Cherry Bond is a neonatal nurse who has practiced for over 20 years. She has been involved with a world renown research team lead by Professor Vivette Glover at a leading London Hospital, looking at the positive effects of infant massage on the NICU, kangaroo care and with postnatally depressed women.

 Summary:

Cherry is a well known internationally recognised infant massage specialist. She works with both preterm and sick infants who need highly specialised care, as well as with parents and their babies in the community. Her popular and inspirational talks have taken her all over the world with diverse audiences: from ‘A’ level teachers, to 3000 paediatricians in Russia. Cherry’s involvement with the research team at Queen Charlotte’s hospital has been innovative, integrating science and nurturing touch in highly technical settings, as well as with extremely vulnerable new mothers with mental health problems. With her energy, enthusiasm and ability to motivate staff and parents, she has accomplished remarkable advancements in holistic care within the National Health Service.

Qualifications:

• Registered Sick Children’s Nurse - RSCN,
• Registered General Nurse - RGN,
• Specialised Neonatal Course -  JBC 400, 
• CIMI - Certified Infant Massage Instructor (International Association of Infant Massage)
  
• Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale (NBAS) Certification
• Applied Behavioural Sciences in Advanced Neonatal Practice (Masters Module)
• ITEC Anatomy, Physiology & Body Massage Diploma.
• Baby Yoga Certificate

Career Profile

• Internationally recognised specialist in Baby Massage and Positive Touch in a Family Centred Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
• Published author with articles in a wide range of medical and nursing journals both domestically and overseas
• Member of research team.
• Keynote speaker at international and UK neonatal conferences and seminars
• Consultant to commercial organisations and charities.
• UK committee associate of IAIM (International Association of Infant Massage).
• Research consultant and book reviewer for the IAIM UK journal.
• Specialist parent-infant interaction co-ordinator on Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
• Empathetic and effective communicator with highly developed practical and team leading skills
• Course tutor on Positive Touch  Workshop/courses

Current Professional Commitments:

Winnicott Baby Unit, St Mary’s Hospital

Developmental Care Educator
Member of the Developmental Care (NIDCAP) Team
Post-discharge Infant Massage Group Instructor
Educational programme for senior neonatal staff in London NW Hospitals.

International Association of Infant Massage

Research adviser.
Reviewer for website and newsletter.
Infant massage oil guidelines author & consultant.
Speaker for members meetings both in the UK and Internationally.
Tutor for Further Education Workshops.

Baby Life Support Systems (BLISS)

Speaker at education days
Consultant for education information

Retainers & Consultancies:

BLISS Consultancy role with charity publications, reading and editing information which is in print for parent education. Involved with publication on Kangaroo Care. Speaker at conferences and education days.

Pampers Involved in many baby projects and meetings including contributing a pre-term massage section for their American Infant Health Care web site.

Johnson & Johnson   Designed and wrote  Baby Massage leaflet. Consultant for Johnson baby-care ‘Touch Report’ booklet. Consultant for international research team, looking at baby massage oils. Consultant for midwifery information pad on baby massage. Sponsored by J&J to a talk on research into stress and postnatal depression at a  3,000 delegate medical conference in Russia.

Media National television, radio and press journalist consultant. Recent contributions: National press enquiry when Prime Minister’s son was born. Radio 4 featured my work in Woman’s Hour, regarding the  Positive Touch programme in the neonatal unit at St Mary’s Hospital, Carlton TV featured my work with preterm parents and babies on two consecutive years. Recently conducted live radio and press briefings for Johnson & Johnson publication of their new Touch report booklet.

 Publications

Massage A Silent Dialogue

Book published for use by Queen Charlottes & Hammersmith Hospitals provided to parents of every admission to the neonatal unit. This was used by parents and staff to demonstrate preterm infant massage techniques. Currently out of print and being updated.

The Dialogue of Infant Massage

Article for Massage Australia, a national journal for complementary therapists. Published 2004 – 2005, following an article about the post natal depression study done with the Queen Charlotte’s baby massage group.

Seminars in Neonatology

Guest edited the complete edition of this medical journal: Volume 7, Issue 6;  2003- ‘Integrated neonatal care: vital topics that complement neonatal nursing’. Also wrote the editorial and a one of the articles called Positive Touch & Massage in the neonatal unit: a British approach.

Baby Massage

Leaflet produced for Johnson’s Baby.  Aimed at professionals and parents as an introduction to infant massage at home.

The Power of Touch

Booklet published in 2004, following a Johnson’s Baby Care touch research report. This report, highlighting the importance of positive parental touch, was released to the press and radio media.

Association of Infant Mental health (UK) Newsletter.

March 2004 4(1): Baby massage: a form of early intervention by facilitating parent-child communication. This newsletter is widely read by Health Visitors, psychologists and those concerned with child mental health issues.

The Journal of Family Health Care.

2002 12 (2) Baby Massage : a dialogue of touch. This journal is read by parents and health professional and focuses on infant and child topics.

Massage & Health Review

2001 4(1): Infant Massage. This review is published by Claire Maxwell Hudson, a prominent massage training centre in the UK.

Take a Break

April 2000 16 (21): A Mother’s Touch. A popular parent magazine with a wide, mostly parent readership.

The Journal of Neonatal Nursing.

This journal is the most widely read neonatal journal in the UK. Positive Touch & Massage in the Neonatal Unit: a means of reducing stress levels - 1999 vol.5 (5). Also featured in : MIDIRS –Midwifery Digest 200010 (2)243-247.

Newborn News (BLISS Charity)

Autumn 2000: My Work By Cherry Bond. This is read by parents and staff involved with premature infant care.

Conferences & Workshops

Two-day Courses ‘Positive Touch in the neonatal Unit’

For Health Professionals and associated staff working with preterm infants. Delegates are neonatal nurses, medical staff, physiotherapists, speech and language specialists, occupational therapists and all staff who are working in a neonatal unit. There is a world-wide attendance to this course.

The Centre for Professional Development in Osteopathy and Manual Therapy

Regular talks and study days given on infant behaviour, as part of their annual education programme. The programme is aimed at therapists and students treating infants and children. The day courses cover theoretical sessions including the neuroscience of parent-infant attachment, and practical sessions where the delegates observe infant massage in action and analyse and discuss the intricacies of the interactions seen.

Caring for Infants with Chronic Lung Disease in Hospital & at Home

Recurrent speaker for many years at ‘O2 Go Home’ course, run at Hammersmith Hospital with the Faculty of Health & Human Sciences at Thames Valley University. This is a credited course teaching Health professionals who work in the community, as well as the neonatal unit, how to deal with oxygen dependent infants and their families in the community.

International Association of Infant Massage UK

Presentations at member meeting; in progress – regular venues.
Speaker on Infant Cues at the International General Assembly in Barcelona, Spain.
Speaker on neurobiology and infant massage at the IAIM International General Assembly in Montréal, Canada.
Keynote speaker at the Irish IAIM Education Day in Belfast. The relevance of baby massage to the developing brain
Speaker in Tokyo, Japan at their IAIM conference on infant massage and postnatal depression. Also gave a continuing education session for Japanese CIMIs.
Speaker on infant cues at the IAIM International General Assembly, in Ottawa, Canada.

Research Programmes

Infant massage improves mother-infant interaction for mothers with postnatal depression.

O'Higgins M, St James Roberts I, Glover V. Postnatal depression and mother and infant outcomes after infant massage. Journal of  Affective Disordors. 2008 Jul;109(1-2):189-92. Epub 2007 Dec 20. This study showed that at one year, the massage-group mothers had non-depressed levels of sensitivity of interaction with their babies, whereas the support group did not.

Acute effects of maternal skin-skin contact and massage on saliva cortisol in  preterm babies. R. Gitau, N. Modi, X. Gianakoulopoulos, C Bond & V. Glover. Journal of Reproductive & Infant psychology, Vol.20, (2); 2002: 83-88. This clinical trial showed that a  20 minute period of maternal skin-to-skin contact caused a consistent and significant reduction in infant saliva cortisol levels; the effects of massage were more variable.

 

• Changes in plasma cortisol and catecholamine concentrations in response to massage in preterm infants. Acolet D, Modi N, Giannakoulopoulos X, Bond C, Weg W, Clow A, Glover V. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1993 Jan;68(1 Spec No):29-31. Comment in:
  
  Archives of Disease in Child & Fetal Neonatal Ed. 1994 Jan;70(1):F80.

In this clinical trial, the biochemical and clinical response to massage in preterm infants was assessed. Cortisol, but not catecholamine, concentrations decreased consistently after massage. It showed that it is possible to detect an objective hormonal change following a supposedly 'non-therapeutic' (massage) intervention in preterm infants.

Previous Work Experience

1977-1978       Staff Nurse completing Neonatal JBC 400. University College Hospital, London WC1 6AU.

1978 – 1998    Neonatal Unit, Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital. Ward sister until 1980, worked permanent shifts on Nurse Bank following birth of first baby.

1994 - 2006 Parent Craft Dept QCCH. Co-ordinating and teaching ‘Baby Massage & postnatal support group’.

1998 –  present Permanent hours  Parent Infant Interaction Co-ordinator at Winnicott   Baby Unit, St Mary’s Hospital.

2008 – present Developmental Care Educator for the staff at The Winnicott Baby Unit, St Mary’s Hospital , London.

Memberships:

RCN – The Royal College of Nursing
NMC – The Nursing & Midwifery Council
Neonatal Nurses Association
International Association of Infant Massage UK
Association for Infant Mental Health

EDUCATION INVOVEMENT

Professional Practice:

• UNICEF UK Baby friendly Initiative two-day breastfeeding course, 2004
  
• Update on cot death research: FSID AGM March 2009
   
  Neuroscientific & Attachment research:
  
  
• School of Infant Mental Health professional workshop on ‘The Emotional Development of the Child according to Donald  Winnicott  Perspective, March 2009
  
• Trauma in Infancy – A Psychoanalytic Forum at the Institute of Psychoanalysis on December 8th 2007. Speakers: Amanda Jones  The Compulsion to Repeat: The Creation and Repair of Traumatic Internal Worlds and Angela Joyce  -  Infantile Psychosomatic Integrity and Maternal Trauma

• The Infant: Attachment, Neurobiology and Genes. A two-day International and interdisciplinary symposium in Munich 2006.
• The Psychobiology of Sympathy: Infants teach us how human brains in human bodies make sense together. One-day presentation by professor Colwyn Trevarthen 2006.
• Annual representative at The International Attachment Research Unit Network conferences at UCL.
•  Allan Schore Seminars 2002, 2003 & 2004
• Jaak Panksepp seminars 2002 & 2004
• Richard Evans – Essential neuroanatomy and a tour of the human brain 2002.
• The Donald Winnicott Memorial Lecture 2003
• The 24th International Scientific Colloquium – Creating connections: psycho-analysis, Neuroscience and Development 2002.

Child Mental Health:

• Exploring ways of working with hard-to-reach relationships. Conference May 2009
• Liverpool study day June 2008: Research using massage for parents with infants with congenital heat disease, by Dr Natalie Tierney. Sally Gooard Blythe on Reflexes –Reflections of the Developing Nervous system:
• Helping Women after a Traumatic Childbirth. Workshop with Phyllis Klaus, MFT, CSW, in Munich Dec. 2006.
• Aware Parenting weekend by Aletha Solta 2004
• The Impact of Violence on Infants’2003
• Dr Patricia Crittenden seminar - Relationships at Risk: Mothers and Infants

Neonatal Developmental Care interest:

• Neurodevelopment and care of the preterm infant: from Protocol to relationship. One-day pre-conference workshop by Prof. Heidelise Als in Munich 2006.
• The Infant Behavioral Assessment and Intervention Program. A one-day workshop by Rodd Hedland (NIDCAP Trainer) on July 2006.
• Two day conference on enriching early parent infant relationships - invitation by Brazelton Centre 2004
• Helping to organise and attend the  2003 & 2005,  ‘Infant Development in Neonatal Intensive Care’ two-day conference, and following European scientific Foundation day.
• Attended the week-long ‘Physical and Developmental Environment of the High-Risk Infant’ in Florida in 2002.

Interpersonal Communications

• Communication skills with Center for Non-Violent Communication trainers. A morning Workshop on October 8th 2006.
• Seminar on ‘How to communicate more effectively’. 2004
• ‘How to handle difficult people’ seminar 2000

Complementary Health

• Baby Yoga Course 2004
• Jan Kusmeric workshop on composition, chemistry and use of plant-based oils.
• Personality patterns through the feet.

General:

• Workshop on consensus in 2004
• London Writing Centre workshop 2003




Positive Touch Programme©


Cherry Bond's two-day courses are specifically promoted for those who want to introduce/create a Positive Touch Programme©, which promotes techniques for both staff and parents to use in their unit. The course also gives specific training to enable NICU staff to create a formal Positive Touch protocol.

This baby has had the opportunity to experience loving touch communication from her parents as soon as she was born, even though she was very small and 12 weeks early.

Everyone deserves to have this opportunity; however in the UK this kind of care is not valued….the medical model prevails in the majority of neonatal units (NICU). Family issues are often marginalised with very few funded teams employed to educate and promote care that may effect later emotional and social development of these tiny graduates from the NICU.

Most Nursing staff are aware that they are unable to give the right care without training, yet opportunities for staff education is often not available.

Cherry Bond is offering a two-day workshop which is being kept as reasonable as possible to:

1. train neonatal staff to make a real difference on their unit and promote a more humane approach to the standard care that is being given.
   
   
2.  give a much needed respite for staff, who are often at breaking point themselves, due to overwork, under staffing and poor wages.

All donations are welcome as they help keep the cost of the course as low as possible.