*4.1.5 "Das Baby verstehen" (understanding your baby)*

"Das Baby verstehen" [136] is a structured program for expectant mothers and their partners. Couples are supported through a midwife who will focus on the overall life situation of the family-to-be. Everyday communication between parents and their babies is illustrated in the instructions. The "reading" of the infant is at the center of most of the course lessons. Live video tapes support the instructions. Playful exercises will focus on the personal well-being of parents-tobe as well as on how to remain a couple when there will be three of them. In 2003 and 2004 the program was developed at the University of Heidelberg, followed by a revision in 2005, with accompanying evaluation in a German county district. The strengths and shortcomings of the expert trainings as well as of the courses for parents were explored, aiming at an integrative package of counseling for parents with infants up to the age of three. In this way, potential development of dysfunctional interaction in families is avoided early in order to prevent bodily and mental disorders in infants. The underlying concept has been depicted in a textbook of basic findings [137].
