Why does it matter?
When we become parents, we experience profound changes to our biology, emotions, and relationships with our family and friends. How we cope with these changes will affect the parents and the people we become for the rest of our lives.
Nurture® Seattle began in April 2020 with the knowledge that one of the best ways to help children thrive is to support their parents as they navigate the social and emotional transition to parenthood.
What have we learned?
The idea of parents helping parents is as old as humanity itself. Here’s what we’ve learned about how to grow this community in a way that is relevant, equitable, and globally impactful.
How are you really doing?
When it comes to the social and emotional challenges of parenthood, our members want personalized support and specific action steps. So we’re giving our mentors the tools to help parents navigate the social and emotional challenges of becoming a parent.
The value of lived experiences.
We’ve heard from lots of members who want to be matched with a mentor whose identity is reflective of their own, including that of their lived experience (i.e. single parent, member of the LGBTQ+ community, Latina, etc.). When possible, we try to make these matches based on this request.
Promotion of maternal mental health.
Members are comfortable sharing concerns about perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) with a healthcare provider as the result of their Mentor relationship.* PMADs are the most common complication of childbirth but only a small percentage of those affected seek help. We’re exploring how Nurture® can help prevent the incidence and severity of PMADs.
85%
68%
Were more likely to share concerns about PMADs with a friend or family member after talking to a mentor
Were more likely to share concerns about PMADs with a healthcare provider after talking to a mentor
* Results from an internal survey of 80 Nurture® Seattle Members.
Recognizing the impact of COVID-19.
We know the pandemic has significantly impacted the emotional wellbeing of new parents and drastically shifted the expectations they had around pregnancy, birth and early parenting. Many new parents are experiencing separation from loved ones, isolation, decreased access to health services, and increased financial stresses.* We believe the peer-to-peer relationship the Nurture® Program provides is especially important during this time.
*Kamran Hessami, Chiara Romanelli, Martina Chiurazzi & Mauro Cozzolino (2020) COVID-19 pandemic and maternal mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis, The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, DOI: 10.1080/14767058.2020.1843155
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NurturePA’s mission is to promote infant mental health and early literacy through an innovative text messaging program to support new moms.
Founded in 1979, Committee for Children is a global nonprofit whose work is at the forefront of an irrepressible movement. A leader in the field, we champion the safety and well-being of kids through social-emotional learning (SEL) to fulfill our vision of safe children thriving in a peaceful world.