Free ‘survival guide’ tool every new parent needs

A pregnancy app is offering parents tips for everything they need to know about their new baby — including these taboo topics nobody wants to talk about.

New and expectant parents can get free mental health support in their pockets with the launch of the only Australian pregnancy app that is focused on parents.

Experts hope it can tackle peri-natal illness, which they say rose throughout Covid and is exacerbated by the “picture-perfect” portrayals of parenthood on social media and in advertisements.

The Ready to Cope app, funded by the federal government, provides weekly information and early intervention strategies for both mums and dads up until their child’s first birthday.

One in five mums – and 10 per cent of dads – experience peri-natal depression and anxiety, while suicide is a leading cause of maternal death.

But Centre of Perinatal Excellence executive director and peri-natal mental health specialist Dr Nicole Highet said people were still scared or ashamed to speak up and dismissed their symptoms as “just hormones”.

“Brands and corporates in the area are in the market of projecting these images of wonderful motherhood bliss,” she said.

“People are posting picture perfect images on their Instagram pages.

“People feel like they’re being judged about how they are adjusting to motherhood and how they might be viewed by other people.”

The Ready to Cope app, funded by the federal government, provides weekly information and early intervention strategies for both mums and dads up until their child’s first birthday.

Earlier research conducted by COPE found 74 per cent of mothers with perinatal mental illness did not seek help until they were at crisis point.

She said the COPE-designed app sees parents receive “timely information” that’s relevant to their stage of pregnancy or parenthood, including on “taboo” topics such as post-natal rage, loneliness and intrusive thoughts.

“Unlike any other app that focuses on the growth and development of the baby … this is focusing on the parent,” she said.

“During that time there’s a lot of changes, lots of transitions, lots of things come along that you weren’t expecting.”

She said information on these topics were designed to help parents “feel less alone in their own experience” and improve their understanding of what they were experiencing.

“Some have described it as their own pocket survival guide,” she said.

“The national guidelines recommend that all patients are provided with this level of information (through pregnancy and early parenthood).

“Often that onus is on the health professional, but they are so time poor.”

The app includes check-ins so parents can monitor their levels of stress, anxiety and depression to see if they need to seek more professional help, with nearby practitioners listed in a directory.

Dr Highet said a previous weekly email campaign showed great success, with 85 per cent of surveyed parents reporting it prepared them for the emotional and / or mental health challenges they faced.

Northern Health women’s and children nursing director Nicole Carlon said she was “confident” recommending it to her patients.

“It also reassures me as a health professional, that parents are getting the information they need,” she said.

Originally published as Free ‘survival guide’ tool every new parent needs