Baby Steps

We knew from routine data that women in the Better Start Bradford area were more likely to present late to antenatal services and did not attend classes. We also know that levels of vulnerability and need were higher, and that maternal outcomes (infant mortality, poor perinatal mental health and low birth weight) were poorer.

• Improve parental confidence and self-esteem, leading to safer parenting and greater emotional availability
• Improve family relationship stability and reduce conflict
• Improve co-parenting functioning, reduce stress and increase emotional availability to the child
• Improve parental reflective functioning, leading to improved self-regulation in the child
• Improve parental mental health, leading to more sensitive parent-infant interactions and increased likelihood of secure attachment
• More positive parental health choices for self and child around feeding, eating, exercise, smoking and drinking, leading to improved family health

• Over 7800 support phone calls were made with participants, and over 20,000 support text messages sent.
• The project was successfully delivered with a high completion rate, which shows it was valued by the families.
• 1438 unique families received at least one home visit from the team.
• 68 full courses were delivered.
• As part of enhanced evaluation, 97% of families questioned agreed with the statement “I feel that Baby Steps was helpful for me”.
• Parents benefitted in many ways from the different forms of support. Home visits and ongoing assistance were valued by families because it allowed for personalised guidance before and after birth. Facilitators’ expertise and friendly approach created a supportive and safe environment, helping mothers to build their knowledge and skills.
• During lockdown, Baby Steps was able to identify safeguarding concerns in a timely manner, working in collaboration with midwifery, health visiting and social services to support families appropriately.
• Baby Steps has been one of the top five referrers to Bradford food banks, as well as providing emergency provision of baby items to families in need.
• A Start for Life contract enabled the project to expand their service and become a targeted district-wide delivery.

*This section includes information from both the evaluation report/s and project