Mums welcome $14m boost for Virtual Residential Parenting Service
Young NSW parents have praised a $14 million funding boost to a beloved service that allows stressed-out parents with children under three to get instant online support from maternal care experts.
Since 2021, NSW families have been able to access urgent specialist care from the Virtual Residential Parenting Service through online video and phone calls designed to help ease the burden of dealing with the challenges of early parenthood.
The Minns Labor government has announced a $14 million investment in the service over the next 10 years to ensure parents continue to receive help putting their babies and toddlers to sleep, feeding them and helping their children learn basic behavioral skills.
Teacher Julie Lui, 37, from Western Sydney, said she sought help from the service through Campbelltown-based provider Karitane after experiencing difficulties raising her son Miles.
“As a first-time mother, you really don’t know what to expect… I think in the beginning, I had a little bit of a hard time soothing a newborn and the whole journey. My community nurse noticed I was struggling and I had a lot of questions to answer and I didn’t really know how to calm my baby,” Ms Lui said.
“I was so sleep deprived. I was anxious and stressed and didn’t know what to do.”
Ms. Lui said the guidance was “really good” because it not only helped her son; The professionals he was seeing were equally concerned about his health, and this spiraled simultaneously with the birth of his young son.
“One of the nurses noticed that I was having pretty serious anxiety, so it helped not only Miles, but me as well,” she said.
“It was all really overwhelming, but then it wasn’t. Without this service, I would have felt completely lost.”
“When you talk to moms out there and share these experiences, you’ll realize you’re not alone. Many people go through these phases and challenges in the beginning.”
Ms Lui said it was important for parents not to be afraid to seek support.
“You’ll feel safer, you’ll feel like there’s always someone around to help you,” he said.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said high-quality support for children in their early years of development was “critical”.
“This additional funding will secure the future of VRPS until 2030 and ensure families can continue to access the support they need, when they need it,” Mr Park said.
“For families who need more flexible support options, this virtual service means they can work and maintain their family routines while accessing much-needed advice and support.
“We know that around a quarter of families participating in the program come from rural and regional NSW, where parents and carers may not have easy access to face-to-face parenting services.”
More than 3,400 families have been helped since the service started in 2021.
