Find resources / Group parenting programme / Brain development / Looking after baby’s brain

• Understand what harms brain development and why.
• Learn about the parts of the brain and how they function.

Ask the group what are things that could harm baby’s brain?

Brainstorm and record their thoughts on whiteboard or chart paper.

If not already suggested, add the following:

• exposure to drugs and alcohol
• toxins – for example, lead-based paints
• second-hand smoke
• poor diet – not enough good fat in baby’s diet to make myelin, the insulation for brain cells
• shaking baby
• lack of sleep – parents or baby
• baby left in unsafe places
• baby exposed to anger and violence
• not enough attention or interaction.

Ask the group to consider if there’s anything here that they might need to think about changing for their baby. They do not need to share these with the group.

Never shake a baby

• Fill a balloon with a small amount of water and tie the end.
• Fit it inside a clear jar with a lid.
• Shake the jar.
• What happens?

This helps to show what happens to the brain when a baby is shaken roughly, and the permanent damage that can be done to a child.

Myelin

Myelin is the fatty coating that wraps around the axons (the part of a brain cell that sends messages within the brain).

Bring a piece of plastic-coated wire as a simple example of how this myelin sheath provides the necessary insulation on axons. The sheath ensures the electrical and chemical signals are transmitted quickly and efficiently along the neurons. If myelin is damaged, these signals slow down leaving children vulnerable to neurological deficits.

• whiteboard or chart paper
• pens
• balloons
• clear jar with lid
• plastic-coated wire (cable)