{"id":49125,"date":"2011-12-28T08:45:04","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T13:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=49125"},"modified":"2012-01-09T16:36:32","modified_gmt":"2012-01-09T21:36:32","slug":"health-center-program-a-resource-for-1st-time-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/12\/health-center-program-a-resource-for-1st-time-parents\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Center Program a Resource for First-time Parents"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Connections<\/a>
Connections coordinator Jennifer Vendetti (left) reads with toddlers at a recent Nurturing Families Network group program. (Photo provided by Jennifer Vendetti)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A program led by a UConn Health Center social worker is helping first-time parents transition into their new role in a manner that helps enable a safe, nurturing environment.<\/p>\n

The \u201cConnections\u201d program intends to serve as the link to the Nurturing Families Network<\/a> (NFN), a statewide program created by the Children\u2019s Trust Fund with the goal of reducing parenting stress, parent-child conflict, and parental social isolation by offering free resources and support to new families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe adjustment to new parenting is often very challenging because of the reorganization in thinking, feelings, and family structure,\u201d says Connections coordinator Jennifer Vendetti. \u201cThere is a tremendous increase in the need for support during this developmental process. It is irrelevant how or where you are on the economic strata, or what your educational background is. Many parents experience the same transitional challenges during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

NFN has 42 sites in the state, which include Connecticut\u2019s 29 birthing hospitals. It offers first-time families perinatal and parenting support through phone contact, group programming and home visitation. Providing emotional support, information on infant and child development, and linkage to community resources empowers parents as they adjust and begin their journey into parenthood. The Connections component includes meeting with parents in the maternity unit to engage and introduce them to the programs and to other community resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just nice for parents to have relationships with babies and children, it\u2019s primal,\u201d Vendetti says. \u201cIt\u2019s fundamental, but it\u2019s something we have to work on. We make a big deal about making a physical space for our baby, but it really is about making an emotional space, and what is that relationship going to look like?\u201d<\/p>\n

Home visitation provides more intensive support, including weekly in-home visits, covering topics like infant development, parental expectations, socialization and school readiness. NFN provides opportunities for new parents to share how they\u2019re feeling emotionally, to talk about how the adjustment is going, and to feel empowered. NFN provides positive support and encouragement, and helps develop parental confidence. Parents learn to read babies\u2019 cues and to respond consistently to babies\u2019 needs. Many parents feel uncertain about these skills initially.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a parent, having someone come to your house and see your day-to-day routines and struggles is a natural way to share this experience and get support,\u201d says clinical supervisor Julia Gonz\u00e1lez Candela. Families may enter the home visitation program before or after the birth of their child.<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez Candela and Vendetti staff the UConn Health Center NFN site along with home visitor and parent educator Linnette Solano Resto and clinical psychologist Karen Steinberg Gallucci<\/a>, the program manager.<\/p>\n

\"Intern<\/a>
Intern Lindsay Dion engages a toddler with a basket of apples. (Jennifer Vendetti\/UConn Health Center Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTransitioning into parenthood is a human development phenomenon,\u201d Vendetti says. \u201cI don\u2019t think we hear enough about that, what it\u2019s like to have your first baby and become a new family. There are so many changes that some in the literature call it a life crisis, because there are physical, structural, familial, emotional changes taking place, and the need for support is real. And it feels like we\u2019re further isolating ourselves. Families are living farther from the families of origin. For those with no family in the state, that\u2019s incredibly challenging to raise a family without that network. NFN helps to fill that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Group programs include \u201cMom\u2019s Morning Out,\u201d a drop-in social group held monthly; \u201cPrenatal Parenting,\u201d an eight-session group offered several times yearly; and curricula-based parenting programs, which include children\u2019s groups. More information about NFN group programs is available at http:\/\/nurturingfamilies.uchc.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cGroup work is a powerful medium for change,\u201d Gon\u00e1lez Candela says.<\/p>\n

At the UConn Health Center\u2019s NFN site, students from undergraduate and graduate programs such as social work, marriage and family therapy, early childhood, and counseling have internship opportunities that develop and enhance their professional skills while augmenting program staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get direct practice experience and training opportunities through the program, they\u2019ll shadow and have direct practice responsibilities,\u201d Gon\u00e1lez Candela says. \u201cWe usually have six to eight students on campus every year. We\u2019ve established very good relationships with area colleges and universities.\u201d<\/p>\n