What is it about?
Becoming a parent is a major life change that can bring emotional challenges, especially for those who have experienced birth trauma. This study explored whether a five-week creative play programme—prescribed through social prescribing—could support new parents' mental health and social well-being. We evaluated a 5-week creative play programme for parents with children aged 0–2, offering music, play, and peer connection. We measured parents’ levels of postnatal depression, birth trauma, and reflective function (the ability to understand one’s own and others’ thoughts and feelings) before and after the programme. Parents showed a significant drop in postnatal depression symptoms after the programme. While reflective function didn’t change significantly, birth trauma was linked to higher depression and emotional uncertainty. Interestingly, parents didn’t join for social reasons—but after attending, social connection became their favourite part.
Featured Image
Photo by Yuri Shirota on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This is the first UK study to evaluate a socially prescribed creative play programme for new parents, combining mental health support, social connection, and infant development in one intervention. It’s especially timely given rising postnatal mental health concerns and long NHS wait times. By offering a low-cost, community-based “waiting well” solution, this approach could reduce pressure on health services and improve outcomes for both parents and children.
Perspectives
Theatre Hullabaloo in Darlington developed this free sing and play programme to creatively support parents and carers of children under 2 years. Community health programmes such as this help develop and nurture social relationships, which provide a source of social connection and help parents feel more supported. In turn, this social support can help reduce postnatal depression, reduce social isolation, and enhance emotional well-being in early parenthood. We’d expect to see these benefits ripple out to the children, who are more likely to feel secure and thrive when parents are emotionally balanced.
Dr Susanna Kola-Palmer
Department of Psychology, University of Huddersfield
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A socially prescribed creative play intervention for new parents: investigating post traumatic stress around birth and changes in postnatal depression and reflective function, BMC Psychology, March 2025, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1186/s40359-025-02578-3.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
