hey baby is a collaborative research study examining protective pathways to promote resilience amongst adolescent parents and their children in South Africa
About Us
hey baby is led by a team of researchers at Oxford University and the University of Cape Town and our fieldwork team is based in East London in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
Research
The hey baby study aims to assess resilience-promoting pathways for adolescent parent families living in adversity, including young parents living in resource-constrained, HIV-affected communities. It asks two groups of research questions: What puts adolescent parents and their children at risk of disadvantage? What services can help adolescent parents and their children?
Policy & Impact
Research questions and analyses directly respond to the needs of policymakers and programme implementers. Purposeful and audience-specific dissemination of research progress and findings with stakeholders is central to the work of hey baby.
Publication
Latest publication in PLoS ONE Achieving the health and well-being Sustainable Development Goals among adolescent mothers and their children in South Africa: Cross-sectional analyses of a community-based mixed HIV-status cohort
We mapped 35 SGD-related targets among 1,046 adolescent mothers and their oldest child (n = 1046). Understanding progress and gaps in meeting the SDGs among highly vulnerable groups is critical, particularly for adolescent mothers and their children. These complex vulnerabilities suggest that programming for adolescent mothers must address their unique needs.
News
The HEY BABY and Khanyisa Ngemfundo teams present at the International Workshop on HIV & Adolescence 2023 in Lusaka, Zambia.
Launch of a UNICEF-Oxford-UCT Evidence to Practice Series on Adolescent HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health.
New blog post in The Conversation written by HEY BABY researchers on what it takes for teen mums to go back to school
Latest publication in Health Promotion International on ‘Art-based reflections from 12 years of adolescent health and development-related research in South Africa’ Gittings et al.
This paper presents empirical and methodological findings from an art-based, participatory process with a group (n = 16) of adolescent and young advisors in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.