Helping infants feel safe, supported, and understood is one of the most powerful ways parents can nurture their child’s mental health and set the stage for positive social and emotional development.
Yet, for many new parents, the transition to parenthood is filled with the challenges of sleepless nights, soothing a crying baby, and building a strong parent–infant bond. Learning how to navigate these challenges before birth can make a world of difference, but few parents are given this opportunity.
To address this gap, Dr Alyssa Sawyer and her team at the University of Adelaide, SA Medical Imaging (SAMI), and the Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN) developed an attachment-focused intervention. A pilot trial showed that parents facing social and emotional adversity improved their ability to bond with their baby, felt more confident as parents, and gained valuable knowledge about safe infant care. Importantly, parents who participated in the trial asked for one key change: to make this support available to all new parents, not just those at risk.
The WCH Foundation is proud to support the development of this program as a universal intervention, ensuring every family can benefit. The research team will work with parents and clinicians to adapt the program for delivery alongside routine care.
“What we’re hoping we’ll achieve is designing this intervention in a way that can support all parents who come through the hospital to have support for psychological and attachment relational health supported around their routine care across the antenatal and postnatal period.” – Dr Alyssa Sawyer
The program combines innovative approaches to support parents before and after birth, including attachment-focused ultrasounds at the 20-week scan to help parents connect with their baby, antenatal virtual home visits during pregnancy to help parents reflect on their baby’s experiences, and postnatal virtual home visits to provide guidance on bonding, managing crying and sleep, and supporting emotional development.
If successful, this project could strengthen parent–infant bonds, build parents’ confidence, promote infant mental health, and ensure universal access to early support, giving every baby the best possible start in life.
Find out more about the research we support, here.
