What are the benefits of a parenting newsletter?

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study on the perceptions of parents on an age-paced parenting newsletter for first time parents. The newsletter is based on an American model, conceived in Wisconsin, USA and has been adapted for use in the UK. Each issue of the newsletter (named Baby Express) contains topics relevant to the particular stage of the child's life, and is delivered free to the home, monthly in the first year. New parents in the district of North Tyneside were invited to participate in the study. Those who agreed, and who took part in the first interview just after birth, were randomised to one or other arm of the study. Those in the intervention group (receiving copies of Baby Express) numbered 94 and those in the control (normal services only, no newsletter) numbered 91. Parents completed a series of questionnaires at birth, and year one to determine the effectiveness of the newsletter for families of first-time babies. In year one, 67 (82%) of the 82 intervention families remianing in the study at one year found Baby Express very useful as a source of information on parenting. The findings showed that parents found the newsletters to be a more valuable source of information on parenting than any other source, including relatives and friends. We concluded that the age-paced newsletter Baby Express delivered to the home monthly in the first year is an effective information tool for parents.