Our Study

As three researchers who became new parents during the pandemic ourselves, we recognised that this was a momentous and unique time to become a parent for the first time. We noticed that there had been very little discussion and sharing of stories from new parents. As we started to venture out to parent and baby groups, one thing that struck us was that many new parents we met had been through so much and their experiences had been so varied and yet there'd been little opportunity to share, and reflect on, these experiences. We have personally found speaking to other parents helpful, and so we wanted to provide a way to do this on a larger scale for other parents.

As part of our research, we invited new parents to share their anonymous stories of their pregnancy (or the period before the arrival of their child), birth (or the process of having a child) and the postnatal period (or after their child arrived). Over 300 parents from around the UK and beyond kindly told us their story.

As well as formally analysing the stories we received to look for themes, we would like to make these accounts available for other parents to read (with consent from those sharing their stories and ensuring they remain anonymous in the accounts). 

We hope that this provided a safe space for the sort of self-expression and reflection that we, like others, have felt the lack of, as well as an avenue for making parents' voices heard. We are also working with the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) to make these stories count by advocating for more support for new parents.

Thank you for your interest and to the parents that have entrusted us with your personal stories. 

Please see our video below for more information, our 'Reports and Outputs' page for reports from the project and 'Read Parents' Stories' for some excerpts from the accounts.