Baby Express Research Trial

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    First Year Together: Evaluation of Baby Express in Greater Manchester

  • IRAS ID

    169082

  • Contact name

    Emily Tanner

  • Contact email

    emily.tanner@natcen.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    NatCen Social Research

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 4 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    Baby Express newsletter is delivered to parents each month during the first year of their child’s life. Each issue of the Baby Express newsletter contains topics relevant to the particular stage of the child's development.

    In the evaluation of Baby Express in GM, electoral wards in Greater Manchester are randomly allocated into an intervention group (Baby Express wards) and a control group. Mothers who give permission to share their contact details for the study at their first post-birth Health Visitor appointment in their home either go on to receive the Baby Express newsletter or receive support as usual depending on their postcode (and thus ward allocation). The first 2 copies of the Baby Express will be delivered by their health visitor at the first 2 visits post birth. The further 10 copies will be posted to the family if consent is given. Outcome data will be collected via a face-to-face interview when the child is 13-14 months old to assess the impact of the Baby Express outcomes among mothers and children.

    As part of the trial, a survey of the health visitors taking part in the trial will be carried out to gather systematically important contextual information about how Baby Express is implemented and any challenges encountered. This will be valuable for explaining the impact findings as well as having a wider impact in informing any future roll-out of the program.

  • REC name

    Wales REC 6

  • REC reference

    15/WA/0133

  • Date of REC Opinion

    11 May 2015

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion