Building Lives, Optimizing Opportunities by Minding Parents (BLOOM)

The BLOOM project is finansed by the Novo Nordic Fundation (5 mio. DDK) and brings together a diverse team of experts spanning the health and social sectors to pioneer an innovative national program aimed at identifying resources, risk factors, needs for support and referral during pregnancy and after birth for infants and families in vulnerable positions.

Our vision is to mitigate inequalities in health at the earliest possible state, ultimately promoting health and life opportunities for children in Denmark. Of the approx. 60,000 children born yearly, 10-15% are born to parents facing significant psychosocial vulnerabilities, negatively impacting the health and well-being of children and the whole family. However, the evidence base for effective vulnerability assessment methods is currently lacking, cross-sectoral collaboration often fails, and no consensus or unified approach is used in Denmark.

The BLOOM project seeks to fill this gap by developing, implementing, and rigorously evaluating a co-produced national program designed to identify expectant parents in vulnerable positions early and facilitate referrals to appropriate cross-sectoral support services. Through extensive stakeholder involvement and state-of-the-art intervention research methodology, the project will be conducted across three regions, three hospitals, and three municipalities with a strong focus on national scalability to benefit future generations of Danish children.

Our Steering Group comprises experts from diverse backgrounds, including leading Danish researchers in children and families’ health and key stakeholders in maternity care services representing Danish regions and municipalities. We have also established partnerships with parents and with key authorities such as the Danish Health Authority and the Danish Health Data Authority to aligning the program with national guidelines for maternity cares and imminent implementation of the national digital maternity record to ensure national relevance, scalability, and sustainability.