The Effectiveness of MInding the Baby in a Danish Community Sample

Minding the Baby is an intensive and preventive home-visiting programme that helps vulnerable or high risk mothers. The focus of the intervention is to reduce negative infant and maternal outcomes and strengthen the attachment relationship. MTB is delivered by an interdisciplinary team of highly skilled practitioners, who have health and social work experience, integrating advanced practice nursing and mental health care for mothers and infants. In the proposed Randomised Control Trial (RCT) the investigators will study the efficacy of this innovative intervention across ten Danish sites. Site staff will be trained at two sessions one year apart. Sites are randomized to training at time 1 or 2. All sites will recruit treatment as usual control families before they receive the training and start offering the intervention to all families. Potential participants will be approached by a local front staff member (e.g. midwife, helath visitor or social worker) who will inform mothers of the project in the early pregnancy. Consenting eligible participants will be assessed before they give birth and when their child is three months, one and two years old.

The effectiveness of the MTB programme will be evaluated by assessing a range of maternal and infant outcomes, including maternal sensitivity, parent mental Health, child development, and register data on e.g. infant maltreatment and neglect, hospitalization, income, immunization. By combining parent report, observational and register data researchers will get a unique opportunity to advance knowledge regarding effective ways to support some of the youngest and most vulnerable children in Denmark.

Inclusion criteria

• Pregnant vulnerable women

Exclusion criteria

• Current severe substance abuse
• Severe psychotic illness
• Profound or severe learning disabilities
• Life-threatening illness in parent or child
• Non-Danish speaking