This information is brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Early Years team, on behalf of the Slough Safeguarding Partnership team, for the attention of all Early Years settings.
You will be aware of our Vulnerability of Babies Week sessions from the 28th of September to the 2nd of October 2026.
The engagement, participation, and feedback received throughout the week have been very positive.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all our esteemed presenters for sharing their expertise, knowledge, and resources. During the week we had amazing sessions from:
- Dr. Sharada Deepak (Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist) , Clarice Ngemoh & Seirian Lightfoot, (Health Visitors) explored the impact of childhood neglect on infant brain development and lifelong outcomes.
- Michaela Smith (Principal Social Worker), Prudence Chikwanha, (Named Midwife for Safeguarding) and Katie Dagnell, (Named Nurse Children Safeguarding) delivered a session on effective pre-birth assessments and safeguarding practice.
- Trevor Heron (Engagement and Partnership Team Lead) , and the team from Turning Point discussed the effects of parental substance use on unborn babies and infants.
- Dr Laura Kilbey (Consultant Community Paediatrician at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust) presented on the assessment and significance of bruising in non-mobile babies.
- Kelechi Ukandu (Independent Safeguarding Consultant) shared national learning and safeguarding practice insights relating to young babies.
- Johanna Mullin (Parenting and Home learning Co-Ordinator), Bernadette Kelly and Belinda South (Family Hubs Co-Ordinators) provided an overview of the support available through the Best Start Family Hub in Slough.
- Audrey Carty (Registered Midwife and Safeguarding Consultant ), shared learning about neurodiversity and parenting practice.
Their contributions helped make the week both informative and impactful.
We are pleased to confirm that session resources, presentation materials, and video recordings are now available on our resource page:
https://sloughsafeguardingpartnership.org.uk/sp/p/professionals-1/vulnerability-of-babies-resources
We encourage you to review the resources and recordings, particularly if you were unable to attend these sessions, and to share them with colleagues and teams across your organisation to help maximise the learning from the week.
Please also find attached additional resources that were shared by Kelechi Ukandu following the discussion relating to bruising and cultural markings, which may be useful for your ongoing practice.
Thank you once again for your support and commitment to improving outcomes for babies, children, and families.