Parents who have experienced a sudden and unexpected death of a baby or child often feel anxious when they have another baby. CONI is available where it has been commissioned as part of the local health visiting service and involves health visitors, midwives, paediatricians and GPs.
Through CONI, parents can:
- receive regular home visits by their health visitor, so they can talk freely about any worries and seek advice
- keep a symptom diary to record their baby’s health, which they can then discuss with their health visitor
- use the Baby Check App to help decide when their baby should be seen by a medical or nursing professional
- monitor their baby’s growth with a weight chart, to detect changes quickly
- borrow monitors which pick up movements as the baby breathes, and will ring an alarm if movements stop for longer than 20 seconds
- receive basic life support training
- receive a room thermometer and guidance on bedding and clothing
Tracey, from south London, enrolled her baby on the CONI programme, and said:
“Following the death of Joe, when I fell pregnant with Alfie I was obviously delighted, but extremely anxious. The CONI scheme was a tremendous support. I couldn’t have coped without it.”
Supporting CONI families during coronavirus (COVID-19) and beyond
We appreciate that supporting families on the CONI programme in the usual way may still prove challenging. We advise that health professionals should follow their current local guidance with regard to providing face-to-face contact with families on the CONI programme. Please click here for more detailed information.
CONI is currently available in many areas in England, Wales, Northern Ireland. For more information, please email coni@lullabytrust.org.uk.
