Can a baby struggle with their mental health? How this hospital is helping L.A.’s youngest

A major initiative by Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles is designed to meet a crucial but numerous neglected need: mental health care for families who have experienced complex joy, fear and turbulence in the first few years of their lives.

After the baby is born, numerous problems in the family may arise or exacerbate, including postpartum depression, sleep problems, attachment problems between caregivers and children, early signs of behavioral challenges, family conflicts between parents, and housing insecurity often worsens as the family grows. These problems may be more complicated if the child also experiences medical problems, including prolonged hospitalization, severe birth defects, or developmental delays.

The $25 million gift from the Los Angeles Jewish Community Foundation’s Tikun Olam Foundation will enable the hospital to expand mental health screening and services to one of the first hospitals in the country to provide universal infant mental health services at 30,000 children aged 3 and under who seek care at children’s hospitals each year. Currently, the hospital provides these services to about 1,800 children each year.

The idea behind this program is to provide attention and care to strengthen the bond between early parents and children that are vital to infants and help prevent long-term problems.

These bonds are crucial for a baby’s healthy brain development. Rapid neuron formation Melissa Carson, a pediatric psychologist at the hospital and co-director of the Early Contact Program.

Medical problems and family stressors – also known as Unfavorable childhood experiences – This process can be interrupted, but it usually takes pre-school or later to be sure Behavior or other issues There are spirals.

“A little bit of support does prevent the need for more intensive services in the future,” said Marian Williams, a pediatric psychologist at the program’s co-director.

Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles has been providing mental health screening and services to the sickest young children passing through the neonatal intensive care unit for about 10 years. The program is also funded by Mindy and Gene Stein, whose Tikun Olam Foundation focuses on young children.

This need becomes evident when hospitals find many families who provide mental health support in the neonatal intensive care unit after leaving the hospital. Soon, other departments (such as cardiac units) provide similar services to patients.

“I want this to be something that everyone understands and sees as a key part of the growth of a child.”

The “window of opportunity” in childhood

The hospital will also use the funds to train infant and family mental health care providers and study the effectiveness of the program, hoping that the model will be spread to other hospitals.

“When you have a new baby, we have this kind of window. When you have medical needs, there is a window,” Williams said. “There are probably a lot of parents who say, ‘I really don’t need you. I’m here because my fingers are cut, and we’re fine.’ But I think there are more people who say, “Oh, wow.”

Many families may benefit from handouts or videos about common toddler problems, such as sleep problems, picky diets, or excessive crying. Some may want to join parents with other parents facing similar challenges or benefit from some of the nurse’s family visits that can help them adapt to life with newborn babies.

But other families may need more intensive help, such as long-term treatment. Hospitals will also provide them with the social support they need, such as housing, food, transportation and internet access, which can lead to stress for families and long-term mental health challenges for children.

What is infant family mental health?

The term “infant mental health” can be confusing. After all, it is hard to believe that babies may have already encountered emotional difficulties. but Mental health care in the early years It is focused on supporting the developmental relationship between caregivers and children, which can set the child’s life trajectory.

For infants, the therapist may work with parents to help them notice the baby’s tips, find activities that help the baby explore the environment, and conduct their own emotional regulation. As the baby gets older, therapists also use games to help develop bonds and start treating the child more directly.

These early and months can be particularly annoying for families in the medical crisis, said Patricia Lakatos, a psychologist at the hospital.

In the NICU, parents are not only dealing with daily medical reality, but they are also “sading the baby you imagined – the baby you think you will have”, Lacatos said. Her job is to visit her family regularly during her stay to help parents work through grief and understand how babies communicate.

Stressful experiences can also affect the baby’s sense of happiness. For example, babies with traumatic medical needs may panic whenever an adult tries to touch them.

Lacatos said she could read signs of struggling newborns in their eyes. She said healthy babies say, “There is a bright, shiny expression that tells you, ‘I’m ready. I’m here. I’m curious and want to interact with the world.’” But babies who experience troubles often have “dirty, glazed expressions.”

Others’ eyes were “wide, almost like hyperalert,” she said. They can easily be startled and may bend over and open their hands as if saying, “The world is stressful to me.”

However, building a nurturing, supportive relationship with caregivers helps cushion stress. Supporting this bond includes helping parents notice signs of babies being ready for contact, or even temporarily – or baby’s prompts tell them that they need to “softize my voice or hold my voice, rather than trying to look at them because that’s too much stimulation.” The ultimate goal is to help caregivers find the joy and joy of the baby they have.

Supporting mother and baby’s lifeline

Stephanie Blanco of Mission Hills first learned that she would have a baby with major medical complications during her early ultrasound test in pregnancy. “I don’t think I can handle it, go through that,” she said.

But immediately, she was referred to the Fetal Women Center at the Children’s Hospital, which specializes in pregnancy in complex medical conditions, where she met Lakatos. Her son, Vicente Giron Sarria, was diagnosed with facial deformities, and Lakatos began to work with Blanco and her partner in every meeting with the craniofacial team.

“They will explain it [the problems] For me, but you will experience a lot of emotions at that moment. So she would tell me, “It’s okay, I’m here.” and ask her how she feels. It was a moment of tension and stress with the son’s father as they browse the appearance of the new life. She wasn’t sure they would be a couple. But Lakatos helped them process their feelings together, she said, and learned the health of their son.

Vinny was born, even beyond the predicted facial abnormalities, including the need to eat through a feeding tube and spent about two months in the intensive care unit, where Lakatos visited his family every other day.

Lakatos teaches her breathing exercises, helps her connect with her son, and encourages her to spend some time walking on the hospital campus. Blanco was able to connect with her children. “You’re thinking, I can handle this,” she said. “He’s my child and we’re going to go through it. Love is coming.”

When Blanco and Vinny finally came home, the challenge wasn’t over, nor did Lakatos’ support. Vinny needs several surgeries, and Blanco has to learn how to feed him six times a day through the esophagus (including midnight).

But Blanco and her partner Jesse Giron continued to visit Lakatos for several years. Vinny was eventually diagnosed with nonverbal autism and seizure disorders, and Blanco joined the support group of parents led by Lakatos.

Blanco said she is still dealing with life with a medically complex child who needs ongoing care at home. “Every day is new. I learn something every day. Some days are harder than others.”

But she believes Lacatos and Los Angeles Children’s Hospital saved her life and her relationship. “If it weren’t for them, their kindness, their compassion and guidance, I would have lost.”

This article is part of the Times Early Childhood Education Program, focusing on learning and development of California children from birth to 5 years of age. For more information about the program and its charitable funders, please go to latimes.com/earlyed. The Stein Early Childhood Development Fund of the California Community Foundation is the funder.