What is the NBO training?

A centerpiece of the project is an annual 2-day NBO training that brings together a range of practitioners in the community who interface with parents and newborns. The experiential learning serves a dual purpose of becoming familiar with the tool itself, while forging relationships among community members who play different roles in working with new families, including maternity nurses, home visitors, pediatricians, and early intervention specialists.

Participants in the training learn together about how to engage parents' natural expertise and ability to listen to their baby's earliest communications as they navigate this dramatic transition in their lives.

The Hello Its Me project plans to train all maternity nurses at Berkshire Medical Center with the aim of integrating the NBO into routine care of newborns and their family. In addition, we will train a range of other community organizations, including Berkshire Pediatrics, Healthy Families, Pediatric Development Center, and Parents as Teachers, who all have opportunity to engage with families beyond the immediate newborn period.