This article advocates for system-level change in prenatal health services. Specifically, the authors describe how they "discovered" the idea of father-inclusive prenatal health care (FIPH), which involves providing an array of services to help young expectant fathers prepare for the challenges of parenthood. Over the course of 25 years,…

Children develop fastest in their earliest years, and the skills and abilities they develop in those years lay the foundation for their future success. Similarly, early adverse experiences can contribute to poor social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes both in early childhood and later life. Children who grow up in families…

Protecting an unborn baby from abuse and neglect presents particular challenges for professionals due to the uncertainties about appraising future harm and functioning of family relationships. This systematic narrative review synthesises studies of professional decision making by health and social care professionals regarding child protection of…

This article reviews the research base on the development of prenatal attachment and profiles four programs that foster this essential prenatal relationship: CenteringPregnancy®, the Practical Resources for Effective Postpartum Parenting program (PREPP), Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP), and Moms2B.

This essay makes the case that Barbara Park's picture book "MA! There's Nothing to Do Here!: A Word from Your Baby-in-Waiting" (2008) adds another equal-parts absurdist and alarming item to the ever-growing responsibilities of expecting mothers: ensuring that their fetus is entertained. The messages that Park's narrative…

More than half of poor African American infants are born into "fragile families" and nearly half grow up in single-mother families with little or no father involvement. However, most prenatal interventions fail to help unmarried mothers talk and plan together with their baby's father, especially when fathers are nonresidential. This…

The arrival of a newborn requires a great deal of adjustment. Intended for new and expectant parents, this booklet and companion video provide practical advice and hands-on demonstrations of the essentials of mother and baby care, from birth to the first visit to the pediatrician. The first part of the booklet, which comes in both English- and…

Prepared by the Maternal and Newborn Services staff at a health care system affiliated with the University of Minnesota, this book is designed as several resources in one, encompassing pregnancy, childbirth, infant care, child development, baby keepsakes, medical records, and journal-keeping. The book provides authoritative, up-to-date information…

This report provides an evaluation of the Prevention Initiative Program's second-funded year in the Chicago Public Schools. The program's purpose was to reduce school failure by providing health and social services to young families, improving parenting skills, and assisting young mothers to complete high school. The program served pregnant or…

GRADS (Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills) is an in-school instructional and intervention program for pregnant teens and young parents. Its objectives are to help these students remain in school through graduation, have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies, learn practical parenting and child-development skills, gain an orientation to…

Intended for women who plan to combine a career with motherhood, this book is a planning document for the full-time working mother-to-be during the three trimesters of pregnancy and the first trimester of motherhood. Each section discusses physical and mental changes associated with motherhood and includes a calendar for appointments and events…

In 1999, the Board of Commissioners of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, joined with 21 philanthropic foundations and private funders, as well as nearly 80 community service agencies, to form a public-private partnership that would launch an early childhood initiative, Invest in Children, as a comprehensive system of care focused on improving the…

In the wake of intense national interest in very young children, this volume presents an examination of the findings of the Commonwealth Survey of Parents with Young Children, as analyzed by scholars from diverse disciplines. What emerges from this analysis is a picture of the complex forces that influence families and child rearing in the…

This annotated bibliography on parenting resources is designed to assist parents and those who work with them to locate books on the many and complex topics that affect family life. The materials included encompass the various stages of parenting, from pregnancy and childbirth through the parenting of adult children. The many topics covered…

This resource guide is designed to help teachers assist pregnant and parenting teens, such as those enrolled in Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills (GRADS) programs, in achieving the competencies outlined in the GRADS Ohio Competency Analysis Profile. Introductory materials include information on use of the guide and resource material on two…