covered by the guidance and unregulated children's classes were not allowed to resume.

Suzanne said: "I was in an absolute panic trying to contact all my mums to tell them that the classes were off again and to offer them options, such as Zoom classes, postponement or refunds.

"A lot of my clients are very loyal and wanted to stick with me but I lost some people as well.

"A lot of my mums were so disappointed when I sent out the emails to cancel.

"It seemed extraordinary to me that you could take your baby out to a pub or a restaurant or other public places but you couldn't bring them to a baby class.

"Getting people back into the pub was prioritised but maternal mental health was not."

On August 20 the First Minister then made an announcement saying that unregulated children's classes from birth to age 12 can restart from August 31 when further guidance will be issued.

Suzanne ran online classes in April, May and part of June but did not work at the end of June or in July.

She was also not entitled to any government support.

Suzanne said: "The issue of maternal health for postnatal mums is a really serious one - there is a big, big problem brewing.

"For children too, a lot of these very wee ones don't go to nursery so they don't get any socialisation at all.

"I had issues with restarting classes but it's not just me, this is a problem across Scotland."

Mum-of-two Melissa Plain attends the Baby 'n' You classes with her two little ones, now aged 16 months and three years.

Melissa, who is Canadian, had been living in Aberdeen for five years before moving to Glasgow so the classes formed a vital part of her support network and allowed her to make new friends.

She said: "I can see the difference in my youngest now that lockdown is easing because she won't go to people now without crying - that socialisation has been missing.

"Zoom classes aren't the same because children just won't sit in front of a screen to take part - and you don't want them sitting in front of screens anyway.

"Suzy's class is the only place I've made friends in Glasgow and they are a vital part of new motherhood for other women too.

"I know that a lot of the things that were on offer at the start of my motherhood journey are not available now and these things are so important for maternal wellbeing."

Suzanne added: "Postnatal depression is very real and the loneliness and isolation new mothers experience can have a massive impact.

"Our village has been destroyed along with the livelihoods of all the people who work so hard in this unrecognised industry.

"There is a big postpartum problem brewing that all the baby boxes in the world won’t be able to fix."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Whilst group antenatal and postnatal classes were, by necessity, stopped as a result of COVID, we invested in providing free access for all pregnant women to a high quality online antenatal education package in April.

"We also invested in a postnatal online education package as well as online parenting courses covering older children and teenagers which have been available for free since May.

“Since then NHS Boards have been working to establish group antenatal and postnatal classes virtually, and classes for hypnobirthing or breastfeeding support are already available, with others available soon, and our covid route map allowed health professional led antenatal and postnatal group sessions to be resumed from July 31 in NHS Health and Care settings, virtually or face to face subject to physical distancing and hygiene measures.

"We’ve also extended support for third sector services to support mums and families at risk of poor mental health and created an online directory of third sector perinatal and infant mental health services which are actively offering help and support during Covid-19.

"In addition, unregulated indoor activity for children can begin from August 31 subject to guidance being in place.

"Guidance will be available from August 31 but it will not be an instruction for all services and activities to open up at that time and organisations will need to ensure that its delivery setting meets the requirements to open safely for staff, volunteers and service users."