Volunteer Support for Mothers with New Babies: Perceptions of Need and Support Received

Abstract

Mrs. Michelle Nichols was a fieldwork interviewer for the Right from the Start study.She has recently completed a PGCE at the University of Hertfordshire.Mrs. Sharon Dixon was a fieldwork interviewer for the Right from the Start study. She now works as a regional fieldwork interviewer for the National Evaluation of Sure Start. AbstractSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 55 mothers of infants. Some had received Home-Start during their infant's first year, others were offered the support but declined and the remainder were not offered Home-Start. Most of their support had come from informal sources such as family and friends with less from professionals.Mothers who received Home-Start described beneficial aspects, in particular the extent of practical support provided, preferable to calling on close relatives or friends.Difficulties related to volunteer characteristics and administrative problems. Overall volunteer support can be important to complement informal and formal support but needs careful management.

The utility of volunteer home‐visiting support to prevent maternal depression in the first year of life

“…In addition, the level of social support within the home available at 2 months appeared to be a protective factor against depression for all the families in the study. Qualitative reports indicate that the most valued aspect of the volunteer involvement was the practical assistance with childcare or household chores that might otherwise come from a family member (MacPherson et al. 2009) so it may be useful to find out about the presence of extended family members when conducting outreach to identify families who could benefit from a preventative offer of support from a volunteer, as it may need to be in addition to more formal support such as extra visits from a health visitor or a primary mental health professional rather than as an alternative.…”

“…Enthusiasm was greater at the national level in the organization than in local (independently run) Home‐Start groups, whose personnel also change quite frequently so initial agreement was followed in some cases by poor communication with new local staff. Local organizational capacity has been highlighted by the families receiving Home‐Start support as a potential source of problems (MacPherson et al. 2009) and this applied to the process of involving families in the study.…”

“…2006a for more details) Volunteers and families jointly decide on needs and then on the frequency, length and nature of the visits, and how long the support should continue 2 . They may engage in a number of different activities, providing company, assistance with childcare or other household tasks, going out on joint trips to local facilities, or giving parenting advice (see MacPherson et al. 2009).…”

Predictors of Self‐reported Gains in a Relationship‐based Home‐visiting Project for Mothers After Childbirth

“…Rather, until now, relevant support from those kinds of projects comes from qualitative, narrative accounts of mothers’ or home visitors’ feelings and experiences. Uniformly, these accounts reflect the centrality of the home visitor–client “bond” for gains within postpartum HV projects by peers (e.g., Lovett, Palamaro Munsell, McNamara, & Doyle, ; MacPherson, Barnes, Nichols, & Dixon, ; McLeish, & Redshaw, ; Paris & Dubus, ; Small et al., ; Taggart, Short, & Barclay, ). On these bases, our hypothesis was:…”

Community Volunteer Support for Families With Young Children: Protocol for the Volunteer Family Connect Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

“…It should be noted, however, that community volunteers may not have a marked impact on clinical outcomes such as maternal postnatal depression, which may be more appropriately addressed by professional services [28] and volunteer support needs to be provided within the context of well-developed guidance and supervision [29]. The small number of studies that examine volunteering in the context of family support programs suggest that volunteers experience positive outcomes such as increased knowledge and skills, a stronger sense of social cohesion, reduced loneliness and isolation, and an improved sense of purpose and confidence [10].…”