New Tweddle Early Parenting Centre On The Way For Wyndham

By Kerrie Gottliebsen

Today Tweddle CEO Ms Jacquie O Brien joined Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas, Treasurer of Victoria and Member for Werribee, Tim Pallas at the location of Wyndham’s new Early Parenting Centre on the Princes Highway in Werribee.

The Minister for Health highlighted the great need for support in a child’s first 1000 days of life and how the Wyndham EPC was helping to deliver more early intervention and prevention programs to make sure every family gets the best possible start.

“This new centre will deliver flexible, targeted services to help new parents in Werribee and the surrounding areas with sleep and settling issues, supporting hundreds of local families a year.” She said.

Member for Werribee Tim Pallas thanked Tweddle for the provision of inpatient care, noting that raising a family was an incredibly challenging time for many families. “Through this fantastic new centre, families in and around Werribee will be able to access more care and support close to home.” He said.

New mums and dads will soon have better access to early parenting support in a purpose-built facility, with construction now underway.  Designed to help families with children under four years of age, the new centre will have 10 residential family units, four day-stay places, a kitchen and dining area, playrooms and outdoor play areas.

The new Early Parenting Centre will provide parents and carers with the advice and care they need, including support with sleep and settling, feeding and extra care for children with additional needs.

Ms O’Brien said that this important new Residential Early Parenting Centre will be the difference between some parents seeking help and some not. For many decades Wyndham families have had to travel long distances with unsettled babies and tired toddlers to seek residential support.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be bringing the experience and care of our specialist Tweddle clinicians to Wyndham. In 2020 nearly 4,000 babies were born in this region. Parents can now travel locally to get the residential help they need to strengthen relationships in the very early months and years of their children’s lives. This will help them get off to a great start in life with parents that feel connected, confident and healthy.” She said.

Sleep and settling is one of the biggest challenges facing new parents – with around half of Victorian parents who attend the centres reporting problems with their child’s sleep.

Sleep issues can lead to post-natal depression, isolation and stress for parents and affect a child’s behavioural, mental and physical development.

The final designs for the centre released today showcase the facility’s exterior, kitchen, dining area and residential family units, which have been carefully considered to create an environment where families can feel at home.

The project’s architects, Brand Architects, consulted childcare experts, local community groups and traditional owners as part of the process, to ensure the design reflects the community it serves.

Trent Burke, VHBA Executive Director Health Capital and Chris Vangeli, Hutchinson Builders Project Manager were onsite today to share updates and progress of the build, which is due to be completed in mid 2023.

The Labor Government is delivering the centre in partnership with the Tweddle Child and Family Health Service and Hutchinson builders, with construction expected to be complete in mid-2023.

The centre forms part of the Labor Government’s $148 million investment to expand and upgrade the state’s early parenting service network – upgrading two existing centres and building eight new centres in growing areas across metropolitan and regional Victoria.

It comes on top of the Government’s $10.1 million investment in maternal and child health services in growth corridors like Wyndham, attracting more staff to the region and better utilising well-established support networks.

The package includes extra work to recruit more Maternal Child Health workers to the area, and a new client IT system to increase system and workforce capabilities – ensuring parents in the growing area have the support they need for their young families.