Parents struggling with the demands of babies and toddlers will have an extra service to call on after the state government announced a new multi-million dollar early parenting centre will be built in Ballarat.
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Due to be operational by late 2022, Ballarat's early parenting centre will be run by Ballarat Health Services in partnership with the Queen Elizabeth Centre in Melbourne which has been running a similar service for many years.
The centre will be one of seven planned to be built in metropolitan and regional areas over the next four years as part of the $123 million project, which will also see existing centres in Footscray and Noble Park upgraded to meet increasing demand.
"We know that parenting can be challenging and stressful at times and some new mums and dads may need a little extra support to give their children the best start to life," said health minister Martin Foley.
"Early parenting centres deliver flexible, targeted services to help parents with sleep and settling issues. This investment will more than triple Victoria's service capacity - supporting thousands more families a year."
The centres will support families with children up to the age of four.
Sleep and settling are two of the most common problems facing parents of young children, with half of families accessing existing early parenting centres seeking help for sleep problems.
Other common concerns for parents of babies and young children include feeding and support for special needs. Staff at the centres will come from a range of backgrounds including nursing, social work, psychology, early parenting and child development.
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The Ballarat early parenting centre, and those planned to be built in Bendigo, Geelong, Frankston, Casey, Wyndham and Whittlesea, will have 10 residential units and four day-stay units to provide different levels of support and programs to improve health, wellbeing and the development of children and their parents.
Mr Foley said community advisory groups would be established to help with planning for each new centre.
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