The Guide for New Parents is designed to help parents develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to adjust to their new family roles.The guide also includes information about resources of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) Extension that chan help parents and their growing family over time.
The Guide for New Parents
Our 25-page color magazine features expert information on what to expect the first month, building relationships, budgeting for baby, finding quality child care, feeding newborns, and home and car safety. The Guide gives parents timely information for both immediate and future needs related to caring for themselves, their child, and their family, especially during the first few months after birth.
Each article in the Guide is also formatted for individual viewing using the links below.
- What to Expect During Your Baby’s First Month
- Building a Bright Future: Nurturing Your Baby’s Brain
- Breast-Feeding: A Mother’s Special Gift
- Feeding Time is Bonding Time! Tips for Successful Bottle-Feeding
- Parenting Together: A Team Approach to Caring For Baby
- Bringing Baby Home: A New Set of Family Dynamics
- Daddy Time!
- When It Comes to Child Care, Quality Matters!
- Putting Baby on a Budget
- Paying for Your Child’s Education Is Not as Hard as You May Think
- A Healthy Home for Baby
- Baby's First Road Trip: Safety First!
Ordering Print Copies
We are currently out-of-stock on copies of the complete Guide for New Parents. If you are interested in ordering future copies of this publication, please contact your UGA Extension County office or Dr. Ted Futris.
Impact of the Guide for New Parents
Recognized in 2009 by the National Extension Association for Family and Consumer Sciences with the Educational Publication Award and the Living Well Award.
The Guide for New Parents was distributed to nearly 8,600 new mothers through 24 labor and delivery hospitals across Georgia between September and December of 2008. Mothers interested in providing feedback on the publication returned a postage-paid postcard and received a survey by mail. Specific findings from the mothers' responses included the following:
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The majority of mothers who read the GNP find the articles very useful and report learning something new
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Nearly all the mothers report that they used or applied the information they read in each article
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The GNP helped mothers feel better prepared to take care of their baby;
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Although most mothers had never heard of (76%) or received resources (96%) from UGA Family and Consumer Sciences Extension in the past, about 75% reported that they were now likely to contact or utilize UGA Extension resources.
To learn more about the study and the results, click here for a copy of the report or read these published studies:
Futris, T. G. & Stone, H. M. (2011). Now they know: Helping new mothers gain parenting knowledge and become aware of Family and Consumer Sciences Extension programming. Journal of Extension [online], 49 (1). Available from http://www.joe.org/joe/2011february/a9.php.
Futris, T. G. & Stone, H. M. (2010). The reaching new parents project: The impact of a FCS Extension resource guide on new mothers. The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues [online], 15 (3). Available from http://ncsu.edu/ffci/publications/2010/v15-n3-2010-winter/futris-stone.php