None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The study is testing the effectiveness of a new web-based intervention for mothers and their partners. The intervention is designed to provide parents with accurate and up-to-date information about their unborn child’s development during pregnancy and how to help manage problems with infant sleeping or crying, and how to best cope when parents are feeling stressed by the demands of caring for young infants. Parents who are allocated to the intervention group will meet online with our research psychologist at approximately 25 weeks of pregnancy to learn how their baby is growing and how to better get to know their baby during pregnancy. They will also have 4D ultrasounds at 28 and 34 weeks of pregnancy when they can view their baby in real time, and together with our psychologist observe what their baby is doing. After their baby is born, they will meet online with our psychologist when their baby is 2 weeks and 6 weeks old for support about how to care for themselves and their baby during stressful times, like when babies are having difficulty sleeping or settling. We hypothesise that parents undertaking the intervention will form a stronger attachment to their child, be able to better undertake health-promoting behaviors during pregnancy, and will be better equipped to manage personal distress, infant crying and sleep problems,
Interventions
A hospital-based clinical psychologist or social worker with additional training will deliver three individualised 1 hour virtual home visits (via telehealth) to women and their partners (if applicable).
During the first virtual home visit (when mothers are approximately 26 weeks pregnant) parents will complete ‘Baby CHAT’, a manualised psychoeducational intervention designed to improve parental mentalization and emotional attachment during pregnancy (Cox et al 2021). The parent's will receive
A hospital-based clinical psychologist or social worker with additional training will deliver three individualised 1 hour virtual home visits (via telehealth) to women and their partners (if applicable). During the first virtual home visit (when mothers are approximately 26 weeks pregnant) parents will complete ‘Baby CHAT’, a manualised psychoeducational intervention designed to improve parental mentalization and emotional attachment during pregnancy (Cox et al 2021). The parent's will receive the Baby CHAT booklet prior to the virtual-home-visit and during the visit be guided through fetal development and postnatal social development of the baby. Parents will be guided to develop reflective functioning and bond with the baby. The booklet may be utilised throughout the pregnancy and provides parents with an overview of baby’s development from conception onwards and what they might say if they could talk in the first few weeks and months after birth. The booklet provides workspaces to enable parents’ to document aspects of mentalization, attachment and bonding. The booklet also provides resources for singing, playing music and talking/reading/telling stories to the unborn baby. Importantly, mindfulness techniques for the parent are also discussed as well as how to incorporate ‘Baby CHAT’ into everyday life. Time commitment to Baby Chat documentation will vary according to parental engagement with the Baby Chat intervention. Women and their partners (if applicable) will also attend two 30-minute 4-D ultrasound sessions at the Women's and Children's Hospital (at 28 and 34 weeks gestation) where a sonographer will conduct the ultrasound while a psychologist or social worker will work with parents-to-be to get to know their unborn baby via mentalization approaches. Parents will be given images and a short video of their baby on USB to take home. The second and third virtual-home-visits will be provided at approximately 2 and 6 weeks after the birth of the baby. The 2-week visit will focus on parent understanding of infant development and parental stresses associated with persistent infant crying. The visit will help parents develop strategies to cope with persistent infant crying and to develop a safety checklist when they are getting too frustrated to provide safe care. Other focus areas include bonding and baby cues. The 6 week visit will review how parent's are coping, review what is working well and further problem solve. Other focus areas include getting to know their baby and infant social development. Parent's will receive booklets outlining settling and coping strategies, a safety planning checklist and South Australian parent support networks. These resources were specifically designed by psychologists and social workers within Child Protection Services at the study institution for use within the study. Cox H, James A, Day C, Reissland N, 2021. Feasibility of a psychoeducational group intervention to improve parental reflective functioning and bonding in pregnancy: a randomised trial. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 39(5), 499-515.
Sponsors
The University of Adelaide
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
16 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
< 24 weeks pregnant Singleton pregnancy Identified at the antenatal booking appointment as being at moderate psychosocial risk.
Exclusion criteria
Fetal abnormality identified at morphology (approx. 18 - 20 week) ultrasound Reporting current domestic violence Illicit drug use Severe mental health issues Requiring interpreter/lack of sufficient English skills to complete questionnaires No internet access on a mobile phone, tablet, or computer Clinician exclusion
Outcome results
None listed