Academic initiatives

Baby Express - newsletter for parents Early Screening and Primary Prevention - the Sunderland Infant Programme See also research on early language development

Baby Express is a monthly newsletter distributed to parents over the first year of their child's life. It is produced by The Children's Foundation and was originally launched as part of a study on the impacts of parenting newsletters. It is age-paced with each issue covering a short, specific age in the life of a child. Each issue is packed with information and guidance in an easy to read format and includes a focus on emotional development, language, and how babies think. In addition, Toddler Express is produced bi-monthly to the age of three, and Kids Express bi-monthly until the age of five.

Baby Express was the subject of a randomised controlled trial in the North East of England looking at parental wellbeing, stress resulting from the infant and parenting quality over the first three years of life. At the end of the first year, interviews in the home revealed that mothers receiving the newsletter scored significantly less than controls on a parental hassle score, which indicated the frequency and severity of hassles caused by the baby. They were also rated better on two categories of a parenting quality questionnaire, specifically on showing inapprorpriate expectations of the infant and oppressing children's independence.

The newsletter is available in a generic format, so that it can be used by all areas and agencies. For more information visit www.thechildrensfoundation.co.uk, call 0191 282 0000 or email b.e.welsh@ncl.ac.uk

Early Screening and Primary Prevention - the Sunderland Infant Programme
Sensitive responsiveness on the part of parents is highly associated with a secure attachment in infants. The Sunderland Infant Programme is a collaboration between health visitors and clinical psychologist to identify and attempt to remedy situations in which this development may be at risk. Parents are invited to participate and learn more about their babies' unique ways of communicating, which are captured through a 3-to-4-minute video clip when babies are 8 to 12 weeks old. The clips are then analysed using Crittenden's CARE-Index methodology and formulations derived. Depending on the nature of the interaction, tailor-made interventions are devised, which may vary from behaviourally focused video-based guidance by health visitors to parent-infant psychotherapy with clinical psychologists. Per O Svanberg, PhD, at the Enriching Early Parent-Infant Relationships Conference, organised by The Brazelton Centre, March 2004