Blog
Using evidence to implement an early intervention programme
Pregnancy is the ideal time to offer support and help parents lay the foundations for their baby’s future. But preparing for parenthood is about more than just the physical side of labour and birth. Strong, secure and healthy relationships are fundamental to the successful transition to parenthood.
On the 12 February, we will be launching the evaluation results of the ‘Baby Steps’ programme, an Early Intervention programme that focuses on the parent couple relationship, parental wellbeing, and parent-child relationships. It aims to improve parents’ social support and knowledge about pregnancy, birth and babies’ development and reach particularly disadvantaged families.
Following a home visit, parents attend group sessions in the six weeks leading up to the birth, and a further three sessions after the baby is born. The integrated programme – delivered by a health and children’s services practitioner – brings a crucial combination of skills that is key to enabling the programme to deal effectively with families’ emotional, social and physical needs.
‘Baby Steps’ is also the demonstration project for one of the Early Intervention Foundation’s Pioneering Places, who are learning from the implementation of this programme in a local area.
Our vision is that health visitors, midwives and children’s services’ professionals will be trained to deliver the Baby Steps programme to expectant parents across the UK. In the future we will continue to develop the evidence base for the programme and introduce a social franchise model.
At NSPCC, we strongly believe in evidence-based practice, and ‘Baby Steps’ is an example of how an early intervention programme can be developed through ongoing evaluation. We also believe in innovation and collaboration for working together to implement evidence-based approaches. By increasing our understanding about what works and what does not work, we can improve and prioritise the work that we are doing with children and families.
As a member of the Early Intervention Foundation’s Coalition for Early Intervention, I am also delighted to be speaking at the upcoming national conference on the topic of intervening at a crucial time for parents.
It is exciting to see the results of ‘Baby Step’s evaluation as it highlights the importance of continuing to ensure that early intervention programmes are not just well implemented but also well evidenced. It is a journey that all those who deliver and champion early intervention must take in order to ensure we have a real impact on children, young people and parents.