Author: Mary Nolan
Author title: IJBPE Editor; Emerita Professor of Perinatal Education, University of Worcester, UK
Description: Professor Mary Nolan reflects on 12 years of the IJBPE and looks forward to the future of the Journal as it becomes part of the 1001 Critical Days Foundation. 

Author: Anabel Castillo, Marissa Diener, Lukas Lopez and Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook
Author title: Anabel Castillo, Marissa Diener and Lukas Lopez from the Department of Family & Consumer Studies at the University of Utah and Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook from Psychological Services at the University of California-Merced 
Description: While improving breastfeeding rates is a global priority, the consequences of constraining mothers’ postpartum choices must be borne in mind. 

Author: James D. Lee
Author title: Department of Special Education, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Description: Parenting is often described as a rewarding yet demanding journey for many parents. Even under ideal circumstances and with appropriate support, new parents experience steep learning curves as they take on new roles, adapt to changing routines, and confront the emotional and physical demands of caregiving. While parenting any child can be an arduous lifelong journey and many new parents experience isolation, uncertainty, and self-doubt, parenting a child with disabilities, medical conditions, or other lifelong conditions often requires extra lift. For this reason, it is widely known that these parents especially experience psychological, economic, and social hardships, which lead to further adverse mental and physical outcomes (Resch et al., 2012). Parent-to-Parent (P2P) support offers new parents emotional, logistical and navigational support and is especially valuable for under-served communities. 

Author: Helen Hunt & Jo Lederer
Author title: Helen Hunt, Midwife, Antenatal Teacher and Director of Becoming Families, UK Jo Lederer, Perinatal Specialist and Director of Becoming Families, UK
Description: Like many great ideas, the seed for Becoming Families was sown over coffee at the kitchen table. It was 2011 - we had recently qualified as antenatal teachers having trained with a large national charity, but were finding that working within its organisational constraints did not afford us the autonomy and flexibility that we wanted. With goals initially no greater than to provide local, personalised antenatal education that was affordable and accessible, we began running stand- alone birth preparation workshops at a local Children’s Centre, under the name of ‘Birth Choices Worcestershire’, Worcestershire being the county in the west of England where we both live. We could not have predicted that in just a few short years we would be running Becoming Families, a charity that supports over 300 local families a year from pregnancy through the first two years. 

Author: Mary Nolan
Author title: Emerita Professor of Perinatal Education, University of Worcester, UK; Editor, International Journal of Birth and Parent Education
Description: The ‘grandmother hypothesis’ attempts to answer the question of why human females often survive many years after their childbearing days are over. Anthropologists propose that the care provided by grandmothers enables their daughters to enjoy healthier pregnancies and less risky childbirths. Grandmother help may have been critical to the success of the human species because being able to delegate care of children who are dependent for far longer than any other mammalian children, freed mothers for further pregnancies. This article explores the evidence for the benefits conferred by grandmothers and situations in which they can be harmful to the wellbeing of new families. 

Author: Kathleen Kendall-Tackett
Author title: Health Psychologist, International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, Researcher in Women’s Health
Description: Maternal depression, anxiety, and trauma negatively affect breastfeeding outcomes. Conversely, evidence suggests that breastfeeding—particularly exclusive breastfeeding—protects maternal mental health through physiological, behavioral, and psychosocial pathways. This review synthesizes findings from prospective cohort studies, epidemiological analyses, and physiological research. Key themes include the regulation of the stress/oxytocin system, sleep patterns in breastfeeding mothers, and trauma recovery.

Author: Leslie Morrison Gutman
Author title: Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London 
Description: Breastfeeding is important for the health and wellbeing of both infants and mothers, providing numerous benefits, including enhanced immunity, improved bonding, and long-term physical and emotional well-being (Modak et al., 2023; Allen & Hector, 2005). However, in the UK, the situation regarding breastfeeding presents a paradox. Despite a widespread understanding of its advantages, breastfeeding rates remain among the lowest in the world (UNICEF, 2010). Only 52.7% of mothers breastfeed at six to eight weeks in England (Public Health England, 2024),and just 1% follow the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding at six months postnatal (Byrom et al., 2021). These statistics highlight the urgent need for tailored interventions to support mothers. This article explores how the COM-B model and Behaviour Change Wheel can be utilised to encourage breastfeeding and potentially improve postpartum mental health in the UK. 

Author: Ros Kane
Author title: Development Worker, Before Becoming a Parent Charity (B4BP)
Description: The aims of the charity ‘Before Becoming a Parent’ are to provide lessons in schools about good parenting; to support parents in difficulty and to produce publications about how to teach parenthood. We offer free training sessions and a model lesson to any school anywhere, as well as to youth projects and in young offender institutions. This article describes the work of the charity.

Author: Bridget Supple
Author title: Perinatal Educator UK, Birth Companion and Author
Description: Part of good parenting education is informing parents about how a baby’s brain wires and their role in it. The architecture of a baby’s brain is formed mostly after birth and in the first two years of life, that is during the critically important 1000 days from pregnancy to two. This article describes an innovative interactive teaching approach to help parents appreciate early brain development and presents feedback regarding its impact on parents.

Author: Dr Jonathan Sher 
Author title: Dr Jonathan Sher is the former Deputy Director of the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland, where he led the creation of Scotland’s Coalition for Healthier Pregnancies, Better Lives. 
Description: Dr Jonathan Sher discuss the importance of prenatal and pregnancy care in the life trajectory of a child.