Mellow provides support for pregnant mothers and expectant fathers. These programmes are designed to equip parents with skills that will help prepare them for becoming a new parent. This provides the opportunity for the child to enjoy the best possible start to life in the critical 1001 first days of a child’s development.
What Changed — Quantitative Evidence
One of the ways Mellow Parenting assesses programme impact is through questionnaires. Participants fill in these questionnaires just before starting the programme and answer the same questions just after the final session. These measures examine different key outcomes such as wellbeing, mental health, relationship with the child. This allows Mellow to make a comparison between how the parents were at the start of the programme and how they were at the end.
The average outcomes on each measure are provided below.
Wellbeing
WHO-5 Well-Being Index (World Health Organisation, 2024):
The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) is a short and generic global rating scale measuring subjective well-being. A Well-Being % Score is calculated, with 100% representing the highest possible well-being and 0% representing the lowest.
The graph below illustrates the pre and post WHO-5 averages for the data that Mellow received across its programmes:
- The participants, on average, reported a large increase in their wellbeing scores, rising from 55.60% before programme delivery to 69.60% after programme delivery.
Mental Health
DASS-21 (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995):
The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 Items (DASS-21) is a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the emotional state of depression, anxiety and stress.
Each scale has two cut off points. The light grey bar is the moderate cut-off score which is a guideline to check in with the participant and potentially continue to monitor through the service. The severe cut-off (dark grey bar) may point to the need for clinical assessment and support if it has not been made already.
The graphs below show the pre and post DASS-21 averages for the data that Mellow received across its programmes:
- The participants, on average, reported significant decreases in symptoms of all three measures after the programme delivery, the average falling below the moderate cut-off score for each measure.
Relationship With Child: The ‘Parenting Tunnel’
The ‘Parenting Tunnel’ is Mellow’s own subjective measure.
Parents are asked to imagine a tunnel representing their relationship journey with their unborn child. Placing the mark close to the start of the tunnel (‘0’) represents a relationship that is far from what the parent would desire, while responses closer to the end of the line (‘10’) represent a relationship that the parent considers strong.
The graph below depicts the pre and post Tunnel averages for the data that Mellow received across its programmes:
- The participants, on average, reported an increase in rating their relationship with their child, the average increasing from 7.6 pre-programme to 9.0 post-programme.
Voices of Parents
Extra qualitative evidence is also collected after the programme delivery. The first dataset is a series of questions related to programme outcomes, which the participants indicate the degree to which they agree or disagree with the statement. These questions show how the programme has empowered a parent to discover new skills, foster better relationships and expand their support network.
|
Statement |
Strongly Agreed |
Agreed |
Total |
|
“I would like to keep in touch with the service that delivered the programme” |
59% |
35% |
94% |
|
“After taking part in the group I feel better about myself” |
63% |
30% |
93% |
|
“I found the topics in the programme relevant to me and my family situation” |
58% |
39% |
97% |
|
“The group has given me a new perspective on my relationships” |
54% |
34% |
88% |
|
“The group has helped me identify my personal strengths” |
51% |
43% |
94% |
Parents are also provided the opportunity to leave open feedback at the end. The quotes provided below highlight how parents have grown in confidence, feel more supported, overcome fears, found and a safe space to share challenges and worries, and seek further support.
“I really enjoyed Mellow Bumps, it gave me more to look forward to. I have met some lovely people who I hope to keep in touch with . I felt I was able to share my experiences with the group and talk freely without judgement.”
– Mum, 19, West Lothian, Scotland
“I really enjoyed all the classes and they where (sic) all very interesting and full of information that some of it I did know and some I didn’t but to put it into a learning thing made it more reassuring. I also enjoyed learning from other dads in my situation and really enjoyed that. I would like a meet up session would be very good as like a finisher one I think would be handy.”
– Dad, 29, Northern Ireland
“I was really overwhelmed at the thought of coming to a group but once I was there the practitioners made me feel relaxed and helped me when I became overwhelmed with my anxiety they often met me outside before the group started.”
– Mum, 30, West Lothian, Scotland
“I loved my mellow group. I’ve learnt so much more than I thought I would. I wish strongly that this was around or was available when I had my first child as it would of helped me so much also.”
– Mum, 36, Lincolnshire, England
“The course facilitated by <practitioner names> was delivered excellently, I feel like it has armed me with the confidence to be the best father I can be for my child.
The resources and information provided throughout the course have also helped me understand how to deepen my bond with my baby and how to prepare myself for my new role as a father.
I couldn’t recommend this course enough for anyone about to become a father, it’s great to have a free resource available for a dads to be in this day and age.”– Dad, 32, Northern Ireland
