Baby Steps
April 2018 to March 2024
Baby Steps is a relationships-based perinatal parent education programme developed by the NSPCC, which is designed to support parents during pregnancy and in the weeks after birth.
It is particularly suitable for vulnerable and socially-excluded parents who often face additional challenges and report feelings of overload in pregnancy and in early parenting.
It was delivered as part of the Better Start Bradford programme from 2018 to 2024 by Action for Children.
How Baby Steps was delivered as part of the Better Start Bradford programme
Parents joined mid-pregnancy and continued until around 2 months after their baby was born. The programme was delivered online in a group setting, with additional catch-up groups and 1-1s for those who required it. There were additional languages within the staffing team allowing groups to be delivered in home languages.
The project began as a targeted intervention for families living in the Better Start Bradford area. Families could be referred by a range of professionals based on a specific set of criteria, including domestic abuse and lack of social or support networks. In year 5 it became a universal service to families in the Better Start Bradford area.
Before birth:
Session 1: How our babies develop, our health and wellbeing
Session 2: Transition to parenthood
Session 3: Labour and birth
Session 4: Caring for and meeting our babies
After giving birth:
Session 5: Welcoming our babies
Session 6: Bonding with our babies and our family’s future
Background, impact and findings
Further reading
Download this snapshot of Baby Steps, with headline stats, background, impact and learning (PDF).
In this webinar, the Better Start Bradford Innovation Hub and Better Start Bradford, explore evaluation findings relating to the Little Minds Matter, Baby Steps, Incredible Years and Personalised Midwifery projects
Baby Steps is a perinatal education programme designed to support parents during pregnancy and in the weeks after birth, developed by the NSPCC.
In this blog post we learn more about the vital role of the (Born in Bradford's Better Start) BiBBS Community Research Assistant Team and their Perinatal Project Administrators, and what a typical day looks like for them
Action for Children and Better Start Bradford launch ‘Baby Steps’ - a new group based educational programme designed to support expectant parents.
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