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G113 ENGAGING FATHERS WITH PARENTING: THE BENEFITS OF AN AGE PACED NEWSLETTER IN THE FIRST 2 YEARS OF LIFE
T. Waterston, B. Welsh.Department of Child Health, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Background: The quality of parenting is recognised to be hugely influential in predicting success in education, emotional security, and good health. Much is known about how to engage mothers in understanding the needs of their infant but fathers are much harder to reach. Only quite recently have fathers been seen as an important focus for information and education about young children. Yet there is evidence that more paternal involvement with a child leads to better educational outcomes.
Methods: We have studied the effects of an age paced parenting newsletter in a birth cohort since 2002 using a randomised case control design. The newsletter is entitled Baby Express and is sent out to the parents’ home monthly in the first year of life and twice monthly thereafter. The content centres on emotional development, parent to child interaction, and play. We have shown that it is very popular with mothers and will be exploring the impact on child behaviour. Specific information for fathers is included. At around a year after the birth, fathers were surveyed using a specially designed questionnaire. We aimed to find out their concerns in relation to parenting, and the extent to which Baby Express met their needs for information.
Results: 41 fathers of 75 (55%) responded, 37 had read some of Baby Express and all these thought it was relevant to fathers. 36 said that the information for fathers was enough and most found all parts of interest. Below we provide a sample of the comments received, first in relation to being a father and then in relation to the specific content of the newsletter. Being a father: “feeling of love and being needed that I get from our child”; “building a relationship with my son …