‘Me, You and Baby Too’ (MYBT) is an online resource designed to help new and expectant parents adapt to the changes that parenthood can have on their relationship.
‘Me, You and Baby Too’ aims to:
This guide will show you how to introduce parents to Me, You and Baby Too and support them as they work through it.
‘Me, You and Baby Too’ helps new and expectant parents prepare for changes in their own relationship, giving them the skills to communicate better and support each other at this important time in their lives.
It is aimed at parents who are still in a relationship with each other, during pregnancy or in the first 12 months of their child’s life. It may also be beneficial to those who have significant risk indicators:
It is important to prepare parents for the changes to their relationship and help them understand why a healthy relationship with their partner matters to their baby.
‘Me, You and Baby Too’ works best when both parents do it together. The resource is divided into three sections:
Having a baby is an exciting time but it can also be very challenging. This section helps parents understand how their relationship with each other will change, and why it matters to their baby.
Having a baby can be stressful and overwhelming. This section helps parents to identify sources of stress and learn ways of coping together and supporting each other.
Arguments can be constructive or destructive. This section helps parents think about how their arguments start, and how they get out of hand. Most importantly, it will give them the skills to resolve arguments in more constructive ways.
This guide is for frontline practitioners who work with new and expectant parents. It will show you how to introduce parents to the resource and support them as they work through it. Before you proceed to the facilitation notes we strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the evidence base behind the resource.
We recommend you ask parents to work through the resource in their own time. It works best when they do it together. It will take approximately 30-40 minutes to work through the whole thing, or they can do it one section at a time. It follows a linear pathway to help parents progress from knowledge and understanding to skills development.
We suggest you have a follow-up call with the couple after they have completed the first two sections, and then again after Section 3 to talk about how they got on. This will give you a chance to check progress, assess understanding, clarify any misunderstandings, and offer further relationship support where appropriate.
At the end of each section, there is an opportunity for parents to set a goal to work on between your contact with them. The key messages will assist you in recapping and goal setting.
As this resource is continually being evaluated, we ask parents to answer a number of questions throughout the course. Please encourage them to complete these, and the questions under Getting started so we can find out more about the effectiveness of this resource.
