LAUSR

Anticipatory guidance aims to keep children safe and encourage healthy parent-child relationships. Studies have established that parents wish to receive this guidance, particularly with regard to developmental and health topics, and many would pay extra to discuss these topics with providers. Even though many parents would like to receive anticipatory guidance, a significant number of parents report not discussing relevant topics during clinic visits despite having questions. Research involving in-depth interviews with expectant parents during their pregnancies has identified that parents desire advice regarding how to prepare for their newborn and what to expect postnatally. Study participants noted a lack of guidance about child development and parenting strategies. This lesser attention to postnatal topics may contribute to parents experiencing a slight dip in excitement during the first few weeks with their newborn. Providing parents with quality anticipatory guidance during the newborn well-child visit may be a good way to offer encouragement and ensure child safety during these first weeks at home. Furthermore, anticipatory guidance may be offered inconsistently. Hispanic parents report having the most unaddressed needs, while families with higher incomes and those who receive long-term care from the same provider report having had more guidance discussions with a health care professional. Additionally, communication between mothers and physicians is better when the mothers’ education level is higher. Studies have asked parents about anticipatory guidance related to the pregnancy up through hospital discharge; however, little research focuses on the needs of parents during the first few days or weeks at home. This study aims to identify common parental concerns at the newborn visit and to highlight sociodemographic characteristics that predict number of concerns and common themes to tailor anticipatory guidance. We hypothesized that parental concerns may vary according to parity status, insurance type (as surrogate for socioeconomic status), and primary language. Methods