Bump to Buggy: Enabling expectant and new mothers to stay active

'Bump to Buggy' aims to develop ways to enable expectant and new mothers to actively participate in physical activity.

It is investigating what stops and aids participation in physical activity to develop an intervention and disseminate the learning to health professionals and sports partners. 

Pregnancy and early motherhood is a time of biological, psychological and social change for women.  Pregnant women are often less active than their non-pregnant counterparts, and as pregnancy and new motherhood progresses, physical activity tends to decrease. This can have a negative impact on their health and wellbeing, as well as the health of their babies. Barriers to participating in physical activity at this time can include time constraints, lack of social support, cost and accessibility.

Aware of these issues, Nouveau Wellbeing - a Social Enterprise company helping communities in North East England - was keen to develop bespoke activities to support pregnant women and new mothers in disadvantaged communities to stay active. They approached AskFuse, the rapid response service run by Fuse, for advice on the research. As a result, Bump to Buggy is now a multi-agency partnership involving Fuse, Teesside University, Nouveau Wellbeing, Tees Valley Sport and local councils, with funding for three years from Sport England.

“the Bump to Buggy project will offer a vital service to women across County Durham”

Beth Ainsley, Founder of Nouveau Wellbeing

 In 2018 the project received the Community Partnership award from Nouveau Wellbeing as part of its 10th Anniversary. Beth Ainsley, Founder of Nouveau Wellbeing, said: "the Bump to Buggy project will offer a vital service to women across County Durham."

Dr Murali Subramanian, a Teesside University PhD candidate and physician in Sports and Exercise Medicine physician, is supporting the research.

Key findings

The research started in 2018 and is due to finish in 2021.

Policy relevance and implications

The findings of this research will be of interest to:

• Local Government commissioners of health and wellbeing services and early years services
• Local Government Public Health practitioners
• Developers of physical health/activity policy and guidelines
• Maternity service commissioners and practitioners
• Health visitors and early years practitioners
• Charities, voluntary services and businesses involved in the delivery of physical activity.

For more information, please 

Email: Peter van der Graaf, Teesside University, p.van.der.Graaf@tees.ac.uk

• News: www.fuse.ac.uk/news/bumptobuggyprojectwillhelpnewandexpectantmotherstostayactive

Last modified: Fri, 12 Jun 2020 13:36:17 BST