Transition to Parenthood: Antenatal Education Promotes Perinatal Mental Health When Collaboratively Delivered by Midwives, Mental Health Peer Workers and Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Professionals

Transition to Parenthood is a two-session (antenatal and postnatal) module for inclusion in a birth and parenting education course, designed to proactively support perinatal and infant mental health. In this pilot study, 299 mothers and 241 fathers/partners participated in the whole module, with 35 mothers completing pre- and post-program measures of depression, anxiety, stress, and parenting confidence. Statistically significant improvements were found on all four measures with high effect sizes. Participant ratings of learning and satisfaction were high and persisted over time. These results provide support for the usefulness of group-based birth and parenting education that focuses on perinatal and infant mental health, with mental health peer workers co-delivering the program.