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Maggie Dent's Great Southern Tour 23rd-26th February 2009

Josh Byrne's Kitchen Gardens for Kids Resource Pack

Delicious Healthy Food Recipes for Kids

Early Talking Matters: Early Speech and Language Development 0-5 year olds

Developing speech and language skills is an important part of the ‘pre-school’ years for all children. With the help of two local Speech Pathologists, Rosemary Brennan and Elspeth Myers, we have developed an information package to help parents. We have developed a number of tip sheets for parents outlining the ages and stages of speech and language development from 0-5 years of age, as well as a few information sheets about local services and resources, and how to refer to a Speech Pathologist. To read these articles open the Publications section.

Growing and Learning in the Family

The first and most important learning in a child's life happens within the family. Children learn from the way people treat them and from what they see, hear and experience as soon as they are born. Children are natural learners and between birth and five years, and especially to three years, children grow and learn at the fastest rate of their lifetime.

Perinatal Depression

(information taken from beyondblue website) Adjusting to life as a mother can be difficult. In fact, for many women, having a baby is the most significant life-changing event they will ever experience. Adjusting to this major life change, as well as coping with the day-to-day stress of a new baby, can make some women more likely to experience depression at this time, particularly if they've experienced depression in the past. Some women may experience depression during pregnancy and this is referred to as Antenatal Depression. Around 10 per cent of pregnant women in Australia experience antenatal depression and it is less common than depression which is experienced after the birth of a baby. Postnatal depression (PND) is the name given to depression that a woman experiences in the months after the birth of her baby. Postnatal depression affects almost 16 per cent of women giving birth in Australia. Perinatal depression is the collective term used to describe both antenatal and postnatal depression. On the beyondblue website there is clear and comprehensive information about PND, including: how to recognise the symptoms; how to help someone; the risk factors; the treatments and how to stay well. Another website with very helpful information is the WA Perinatal Mental Health Unit site through the Health Department website. Both links are on this website. To open go to ‘Mums’ and choose Postnatal Depression’ and then follow the links to these websites.