Welcome to the World an exploration of the experiences of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Welcome to the World

an exploration of the experiences of participants in an antenatal nurturing programme Research partners – University of Hull, Faculty of Health & Social Care

Sarah Darton

Director of Programmes

Welcome to the World programme

• 8 week manualised

programme

• Attunement, bonding and

attachment, parental wellbeing, breastfeeding and practical care

• Targeted or universal
• Delivered in children's

centres, health centres by trained parent group leaders

National sample

• 131 participants, 77 pre and post group, 54

postnatally

• 96 women, 35 men
• 18 WttW groups, England, Northern Ireland

and Wales

• 3 time points, pre and post WttW group and

2-3 months postnatally

Aims of the study

• To evaluate whether attending the WttW programme

improves outcomes for parents-to-be during the transition to parenthood

• 4 key areas-Attunement, bonding & attachment,

parental wellbeing, breast feeding and practical care

• What factors affect the successful implementation
• 12 month mixed methods approach

September 15 – September 16

Measures: Quantitative

• Maternal/Partner Infant Bonding Scale – MIBS
• Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (also

used antenatally) – EPDS

• Parent Coping Scale
• Pictorial Representation of Attachment

Measure PRAM

Measures: Qualitative

• Questionnaires, data collected across 3 time

points;

T1: Expectations from the course questions T2: ‘Meeting of expectations and feeling prepared for parenting’ questions T3: ‘Meeting of expectations and being prepared for parenting’ questions

• Focus group discussions with attendees: the

experience of the course

Findings: Quantitative

• Significant reduction of MIBS scores - a more

positive attitude towards the baby.

• Significant decrease in EPDS scores (women) –

an increase in psychological wellbeing

• Significant increase in the Coping scale
• No significant change in PRAM scores

Findings - Qualitative

Parents engaging with the programme experienced-

• Positive communication between each other
• An understanding of their baby’s needs and
• f their own emotional needs
• Increased understanding, role as parents
• Increased understanding benefits of breast

feeding

Areas/aspects of becoming parents, in which expectant parents felt most prepared at T2

• Interacting with baby
• Breastfeeding: maximise their chances of success
• Emotional wellbeing: ‘nurturing oneself’, ‘normalising

fears’, ‘helping oneself to be mentally prepared’

• Labour and birth: ‘feeling more relaxed and at ease’,

helping to prepare couples for what to expect.

• Partnerships and relationships: Understanding my

partner, listening, working together

Knowledge and Confidence T3

• “It helped me with everything I needed to know and how to

do everything the way I should”

• ‘Yes. How to bathe my baby, interact and expectations. I felt

more confident with the help and information provided’

• ‘Feel amazing. Can’t thank [name] + [name] enough. Shown

me so much and really think it has helped with me and baby’

• “Yes – I met new friends, interacted well with leaders and
• ther mums to be and it provided a safe environment to

prepare myself for the new baby, particularly feeding”

Focus Groups

• Parents valued the safe, non-judgemental

place to discuss concerns

• Many described positive impact on:

– interaction with the baby – relationship with their partner – how they coped after the birth – their emotional wellbeing

Focus group: quotes from mothers

• ‘I’ve heard everybody say like, oh, you’ll know when it’s your
• wn baby and you’ll know what to do and you’ll know their

cries, and I can remember, [PGL] here said to me you might not know straight away, and I didn’t, like my instincts didn’t kick in straight away when she was born like they said they would, it took a few days for me to find my way and I just remembered her saying, it doesn’t happen straight away with everybody and it just settled me down, thinking you know I’m not, it’s not, I don’t know what I’m doing, it’s normal’

• ‘Definitely, this course has taught me so much about

affection and tending to the baby, the relationship between me and my baby. It has also taught me about my baby and the role of my partner and his bonding time with the baby. I love the nurturing aspect, it is outstanding’

Focus group: quotes from fathers

• ‘not side-lining men’
• ‘It definitely made me feel more involved with the

pregnancy, coming to this. Like I was part of it as well. And it weren’t just like doing the carrying and stuff. And when I came to the group I came as her partner’

• ‘I didn’t really know what to expect. But what I have

learnt will definitely help me out and make me a better father to my son, and more help to my girlfriend’

“Throughout the programme I received a lot of useful information that I would not have known otherwise. It was very useful talking to the

• ther parents to be. It

exceeded my expectations” GR05038 TP3

Implications for research, practice and policy

• Effective parenting begins before a baby is born, and a growing

evidence base lends weight to the importance of this phase in a baby’s later development (Barlow et al. 2009)

• This is an under-researched area, what works is limited
• Urgent need for further UK-based research in this area (Barlow

et al. 2009)

• WttW has a role to play in improving knowledge of, and

preparation for parenthood

• Study findings suggest that participation in WttW has a positive

impact upon knowledge, confidence, perceptions of support and connections with others

• Participants feel that the WttW programme meets their

expectations

Limitations and Next steps

• No control group – larger study with control
• Recruitment and implementation – referral

pathways, time of group etc

• Programme content – practical care, having a

new parent attend with the baby

• Request for information on formula feeding,

but need to meet BFI standards

Thank you for listening!

More information from

• research@familylinks.org.uk
• www.familylinks.org.uk/why-it-works