Our Speaking for the Baby Campaign was launched in 2018 to coincide with Infant Mental Health Awareness Week
We love advocating for babies.
At the Centre for Perinatal Psychology, we help parents ‘see’ their baby with fresh eyes, and understand how their baby communicates.
One of things we love doing and encourage parents to do, is to curiously wonder about what is going on inside for their baby. We like to wonder about their minds – what they might be sensing, feeling, thinking, wanting, needing, experiencing. And if we were to put that into words, well, we’d be ‘speaking for the baby’!
Originated and developed by Dr Bronwyn Leigh, our Speaking for the Baby Campaign is a series of illustrations bringing voice to the infant’s experience. We have created this campaign with the help of the supremely talented Jess Racklyeft, a Melbourne-based illustrator who has beautifully brought our ideas to life.
Collaboration with Siriz, The Netherlands
Back in 2019, we collaborated with an organisation called Siriz based in The Netherlands. We worked together to translate the text in the first four illustrations from English to Dutch. Siriz then used the illustration cards as discussion points in their group program with new mums. Contact us if you are interested in the illustrations with text in Dutch.
Collaboration with SMS4dads
In 2025, Speaking for the Baby and SMS4dads joined forces to develop a series of free resources for Dads and perinatal health professionals: a suite of 19 illustrations and 10 accompanying handouts representing positive father-baby interaction based on some SMS4dads messages.
Freely available
All of our Speaking for the Baby resources are available for free download and can be widely shared, but they must remain in original form. The illustrations may be shared on social media sites and used in clinical settings. If you have other intended uses for our images please Contact Us to seek our permission first.
