Infant Family Support Program

Babies arrive with lots of needs and no instructions on how to meet them. Parents often have questions that go beyond non-medical concerns. The Infant Family Support Program at Maine Coast Pediatrics is here to help answer any social and emotional questions you might have as you raise your baby.

The Infant Family Support Program operates at Maine Coast Pediatrics clinic on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. We also have a phone support line available at all times to answer calls from parents regarding non-medical related questions about their babies’ development and parenting concerns.

The Infant Family Support specialist, Mary Beth Mitchell, meets with parents and babies at regularly scheduled well child check ups starting at two-weeks and continuing at two-month and four- month. During theses visits parents are asked if they have any questions or concerns about their baby’s social and emotional development, provide up to date resources and information about appropriate child development stages as well as parenting concerns. Mary Beth spends a lot of time helping parents to understand what is within the scope of normal. Common topics addressed are crying, spitting up, breastfeeding, sleep, post partum depression and connecting parents to community resources.

Support of parents is a major part of our program and we try to build confidence in parents through education, emotional support and referrals to other community agencies. Our goal is to support families by supporting healthy development. In conjunction with the medical practice, we hope to cover not just the physical but also the emotional growth of all babies we serve.