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Understanding Mothers’ Engagement with Antenatal Parent Education Services: A Critical Analysis of a local Sure Start Service
Author(s) -
Pearson Charlotte,
Thurston Miranda
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2006.00010.x
Subject(s) - service (business) , mainstream , service delivery framework , population , medicine , resistance (ecology) , medical education , nursing , public relations , psychology , political science , business , environmental health , marketing , law , ecology , biology
This article discusses the issue of engagement in antenatal parent education for women living in deprived areas. The article focuses on the findings of a local evaluation of a Sure Start parent education programme designed to improve parental engagement with antenatal services. The article discusses the re‐orientation of this service, the impact on service users and the implications for professionals. Evidence suggests that this service has been beneficial for those involved and resulted in improved levels of engagement, with 9 per cent of eligible women attending prenatal sessions prior to the introduction of the Sure Start local programme's parent education service and 34 per cent of eligible women attending after its introduction. Despite this, the service only reaches a small proportion of the eligible population. The article also discusses the issue of professional resistance from mainstream services as an unintended consequence of the introduction of the Sure Start local programme and considers the implications of this for effective delivery. Copyright © 2006 The Author(s).