Supporting first-time parents and their infants and toddlers: an evaluation study in Bulgaria
The Utrecht Centre for Global Challenges collaborates with the Bulgarian nonprofit organization Trust for Social Achievement to evaluate a parental support programme – the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) after six years of implementation in Bulgaria.
The NFP is a community health program designed to support disadvantaged, mostly Romani families in Bulgaria. The programme matches first-time, low-income mothers with a nurse, who visits regularly from pregnancy through the child’s second year. It aims to support families from segregated neighbourhoods facing various challenges when expecting their first child, ranging from insecure housing, to limited access to public services, and poverty. Through regular home-visits by nurses and midwives, the programme provides preventive healthcare services, and various types of support and guidance during pregnancy and early childhood (until the child’s second birthday). These efforts seek to contribute to the improvement of maternal and child health, the promotion of school readiness, and ultimately also the reduction of poverty.
In short, the evaluation study finds that:
A variety of indicators highlight that the Romani families living in segregated neighbourhoods are in more vulnerable situations than general population families. Consistent with literature, we find that gaps in early childhood development emerge very early on. Comparing these two groups of families, there is a clear gap in terms of child health and development. We also see a gap in various mother outcomes.
The results in the report provide an indication of where the effects of the NFP programme may be concentrated. Comparing the families who participated in the NFP programme with a comparison sample, the NFP children score significantly higher on child development tests, with results more similar to (or higher than) the results among children from the general population sample.
These initial results look promising. There are several areas where the NFP programme might help to close the gap between these families in vulnerable situations and general population families.