The Parent-Infant Research Institute (PIRI) is a vigorous & innovative Australian research institute focusing on understanding, developing and applying treatments

to improve parent and infant well-being. PIRI believes that early intervention is the

key to better outcomes for families.

While PIRI has a strong research focus, it also comprises a clinical unit (Infant

Clinic). The Infant Clinic is a Centre of Excellence and provides clinical services to assist with the difficulties experienced by parents & infants in the first years of life.

Helping Families with Premature Babies

The Infant Clinic provides a

specialised service to families

with a premature baby.

Premature birth can often be

followed by problems such as:

� Delayed stress, anxiety and

trauma

� Postnatal depression

� Adjustment problems

� Partner relationship problems

� Issues in relating to the baby

� Problems in understanding the

baby’s behavioural cues and

developmental progress

Premature babies often respond

to parents in a different way than

full-term babies in the early

months.

Their Neonatal Intensive Care

Unit (NICU) experience has been

stressful and very different from

that of full-term babies.

Preterm neonates may be

unsatisfying social partners to

their mothers. They tend to “shut

down”, turn away and go to sleep,

and become dysregulated more

often than full-term babies.

In addition, mothers (and fathers)

have often gone through their

own psychological distress during

their baby’s hospitalisation, which

can result in excessive anxiety,

stress, depression and post-

traumatic stress disorder.

Many problems experienced by

the baby, the parent and in their

relationship together can become

exacerbated over time.

Our services to parents of

preterm babies include individual

counselling, psycho-educational

sessions and a ‘PremieHUGS’

group for parents of premature

babies will be starting in 2011.

Part of our approach is based on

our evaluated program working

with parents in the NICU

(PremieStart) that focuses on

both the mother and the baby and

aims to facilitate their ongoing

relationship and attachment

process.

Referrals can be made for

assistance to parents of

premature babies. Contact the

Intake worker on (03) 9496 4496.

See our training calendar on page

3 for a workshop by Dr Carol

Newnham on the issues of

preterm infants and their parents.

PARENT-INFANT

RESEARCHINSTITUTE &

INFANT CLINIC

PIR

IJULY - DECEMBER 2010 NEWSLETTER

T: 9496 4496 F: 9496 4148 www.piri.org.au

New Projects Starting in 2011

Motivational Interviewing to Improve

Help-seeking for Postnatal Depression

We are very pleased to announce the start of a new

study in 2011 that aims to evaluate whether

motivational interviewing, delivered by Maternal and

Child Health Nurses, is helpful in preparing new

mothers to take action for their emotional health needs

in the first year postpartum.

Background

Around 30,000 women annually suffer from postnatal

depression (PND) and untreated depression has

serious negative long-term consequences for mothers

and infants. Although there is now a national approach

– as part of the Federal Government’s National

Perinatal Depression Initiative – to identify women who

have symptoms of PND, research shows that the

majority of women (50-70%) do not accept help.

Currently, no effective, evidence-based strategy to

enhance uptake of treatment exists. There is an urgent

need to determine whether we can improve uptake of

services by women experiencing PND. Motivational

Interviewing has shown enormous success in other

fields of healthcare.

The study

Forty Maternal & Child Health Nurses will be invited to

participate. Half will be trained in motivational

interviewing and will use these techniques during their

appointments with mothers. The other half will

continue to offer current best practice routine care.

In total, 800 women will be followed-up until 12 months

postpartum to evaluate the effectiveness of

motivational interviewing in increasing uptake of

services as needed and subsequently improving mood.

If the study shows that motivational interviewing is

effective in increasing help-seeking when needed, we

would make this training available to all Maternal and

Child Health Nurses.

If you are interested in being involved in this study,

please contact Charlene Schembri on (03) 9496 4496

or charlene.schembri@austin.org.au

Improving Neurobehavioural

Development in Preterm Infants

PIRI has been successful in securing an NHMRC

grant to follow-up children at school age who were

involved in PIRI’s PremieStart study as infants.

Background

There are around 21,000 preterm births in Australia

each year, and more than 50% of these infants will

have lasting developmental impairment. On

average, infants born very preterm are more likely

to be lower on IQ at school-age, three times as

likely to exhibit attention-deficit hyperactivity and at

elevated risk for anxiety and depression.

Early stressful experiences play a role in these poor

outcomes and interventions that minimise stress on

preterm infants have shown short-term benefits.

However, research is urgently needed to confirm if

early gains result in improved long-term

neurobehavioural development to school age.

The study

The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term

effectiveness of a simple, inexpensive program of

stress-reduction for preterm infants (PremieStart)

on measures of cognition and behaviour. The

PremieStart program teaches parents about infant

behavioural responses, how to protect infants from

stress in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and

encourages sensitive involvement from the earliest

point.

This study will compare developmental outcomes

at 4 and 6 years in intervention and control preterm

children, and a full-term age matched cohort.

Results from our previous smaller trial of

PremieStart showed that the intervention resulted

in short-term improvements in early brain structure

including enhanced white matter connectivity.

If our innovative, cost-effective program for these

highly vulnerable children translates into long-term

educational advantages in this longer study it could

be an invaluable advance in neonatal care and offer

substantial economic benefits. It could improve

quality of life and ensure a healthy start to life.

Getting Ahead of

Postnatal Depression

The next ‘Getting Ahead of

Postnatal Depression’ group is

due to start in January.

This 12-week cognitive-

behavioural therapy (CBT) group

program is designed to help

women develop coping strategies

to better manage their mood. It

includes three couple sessions to

provide information and support

to partners. The group is

available on a bulk billing basis

through Medicare.

To refer, contact the Intake

Worker on (03) 9496 4496.

Community HUGS

The next ‘Community HUGS’

playgroup will be starting

Thursday 3 February.

Community HUGS (CHUGS) is a

10-session therapeutic playgroup

that offers direct, early

intervention to improve mother-

infant interactions and attachment

following postnatal depression,

anxiety, or a difficult transition to

parenthood. As this program is

being offered as part of a

research project, there is no

charge for the sessions.

We have a limited number of free

training places available for

MCHNs interested in CHUGS.

To obtain a referral form, contact

Charlene on (03) 9496 4496 or

charlene.schembri@austin.org.au

Beating the Blues

before Birth

‘Beating the Blues before Birth’

will continue to run throughout

2011.

This 8-session cognitive

behavioural therapy (CBT)

program is designed to improve

maternal mood during pregnancy.

Weekly individual sessions with a

psychologist are provided free of

charge as this program is being

evaluated as part of a study.

Half the women who participate in

this study receive the 8-session

CBT treatment. The other half

receive enhanced routine care.

All participants are clinically

assessed by a psychologist and

linked in with appropriate services

as needed. A psychologist will

also keep in touch with all

participants and monitor their

mood by phone and/or

questionnaires at three follow-up

time points until 6 months post-

birth.

To obtain a referral form, please

contact Charlene Schembri

on (03) 9496 4496 or

charlene.schembri@austin.org.au

2011 Training

Calendar for Health

Professionals

Newsletter edited by Charlene Schembri

Start Dates for 2011 Treatment Programs

Referrals Welcome

We are in the process of

finalising our training calendar

for 2011, so stay tuned!

3 – 4 MARCH

A two-day workshop for

psychologists on treatment of

postnatal depression, presented

by Professor Jeannette Milgrom

and Dr Jo du Buisson.

MAY

A one-day workshop presented

by Dr Carol Newnham,

neuropsychologist, researcher

and editor of PremiePress, about

understanding and resolving

interactional difficulties of

mothers and their premature

infants.

For more information, please

contact us on (03) 9496 4496 or

piri@austin.org.au.

For a full list of training

opportunities, visit our website:

www.piri.org.au.

PIRI & Infant Clinic TeamProf Jeannette MilgromDirector, Psychologist

Ms Sofia Rallis

Psychologist

Dr Jessica Ross

Psychologist, Researcher

Ms Jennie EricksenCoordinator, Psychologist

Dr Alan GemmillResearcher

Dr Carmel Ferretti

Psychologist, Researcher

Ms Barbara Frazer Admin Assistant

Dr Carol NewnhamPsychologist, Researcher

Mr Christopher HoltResearcher

Dr Jo du Buisson

Psychologist

Ms Elizabeth Groth

Admin Assistant

Dr Charlene SchembriPsychologist, Researcher

Ms Elizabeth LoughlinDance Therapist

Dr Helen Skouteris

Researcher (Honorary)

Newsletter edited by Charlene Schembri

HOLIDAY WISHES

This is our last newsletter for

2010 and we would like to wish

you all a very safe and happy

holiday season.

Our thanks to all of you and we

look forward to your further

involvement with PIRI or the

Infant Clinic in 2011.