The Mummy Buddy Program
The Psychology of Active, Healthy Living Group (PAHL), in collaboration with Ngala Parenting Services, established the ‘Mummy Buddy’ program as a peer volunteer support program to prevent postpartum psychological distress. Forty-seven first-time mothers in the third trimester of pregnancy were manually paired with mentors (peer volunteers), who completed training focused on building skills to promote maternal parenting confidence. In the feasibility trial conducted in Western Australia, the peer support program had a 96% retention rate and first-time mothers had relatively high levels of maternal functioning and maintained normal levels of depressive and anxiety symptomology.
90% of mothers agreed or strongly agreed that the program helped their confidence as a mother
96% of the paired supporters indicated that they would recommend the program to others
Publications
Law, K. H., Jackson, B., Tan, X. H., Teague, S., Krause, A., Putter, K., Du'cane, M., Gibson, L., Bulles, K. F., Barkin, J., & Dimmock, J. A. (2022). Strengthening Peer Mentoring Relationships for New Mothers: A Qualitative Analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11(20), 6009.
Law, K. H., Dimmock, J. A., Guelfi, K. J., Nguyen, T., Bennett, E., Gibson, L., Tan, X. H., & Jackson, B. (2021). A peer support intervention for first-time mothers: Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the mummy buddy program. Women and Birth, 34(6), 593-605.
Law, K. H., Jackson, B., Guelfi, K., Nguyen, T., & Dimmock, J. A. (2018). Understanding and alleviating maternal postpartum distress: Perspectives from first-time mothers in Australia. Social Science & Medicine, 204, 59-66.