Baby Steps. A Better Start case study

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Baby Steps. A Better Start case study"

Tamsyn Watkins
5 years ago
Views:

1 Baby Steps A Better Start case study

3 Baby Steps P.3 A Better Start is is funded by the by Big the Lottery Big Lottery Fund and Fund is a and ten-year is a programme ten-year programme focused on developing focused on and developing testing new and approaches testing to new promoting approaches good early to promoting childhood development good (ECD). The A Better Start partnerships have developed locally tailored strategies to early childhood development (ECD). The A Better Start partnerships have promote ECD, focusing on three key child development outcomes: diet and nutrition, social and developed emotional locally development, tailored and strategies speech, language to promote and communication. ECD, focusing on three key child development outcomes: diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, and speech, language and communication. Baby Steps Baby Steps is a science based perinatal programme designed to support mums and dads to be able to manage the emotional and physical transition into parenthood. A Better Start child outcome(s) the service aims to improve: Speech, language and communication Social and emotional development Diet and nutrition

P.4 Baby Steps What are the key aims of the service? The aims of Baby Steps are to: support men and women to negotiate the emotional and physical transition to parenthood.

4 P.4 Baby Steps What are the key aims of the service? The aims of Baby Steps are to: support men and women to negotiate the emotional and physical transition to parenthood. nurture healthy relationships between parents by encouraging listening and conflict resolution skills. encourage the development of sensitive, reflective relationships with the infant from the antenatal period onwards. promote healthy child development within a network of supportive relationships Who is the service for? Baby Steps is for new parents who are more likely to need extra help, and less likely to access antenatal education. This includes those who: support men and women to negotiate the emotional and physical transition to parenthood. are a recent migrant, asylum seeker or refugee have difficulty reading, speaking or understanding English have identified learning difficulties have low level mental health problems (might be depression or anxiety) are a victim of domestic abuse are involved with the criminal justice system are homeless are a care leaver are under 20 years of age.

5 Baby Steps P.5 The programme is for groups made up of couples or single parents, who may be joined by a supporter, such as a friend or family member. The group sessions of the programme can be delivered from the 26th week of pregnancy, and groups are made up of mothers whose due dates are within a month of each other. What is the evidence base for the service? Baby Steps was developed by the NSPCC and Dr Angela Underdown at the University of Warwick. The programme was aimed at parents who might benefit from additional support, and its delivery has been tested within a number of specific groups such as parents with learning difficulties and from particular BME groups. The programme was evaluated by the NSPCC using a mixed method design. The evaluation found that parents who attended Baby Steps: showed an improvement in the quality of their relationship with their babies had increased satisfaction in their relationships with their partners showed a decrease in anxiety and depression had increased levels of self esteem had lower rates of caesareans, low birth weight and premature babies compared to the general population. NSPCC. (2017) Baby Steps: Evidence, impact and evaluation. Available at: How is the service run? The programme is jointly delivered by a health practitioner (a midwife or health visitor) and a children s services practitioner (family support worker or social worker). Baby Steps is made up of 9 group sessions, and 2 home visits. It begins with a home visit, and then parents attend 6 weekly group sessions before the baby is born, followed by 3 more after the birth. Core content of the service Baby Steps covers 6 themes: strengthening parent-infant relationships strengthening couple relationships building strong support networks

6 P.6 Baby Steps improving feelings of self-confidence as well as levels of low mood and worry helping parents to understand babies development. Innovations in A Better Start partnerships Blackpool Better Start Blackpool Better Start are delivering Baby Steps universally to all parents within the Better Start wards, alongside the Family Nurse Partnership service. Baby Steps will shortly be delivered at scale across the whole of the town to all expectant parents. The programme is jointly delivered by a Family Engagement Worker and Health Visitor, and they are joined by a midwifery colleague for the two sessions on labour and birth. Baby Steps in Blackpool includes an additional group session on breastfeeding. Local evaluation will measure a number of different outcomes which Baby Steps is intended to influence: parents relationship with the unborn baby parents relationship with the baby once it is born parents relationship with their partner their self esteem A set of standardised measures is routinely completed by practitioners before and after completion of the programme. These are: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Parent Attachment Inventory (PAI) for mums adapted PAI measure for dads Mother-child relationship scale (Mors SF) Relationship Quality Index To explore the impact of Baby Steps on birth outcomes and breastfeeding, the following data is collected at the post birth session/visit: length of pregnancy in weeks type of delivery birth weight breastfeeding at discharge baby s birth date.

7 Baby Steps P.7 Excellent experience, learnt lots of valuable information about how to look after and care for Baby, as well as making new friends with other new mummies. - Parent Found the group very helpful and friendly. All the things that troubled or worried me were addressed and we feel much more confident as a couple than before the programme. - Parent Me and my partner have found the course resourceful, as things have changed so much since the birth of our last child. - Parent For more information, please go to

8 Contact #abetterstart

Introducing NSPCC Baby Steps Antenatal Programme into SWFT

Introducing NSPCC Baby Steps Antenatal Programme into SWFT By Caroline Baugh Baby Steps 1 Lead/Family Nurse Why have a programme like Baby Steps? 42.4 A 2009 Department of Health review of antenatal education