Evaluating a materials-based intervention to improve communication between health care providers and new parents through the Massachusetts New Parents Initiative

We evaluated the effectiveness of a materials-based intervention to improve communication between healthcare providers and new parents. The materials, which were developed as part of the Massachusetts New Parents Initiative, focused on 5 areas considered important to new parents: parenting stress, maternal self-care, infant soothing, bonding, and birth-spacing. In this quasi experimental study, 131 parents were recruited from community health centers and home visiting programs that distributed the materials. We administered surveys to 70 parents prior to and 61 parents after the introduction of the new parent materials. The surveys included questions about the parent's experience at their most recent visit. Parents in the pre and post groups differed significantly by both race/ethnicity and educational status. 26% of pre-intervention participants identified as being Hispanic and 69% had a high school degree or greater. In the post-intervention group, 54% of participants were Hispanic and only 38% had a high school degree of greater. Our analysis showed that almost 75% of parents said that someone reviewed the materials with them at their infant's visit. The materials had the most impact on conversations around soothing and bonding, which increased after the introduction of the new parent materials, from 58% to 77% for soothing (p<.05), and 48% to 66% for bonding (p=.113). Increased discussions about infant irritability and ways to soothe a baby, the area where the materials showed the greatest effect, may have important public health significance as a part of efforts to reduce child maltreatment.