We provide emotional support for families in Lothian with babies born at 34 weeks or later who have received neonatal care at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. We’re here to support parents during pregnancy and up to their child’s first birthday. We provide support in the hospital, community or at home depending on the family’s situation and preferences.

Through our help, we aim to improve parents’ mental health and wellbeing. We help parents connect within their communities and support relationships with their babies.

How We Help

We match parents with dedicated, trained volunteer befrienders to provide wellbeing support and access to community services. Our Perinatal Connections app also offers a safe, facilitated space for new and expectant mothers to connect with each other and access information and resources whenever they wish.

We tailor our support based on the needs of each family. This support involves working with a perinatal coordinator to explore different resources and accessing local services such as health services, shops, parks and parent groups. Parents can also expect to receive emotional support from a Volunteer Perinatal Befriender in a way that suits them (such as by phone, in person or digitally.) Parents also have the opportunity to access our Perinatal Connections app.

We are looking for Perinatal Befrienders

Are you a good listener? Can you spare a few hours each week?

We are looking for Perinatal Befrienders to help mums, babies and families living in Forth Valley and in Lothian.  As a trained Perinatal Befriender, you can offer life changing support through listening, building relationships and reducing social isolation and loneliness. This helps improve parents’ mental health and promotes positive parent and infant relationships.

Caring Cafes

Aberlour’s Perinatal Befriending Services run Caring Cafes every fortnight where parents/expectant parents and their babies can connect in a safe space, facilitated by Perinatal Coordinators. Our Caring Cafes are run locally within Forth Valley and East Lothian venues on a drop-in basis and are open to parents who are linked to our services.