Lay the groundwork for parenting success

Invest in Kids
News Release

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Toronto - Becoming a parent is one of the most joyful experiences in life, but it can also be one of the most overwhelming. For first-time parents it can seem especially stressful, as not only do you have a new baby, but a whole new set of relationship challenges that come with parenting. That's why laying the groundwork for a solid parenting foundation during the prenatal period can be so important.

Research on parenting shows that the more a parent understands about child development, the more confident they feel and, ultimately, the more positive parenting they will use, which leads to a better outcome for their child. With this in mind, Invest in Kids, a national charity dedicated to transforming the way that Canadian parents are educated and supported, is launching a Prenatal Corner dedicated to pregnancy and prenatal issues on its website, www.investinkids.ca. The section will have a special focus on how couples can understand and support each other through the transition to parenthood - helping them develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to become the parents they dream of being.

www.investinkids.ca has long been a resource for parents and professionals looking for information on parenting and child development issues relating to children under five.

The new section takes an extensive look at pregnancy, covering prenatal care and concerns, as well as labour and delivery, but its most unique feature is how it studies the couple relationship and the transition to parents - with articles on communication strategies, the emotional impact of pregnancy and other topics specifically for couples. The site also has a special section with information for expectant fathers.

The Prenatal Corner, which will be adding new content frequently throughout the next two months, takes much of its information from The Parenting Partnership program, an innovative prenatal and parenting program for first-time expectant parents. Invest in Kids created The Parenting Partnership to help parents optimize their child's development and well-being by increasing parents' knowledge, skills and confidence around pregnancy, childbirth, parenting and child development. It promotes the development of sensitive, responsive and warm parent-child and parent-parent relationships. The program has recently been licensed to Regional Municipality of York for use in their health unit.

"This site is unique in that, like The Parenting Partnership program, it covers labour and delivery and all of the necessary information that expectant parents need. But it also goes beyond those issues and looks at ways that couples can continue to communicate and work together successfully during a very exciting, but sometimes stressful time. By encouraging couples to work on their relationship as well as prepare for the birth of their baby, we think that this corner will help parents feel more supported and confident as they transition into this new phase of their lives," says Karon Foster, Director of the Parenting Partnership.

Foster, a registered nurse and nursing instructor with more than 30 years experience, has worked with expectant parents for most of her nursing career. She brought that expertise both to the development of The Parenting Partnership and to the Prenatal Corner. Foster hand-selected much of the information that parents can find on the site, using the knowledge she gained from working directly with expectant couples.

"We looked at what parents were asking. They wanted to know about the physical elements, absolutely, but they also had a lot of questions about their emotions and about the changes in their lives and relationships. We wanted to bring that out in this site and make it as useful as possible for first-time parents especially," says Foster.

The Prenatal Corner is broken down in two different ways, so that parents using the site can look at it in the format that is most effective for them. It is categorized either by trimester or by Mom, Dad, Baby and Couple. Dads especially can benefit from having a section dedicated exclusively to content that they might find useful.

Each article in the Prenatal Corner is open for comments and Invest in Kids hopes that expectant parents will let them know what articles they find most useful, as well as those that they have questions or comments about. Invest in Kids' experts, including Foster, will be answering as many questions as possible and parent comments and requests will help to guide the new content that is being added regularly.

"We wanted to ensure that this site was not only a place where parents could read information about pregnancy, but also a place where they could ask questions, talk about their own experiences and discuss things both with other expectant parents and with our experts," says Lisa McKeen, VP of Web & Brand Management at Invest in Kids.

Visit Invest in Kids' Prenatal Corner at: www.investinkids.ca.

About Invest in Kids

Invest in Kids is a national charity dedicated to transforming the way Canadian parents are educated and supported. Our vision is a country where all parents are the parents they dream of being, all children reach their full potential and parents and children are valued and supported in the communities in which they live and work. For more information visit www.investinkids.ca.

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