The eHUGS program was developed by a team of psychologists and researchers at the Parent-Infant Research Institute (PIRI): Professor Jeannette Milgrom, Dr Charlene Holt and Dr Chloe Salvaris.

PIRI is a not-for-profit research institute based in Melbourne, Australia. PIRI is committed to supporting all parents and their babies, including those with vulnerabilities, to have the best possible start to life (prenatal to 2 years) by creating a Centre of Excellence whose activities are designed to improve emotional wellbeing and optimise development.

PIRI's objectives are:

• Conducting and disseminating basic and applied research
• Translating knowledge to practice
• Education and training of professionals

PIRI is affiliated with Austin Health and the University of Melbourne.

You can learn more about PIRI at piri.org.au or contact us: piri@austin.org.au.

The eHUGS online program is an adaptation of a group-based mother-infant program, HUGS, described in the book Treating Postnatal Depression, written by Jeannette Milgrom, Paul Martin and Lisa Negri¹. HUGS has been shown in research trials to enhance mother-infant relationships after postnatal depression².

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank:

• Darren Edwards for his graphic design work
• Toan Tran at Tech4research for his programming and creative approach
• The mothers and babies who kindly allowed us to film them and include their videos in this program
• The mothers who provided consumer input during the program's development
• Avia and Mia for their wonderful singing of the Welcome song and nursery rhymes
• Faye White (vocals), Zoe McHenry (composer) and Move Records for permission to use the songs 'When the Rain is Falling Down', 'Cluck cluck mother hen', 'I'm galloping Jack', 'I am a kangaroo', and 'Fish in the sea' from the soundtrack 'Did you see the wind today?' https://www.move.com.au/disc/fay-white-did-you-see-the-wind-today
• Elizabeth Loughlin for selecting the music
• Kelly Walker for her help selecting images, proof reading and involvement in the production of AI-generated videos
• Brydie Garner for her help with filming and documentation supporting work with the programmer
• The PIRI team for their support and input

Some images and videos used in this program were created using artificial intelligence (AI). They were generated from public-domain reference images or text-based descriptions and are informed by composite themes and conversations drawn from our work with mothers. These materials are for illustrative purposes only and do not depict real individuals, specific personal experiences, or any single person.

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1. Milgrom, J., Martin, P., & Negri, L. (1999). Treating postnatal depression. Wiley.
2. Holt, C., Gentilleau, C., Gemmill, A. W., & Milgrom, J. (2021). ... Archives of Women's Mental Health, 24(6), 913–923.