Media Releases and Opportunities

Becoming a new parent can be overwhelming for both the person giving birth and their partner, making postpartum support a critical part of the parenting experience.

But it is typically the mother who receives most of the immediate help, while the non-birthing parent -- including fathers and 2SLGBTQ+ parents -- is often left without structured guidance during the critical transition to parenthood. This gap can lead to increased stress, lower parenting confidence and missed opportunities for early family bonding.

Researchers at Dalhousie University and IWK Health are helping to fill that gap with a first-of-its-kind postpartum text message program for non-birthing parents, called Essential Coaching for Every Partner, that starts after birth and continues for the critical first six weeks.

The innovative program builds on the success of a text-based intervention for mothers that has been shown to improve maternal mental health and confidence during the early postpartum period.

Dr. Justine Dol, a postdoctoral fellow at IWK Health, led the design of the program with non-birthing parents, postpartum health-care providers and experts. After going through four rounds of feedback and changes, 59 evidence-based text messages were created, covering everything from baby care and emotional well-being to partner support and feeding strategies.

This co-design process was recently published in Midwifery. Ninety per cent of non-birthing parents who participated in the development said the messages helped reduce their worries and increased their confidence in the parenting journey.

Dr. Dol is now recruiting first-time parents in Nova Scotia to help further evaluate the program by receiving daily supportive text messages and completing short surveys. She is available to discuss the messaging program and how it is a low-cost, effective way to increase parenting self-efficacy and reduce postpartum anxiety for non-birthing parents.

People interested in participating can join by texting: 'pregnant' to 902-702-6278 if expecting or 'birth' to 902-702-6278 if they’ve recently had a baby.

                                                                                        -30-

Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca