Helping your baby flourish
Baby Check Bath CIO | Registered Charity: 1196275
Baby Check Bath is a pioneering registered charity dedicated to providing a free osteopathic service for babies whose families would not otherwise be able to afford it.
At Baby Check we offer parents the opportunity to have their baby assessed and treated by a registered osteopath. Our team of osteopaths has a wealth of experience in treating babies and children, and we are passionate about making this service more available.
From experience, Osteopaths and Health Visitors believe that early osteopathic intervention can significantly help some babies. Two previous service evaluations carried out at a GP surgery in Bath provided very positive responses. (See testimonials placed throughout the website)
These service evaluations showed that Health Visitors, in the surgery, referred the babies for any of the following symptoms.
- Prolonged periods of distress – not easily comforted
- Difficulty establishing easy relaxed feeding – difficulty achieving a good ‘latch’, or latch is uncomfortable or painful
- Stiffness in the neck or shoulders – head turns more easily to one side than the other
- Slightly asymmetrical head shape – sometimes called plagiocephaly
- ‘Sticky eyes’ that are slow to clear up
Baby Check aims to make treatment available to families in the Bath and North East Somerset free of charge. We anticipate treating a cohort of over 200 babies in a 12 month period. The clinic opened in January 2015 and since then we have treated over 1,000 babies.
Latest News
Baby Check Receives Healthwatch Community Research Funding
Baby Check Bath (CIO) was delighted to receive Healthwatch Community Pot research funding in 2021-2022 to study the effect of osteopathic treatment on the postnatal health & wellbeing of new mothers and their babies Babies were treated for colic, reflux, “wind”/...
We need your support
Please visit our ‘local giving’ page to make a donation to Baby Check Bath CIO. Thank you
Post-natal mother and baby sessions
In addition to the first newborn baby check appointment, mothers will be offered a free assessment, by one of our Osteopaths, to see whether treatment could help them too.
They may then receive free post-natal Osteopathy as part of the Baby Check scheme.
I can’t recommend Baby Check highly enough. The treatment offered to Ruby was superb, with excellent results. Ruby enjoyed each session, coming away very relaxed each time. A truly wonderful experience. A big thanks to the team!
Baby Check Bath CIO aims to benefit:
- Individual babies and their immediate family
- Communication with other health professionals involved with the care of babies – principally health visitors, midwives, lactation consultants, GP’s and paediatricians.
- Parents by collecting data and writing up the results of the full-service evaluation so they can make more informed choices about treatment for their children. This is extremely important. In the present situation, parents often hear about osteopathy but can’t get any information from their health professionals and have to resort to hearsay or internet searching to find out more
- The wider professional osteopathy community by encouraging further research and by providing training facilities for postgraduate osteopaths wanting to gain experience in the treatment of children
Research
Baby Check Bath CIO is an active member of BSW Research Hub based at the University of Bath and receives research support from the University’s School of Management. Baby Check Bath gratefully receives a research grant from The Sutherland Cranial College of Osteopathy www.scco.ac.
Baby Check Bath (CIO) was delighted to receive Healthwatch Community Pot research funding in 2021-2022 to study the effect of osteopathic treatment on the postnatal health & wellbeing of new mothers and their babies Babies were treated for colic, reflux, “wind”/ digestion issues, difficulty settling & sleeping, difficulty turning their head/ lying on their back, breastfeeding problems, check-up after a traumatic birth, turned in foot/sticky eye
Mothers were treated for back pain, feeling emotional& depressed, muscle pain. Having a traumatic birth experience can be a trigger for postnatal mental health issues in new mothers, including postnatal depression. Helping these babies and their mothers recover is an important part of supporting their postnatal health and wellbeing. Babies were more settled after osteopathic treatment
Mothers felt better once their babies were more settled.
50% of Mums had experienced a traumatic birth , 100% of Mums said they would recommend our service to other families, 68% of Mums had not been to an Osteopath before.
The average course of treatment is 6 sessions costing £200. In order to create a sustainable team of experienced practitioners, we are looking for a budget of £50,000 for the first year. This will be raised by individual contributions from existing patients, appeals to trusts and other research bodies.
We urgently need support for this service for babies in the Bath and North East Somerset area. If you can help in any way please contact Baby Check reception on 01225 460106. Any donations, large or small, would be greatly appreciated.
Contact us by email: info@babycheckbath.org
As a health professional with 33 years of experience working with infants, children and carers specialising in physical and mental health, I would have no hesitation in recommending the very professional service offered by the registered osteopaths at Baby Check Bath. I find the expert service they provide invaluable to babies that have had difficult births and feeding problems.
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Can you help?
We urgently need support for this service for babies in the Bath and North East Somerset area. If you can help in any way please get in touch. Any donations, large or small, would be greatly appreciated.
Peter Cockhill
Send us an email:
info@babycheckbath.org
As someone who has personally benefitted hugely from osteopathic treatment and who specialises in working with children, I think it is fantastic that Baby Check is now available to increase access for young babies to an osteopathic assessment and treatment, and that it is provided in a group setting that is so supportive and positive.