Media Release:

Improving the emotional wellbeing of parents when bringing baby home

Welcoming a new baby into the world can be both exciting and daunting for parents. Help has arrived for expecting parents looking for more information than they find in ante-natal classes.

Towards Parenthood: Preparing for the changes and challenges of a new baby (Jeannette Milgrom et al.), is the companion text to the highly successful Toward Parenthood Program developed at the Parent-Infant Research Institute (PIRI) at Austin Health. The team of psychologists at PIRI developed the text to help parents to prepare themselves for the emotional, social and psychological issues that arise during pregnancy and early parenthood.

It is a self-help workbook designed for expectant parents - both mums and dads. According to Jennifer Ericksen, Coordinator of the Infant Clinic at PIRI and co-author of Towards Parenthood, the program is ideally suited to work in conjunction with routine antenatal classes.

"We wanted to develop a psychological intervention, grounded in fact, that would enhance the bond between mothers and babies at a crucial, but sometimes difficult time," says Ericksen. "The workbook is based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy, and each chapter includes a number of practical exercises and suggestions."

The effectiveness of the book Towards Parenthood as a self-help program supported by weekly telephone calls was evaluated in two randomised controlled trials, funded by beyond blue. Health professionals offered counselling sessions to women and their partners after they had spent the week working through one chapter at a time of the book, at their own pace. The program was found to be effective in reducing parenting stress, depression and anxiety in the early postpartum period.

"As around 10 percent of women experience depression during pregnancy, this text has been developed to help all parents manage the complex demands of parenthood as well as assist those having a particular difficulty in their ability to cope and experiencing challenges in their partner relationship," says Ericksen.

Towards Parenthood comprises nine chapters; eight deal with the antenatal period and the ninth chapter addresses the first weeks following baby's birth. It is the emotional wellbeing of parents in this transitional stage - bringing baby home - which largely drives the program. Towards Parenthood aims to arm participants with the skills to cope beyond the reaches of established antenatal care. As Ericksen explains:

"The last antenatal chapter also includes practical material on caring for a newborn, but again with a psychological flavour - how to cope with what you're feeling, discouraging negative self-talk, and so on. It is important to think about how you might manage before you are actually in the situation."

To purchase a copy of Towards Parenthood please contact ACER Customer Service on
1800 338 402 or at sales@acer.edu.au or shop.acer.edu.au

Mum Zone Release Date: 21st July 2009

Back to Media Releases