The New Baby Programme: A Pilot Randomised Trial (Version 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Right from the start: protocol for a pilot study for a randomised trial of the New Baby Programme for improving outcomes for children born to socially vulnerable mothers.
IRAS ID
168269
Contact name
Geraldine Macdonald
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 5 months, 29 days
Research summary
Child maltreatment is a major public health issue that sometimes leads to serious injury or death. More often it results in damage to children’s physical, social and cognitive development, with consequences that last into adulthood.
Children are most at risk from child abuse and neglect between birth and 3 years. As well as being physically at their most vulnerable, the rate of development of an infant’s brain means it is especially vulnerable to the damage associated with insensitive parenting, neglect and abuse. This is also a critical period in which to intervene to prevent maltreatment.The New Baby Programme (NBP) is a new, intensive programme provided by health visitors that begins in pregnancy and continues until the infant is 2 years old. It is designed to help a range of vulnerable mothers to become confident parents, providing sensitive care to their children and responding to the challenges of parenting without recourse to neglect or abuse.
NBP health visitors visit monthly during the antenatal phase, weekly for 8 weeks after birth, fortnightly for the next 4 weeks and monthly for up to 2 years. NBP health visitors work flexibly, but use an evidence-informed curriculum developed to address parents’ needs for education and support, therapeutic help (if needed) and facilitate access to services from the statutory, community and voluntary sectors.
Preliminary data indicate that NBP may be effective in preventing maltreatment amongst vulnerable parents, including those in care or leaving care, but this is not certain. The overall aim is to study the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to investigate the effectiveness of NBP compared to standard antenatal and post-natal care for vulnerable mothers using both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the issues that relate to the successful design and implementation of a full-scale RCT.REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
15/NI/0232
Date of REC Opinion
23 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion