Responding to survey results that identified stress as a key concern among Marblehead parents, the Board of Health is launching free parenting classes this fall.
The four-session series, offered in partnership with local business Marblehead Parenting, will help expectant parents prepare for the emotional, psychological and practical realities of having a baby. About 160 babies are born to Marblehead families each year, according to Board of Health Chair Dr. Tom Massaro.
Massaro said the initiative grew out of the recent Creating a Healthier Marblehead survey and conversations with local healthcare providers.
“Parenting came up as a high-stress activity in CAHM, so we are taking CAHM data to help us set our strategic priorities,” Massaro said.
After meeting with local pediatricians and obstetricians, Massaro said there was broad agreement on the need for parenting classes.
“I don’t think dads or moms understand what pregnancy does psychologically, biologically,” he said.
The classes will be led by Marblehead Parenting, which already offers parenting groups for young families. Massaro said those programs help new parents build connections with others going through similar experiences.
“They form a sense of community,” he said. “New parents meet and then have someone they can call to ask, ‘Is this what you’re doing, too?’”
Beyond teaching parents the mechanics of caring for a newborn, Massaro said the program is intended to provide some of the informal guidance that previous generations often received from extended family.
“Like a substitute grandmother,” he said. “When you lived in a little community and your grandmother could tell you what it’s like to raise kids.”
Massaro also said prenatal education can help parents recognize emotional and psychological challenges that may arise after childbirth.
According to the National Institutes of Health, postpartum depression affects one in seven women after giving birth, and undiagnosed PPD was observed among 50% of mothers.
The classes will be funded through state grants the Board of Health received last year.
Registration information is expected to be announced before the first four-week session begins after Labor Day.
