Socially prescribed creative play sessions reduce postnatal depression and boost parental well-being

A creative play program has significantly improved new parents’ and caregivers’ mental health, according to research by the universities of Leeds and Huddersfield.

Parents and caregivers who took part in a five-week creative play program for under-twos had a significant reduction in postnatal depression symptoms, new research published in BMC Psychology has shown.

The program, Let’s Play, was developed by Darlington-based children’s arts charity Theater Hullabaloo to boost parents’ confidence and mental health, with particular support around speech and language delays. The free sessions are socially prescribed, which involves families being referred by GPs, health visitors, social prescribing link workers or partner organizations to take part.

Comprised of sing and play sessions in an informal, friendly setting, Let’s Play brings parents with children under two together to learn simple, fun creative activities that contribute to child development. A key component of the program is that the same parents and children meet every week, encouraging them to form relationships.

Mum-of-two Kellie, who took part in two cohorts of the five-week program, said, “Before taking part in Let’s Play, I had thoughts like, am I a bad parent? Am I alone here? It was reassuring to hear about how other children were developing.”

“In an ideal world, I think everyone should have access to this. It’s beneficial to both parents and children, rather than one or the other, and backed by real science,” Kellie added.

The artist-led six-week program took place at Theater Hullabaloo’s specialist family venue in Darlington alongside its studio theater, artist-designed creative play space, café and story corner.

Dr. Paige Davis, Lecturer in Developmental Psychology at the University of Leeds School of Psychology, led the research as part of her British Academy Innovation Fellowship, with additional funding from Arts Council England. Dr. Davis said, “These findings show that creativity could be the key to addressing parents’ unmet needs in children’s early lives. This time is crucial for development but for parents and caregivers, it is often a socially isolating, tiring and challenging time—so it is encouraging to see improvements to mental health in this research.

“Ultimately, we hope that this trailblazing creative program can impact communities by being taken up and rolled out by the NHS. The next step is working on training programs so artists can deliver Play on Prescription—helping us harness the power of creativity to help children have a healthier and fairer future.”

Impact on postnatal depression

57 parents took part in the research, as part of three different cohorts. They were surveyed in the first and last sessions to track symptoms of postnatal depression using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale—a widely used questionnaire that assesses new parents’ mental health. They also tracked parents’ birth-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms using the City birth trauma scale.

The researchers found that postnatal depression symptom scores decreased throughout the five-week program, and continued decreasing when parents attended a second round of the course.

They also found that those with birth trauma PTSD symptoms were more likely to have postnatal depression, so the researchers argue that future creative play interventions must be designed in a trauma-informed way.

Postnatal depression affects more than 1 in 10 mothers, as well as new fathers and partners, in the first year after birth. It can cause a persistent feeling of sadness, difficulty looking after children, trouble sleeping, a lack of energy and frightening thoughts. Research shows it can also affect parent-child bonding. The program therefore looks to alleviate stress, normalize talking about feelings, create social opportunities with other parents and encourage bonding with children to help parents through this.

Previous research has focused on how creative interventions improve outcomes for children, but this is the first known study to measure the impact of socially prescribed creative play on parents’ mental health.

The research also found that parents didn’t report attending for social opportunities, but at the end of the program it was their favorite part. Parents associated social aspects with fulfilling their own needs, rather than their children’s needs. Connecting people at a time of transition is an important part of social prescription.

Miranda Thain, Artistic Producer at Theater Hullabaloo, said, “The value of play between parent and child, particularly in those first critical thousand and one days is so important for a child’s development and also for parental confidence and well-being. In Let’s Play, specially designed for 0–2s and their caregivers, we’ve seen firsthand how creative programs have really made a difference to local families, giving new creative approaches to supporting vital development and helping new parents build supportive networks.

“With a growing evidence base around the impact on postnatal depression and parental well-being, we’ve now been able to roll the program out in family hubs across the Tees Valley so even more families can benefit from our artist-led play programs.”

“It was such a relief’—Kellie’s experience

Kellie was struggling with anxiety after the arrival of her first child, as he wasn’t starting to speak as quickly as his peers. She began to blame herself, questioning whether she was a good parent. Kellie went to her GP, who referred her to a socially prescribed play project as part of University of Leeds research.

Kellie said, “For the first session, I felt so anxious and tightly wound because we were running late. But when I arrived, it was very open and relaxed. It was inviting and welcoming. I genuinely felt accepted from that first session.”

Kellie also benefitted from the non-judgemental space. She said, “It was such a relief to talk to other parents about their relationships. My husband and I had been arguing a lot more than usual, but I found it reassuring to hear this was a similar experience for other parents.”

Inspired by Let’s Play, Kellie now takes her son to music classes. She said, “We never thought much about music before because neither me nor his dad are very musical. But he absolutely thrives when music is playing. He loves jazz hands and wheels on the bus. Music really uplifts our mood too.”

Kellie, who runs a tutoring business with her husband Jason, enjoyed learning about child development as well as new play strategies at Let’s Play. She said, “They offered singing, stories, free play and more—all linked to child development. You don’t always get those explanations when going to other classes.

“Some playgroups are too structured or unstructured, but this was a great balance. Children can do what they want and parents are modeling behavior, so nobody is dragging their kids away to take part in an activity.”

Kellie and Jason welcomed their second child in May.

Dr. Susanna Kola-Palmer, Reader in the Department of Social and Psychological Sciences at the University of Huddersfield, co-authored the research. She said, “Community health programs such as Let’s Play help develop and nurture social relationships, which provide a source of social connection and help parents feel more supported.

“In turn, this social support can help reduce postnatal depression, social isolation, and enhance emotional well-being in early parenthood. We’d expect to see these benefits ripple out to the children, who are more likely to feel secure and thrive when parents are emotionally balanced.”

Rebecca Ball, Area Director North, Arts Council England said, “We know how vital it is for children to have access to creativity and culture as part of their development, but taking part in such activity can also have a positive effect on the mental health of their parents and caregivers. It’s great to see such encouraging results from the research and we’re proud to support Theater Hullaballoo as part of our national portfolio.”

Next steps

The researchers are now calling for creative play on prescription to be rolled out across the NHS to improve support for new parents, who often experience social isolation and poor mental health.

Although the difference in postpartum depression scores was statistically significant, more research is needed to draw conclusions on whether this creative play intervention is more effective than a standard playgroup.

The project will delve deeper into what other changes parents might be experiencing from the program. They are also comparing it to groups that are not using creativity and the arts to determine the role of creativity and the arts in the intervention.

In the future, Dr. Davis hopes creative play programs can be rolled out as socially prescribed interventions run by artists across the country.