Browsing by Author "Alasuutari, Nea"

Goals. The purpose of this study was to find out what kind of information and support parents need during their baby’s first year and to map out the mental and social support the parents need. The aim for the study was to describe the views of the parents about their needs, and to find the differences between the two groups, which consisted of parents with previous children and parents that are having their first child. The theory section of the study deals with the parenthood itself and the transition towards parenthood, the mental wellbeing of the parents as well as the meaning of the first years of life for the future development of the child. The previous studies about the needs of the parents are also acknowledged. Methodology. This study was constructed as a mixed methods research, in which quantitative and qualitative phases combine. The data collected from the Parental Box research was used as the material for the study. The data was collected from parents with children under one year of age, and it was collected by using questionnaires, which included both open and close ended questions. The questionnaire included 21 factors for support and information needs, and the parents needed to evaluate their answers in a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 stands for never and 5 stands for very often. The analysis of data was based on 373 answers that were analysed in SPSS statistics program. The methods used were counting descriptive statistics, factor analysis and determination of the sum variables. Open-ended questions about the needs of the parents considering information and support were analysed using qualitative content analysis after quantitative analyses. Results and conclusions. The study indicated that the parents need different kinds of information and support during their baby’s first year. In the quantitative analysis, the support for the parenthood was organised into five different aspects: the basic care of the child, sleeping, crying, development and health of the child and the wellbeing of the parent. However, the need for information and support for the parents were not particularly important in the quantitative analysis. The most support the parents seemed to need considered the health and development of the child. The basic care of the child was the aspect that needed the least support. The results show that the parents who are having their first child need more overall information and support than their counterparts, for whom the baby is not the first. The biggest difference in the average answers of the groups considered the sleep of the baby and the smallest difference the cry of the baby. When answering the open-ended questions, the parents highlighted the need for peer support. The need for concrete help in running everyday life and doing chores in their homes was also needed. Furthermore, the results indicated that the role of maternity clinic or guidance centre was received with mixed feelings. The most things that parents need, seem to be current and reliable source for information and increase in peer support as well as concrete help in and around their house.