Baby Steps is a free, friendly group that empowers parents-to-be, builds their confidence and helps them feel ready for the arrival of their new baby.
Expecting a baby can bring up a lot of different feelings for new parents. That can be especially true if they’re facing other challenges - for example, if English is their second language, they're having financial difficulties or they’ve experienced trauma. Having someone who can support and understand them can really help.
Baby Steps is a perinatal education programme designed to help prepare people for becoming parents, not just for the birth itself.
From building stronger relationships to learning important parenting skills, Baby Steps looks at all the joys and challenges of becoming a parent.
We tailor our sessions to meet the needs of parents, but we usually cover:
We’ll also cover a range of other topics and exercises that will help new parents feel more prepared for welcoming a new baby.
We evaluated the service and found that parents who attended Baby Steps:
These findings suggest that parents who took part in Baby Steps will be better protected against relationship breakdown and perinatal mental health problems and will be better equipped to provide sensitive, responsive care to their babies, leading to improved outcomes for children in the long term.
> Read the Baby Steps implementation evaluation on our Library catalogue
Baby Steps was evaluated using a variety of data, looking at the experiences of parents and measuring the service's effect on parental mental health and relationships. Read the different evaluation reports on our Library catalogue.
> The first year of the service: parents' perspectives
> In a prison context
> Perspectives of parents from a minority ethnic background
> Pre- and post-measures study
From March 2025, Baby Steps will be delivered as year-long pilot through NSPCC hubs and external partner organisations.
For any inquires on delivering the service or to find out if Baby Steps is delivered in your area please email babysteps@nspcc.org.uk. Please refrain from sharing personal, confidential or sensitive information to this general email address.