Welcome to Parenthood package delivers vital information to new families

As any parent knows, having a baby is both exciting and a little daunting. Babies don’t come with instructions; something the Faculty of Nursing's Karen Benzies and her research team are trying to change. 

They aren’t offering a book of instructions per se, but they are using community-based research to help parents find reliable information. As Benzies says, the community knows what it needs, the research is just to help them find what works.

The research team is assessing the use of a Welcome to Parenthood package as a way to deliver evidence-based information. It’s a bag containing a number of items, including parenting guidebooks, a baby onesie, and a wipe board which parents are encouraged to use to list the type of help they need from friends and family.    

A research assistant reviews each item with the parents before they leave the hospital — even bookmarking important pages. This initial chat is a vital part of the research: the goal is to ensure that the bag isn’t just put in a corner when parents bring their new baby home.

See the full story in the February 18, 2015 edition of UToday 

Read the Calgary Herald story "Finland's famous baby boxes are coming to Canada. First stop: Alberta" in the Jan. 3,2016 issue.