SINGAPORE - As a first-time mother, Ms Siti Aisha Begum, 26, was ready to welcome any help she could get.

Hence, when she was introduced to the KidStart programme at a routine check-up at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) during her pregnancy, she did not hesitate.

At 20 weeks pregnant, she enrolled in the nationwide early childhood development programme, meant to support children aged up to six from lower-income families.

Besides learning the ropes of diaper changing and how to bathe a baby, Ms Siti, who is not working at the moment, also received support from a nurse assigned to her when she was infected with dengue and had thyroid issues during her pregnancy.

The nurse provided advice and helped to explain medical jargon, said Ms Siti, whose daughter is now about four months old. “She also helped me to track my baby’s milestones while I was pregnant, so I didn’t have to go to the doctor over small things. I could just ask her.”

KidStart, which offers help in areas such as monitoring child development, nutrition and parenting strategies, hopes to reach out to more families at the prenatal stage, when mothers are expecting, like it did with Ms Siti.

The programme has supported more than 6,200 children since it started as a pilot in 2016.

KidStart chief executive Rahayu Buang said that one area it wants to do more in is to encourage more families and children to enrol at the prenatal stage. Most of the 6,200 children had joined KidStart after they were born, she noted.

In the last two years, of about 750 families that KKH and the National University Hospital (NUH) reached out to at the prenatal stage, 60 per cent of them enrolled in KidStart, she added.

“Given that every year, about 3,000 children would be eligible for KidStart, and knowing that the first five years of life are critical to child development, we want to do more to bring about awareness, outreach and encourage eligible families to sign up,” Madam Rahayu said.

To do so, the hospitals involved are working towards approaching mothers in the waiting rooms of obstetrics and gynaecology clinics to explain and increase awareness of the programme, she added.

Currently, hospitals get referrals from medical social workers, antenatal clinics or social service agencies.

Apart from working with KKH and NUH, KidStart also links up with Singapore General Hospital and Sengkang General Hospital to reach out to eligible pregnant mothers within the SingHealth group.

It is also working with community partners to spread awareness and share testimonials from families enrolled on various platforms including social media.

There are benefits to signing up earlier to KidStart, as early as the prenatal stage, said Madam Rahayu.

Local research has shown that the well-being of mothers during pregnancy is linked to the child’s development in the womb and after birth.

Positive maternal attitudes during pregnancy also influence school readiness and performance in a child’s later years.

Hence, the KidStart programme offers help during the antenatal period through regular check-ins with the mothers on their physical and mental well-being, as well as by providing guidance on how to care for their newborn through the KidStart teams at the hospitals, said Madam Rahayu.

After birth, KidStart practitioners visit the families to guide them on effective parent-child strategies covering areas such as health and socio-emotional and language learning.

Later on, they assist with pre-school transition and ensuring regular enrolment, up till the child is six years old.

Mei Ting (not her real name), was initially not keen to sign up for KidStart when she was introduced to it at NUH in 2022.

“Back then, I thought it was a group of social workers and counsellors, which I was sceptical about due to past experiences with social services, but I couldn’t say no to the help that I could get,” she said.

The team showed her what a community of support felt like, as she could count on them when she had questions about her baby, which helped to quell her early doubts.

“Despite me being so closed off at the start of everything, I’m so glad to have met my case workers and nurse, and feel thankful that they didn’t give up on me,” she said.

Madam Rahayu said families who decline to join the programme are usually unaware of the benefits and feel they do not need the support as they are not first-time mothers, or have older relatives who can help them.

Others are not ready to have practitioners visit their homes, or worry about the time required.

For Madam Faerencia Moniaga, 46, who has five children, only her youngest child – 10-month-old daughter Hawa – was eligible for KidStart as her other children, aged nine to 18, were born before the programme started in 2016.

The difference has been stark, said the cleaner at a childcare centre. She felt a lot more confident during her last pregnancy, which came after two difficult ones, as the NUH team was quick to allay her anxiety and worries about pain during labour.

The KidStart team also helped her with nutrition, such as what to eat while pregnant, and the types of food her baby daughter could eat as she grew up.

In addition, Madam Faerencia felt Hawa was the easiest among her children to take care of and would also fall sick less.

“They always tell me not to worry, and have supported me. Anything I needed, they would get for me, since my last baby was nine years ago.”