Academic Co-Directors welcome ‘Healthy Babies’ programme expansion

The Government has announced the rolling out of a Healthy Babies programme to every local authority in England.

The programme marks efforts to expand a Sure-Start type system that will support parents with infant feeding, mental health, and building strong bonds with their babies, alongside health visits, midwifery care and wider services.

On the announcement Health Equity North Academic Directors Professor David Taylor-Robinson, Professor of Public Health and Policy at the University of Liverpool and Professor Kate Pickett,  Professor of Epidemiology, University of York, said:

“This is a welcome step towards giving every baby the best possible start in life. For the North of England, this is a particularly important opportunity. We know through our Child of the North APPG research that inequalities in health and life chances begin early, and that the conditions in which children grow up can have consequences throughout their lives.

“The need for action is increasingly clear. Early-years outcomes have stagnated in a number of areas, while inequalities are widening across many aspects of children’s health and development. We are also seeing concerning gaps in areas such as childhood vaccination, meaning that some babies and children are missing out on important protection from preventable illness. These inequalities do not emerge in isolation – they reflect the wider social, economic and environmental circumstances in which families are raising their children.

“Bringing health, family and early-years support together in communities could help reach families earlier, build trusted relationships and provide support before challenges become more entrenched.

“The key now will be making sure the expansion reaches the families who need it most, with services that are accessible, trusted and responsive to the needs of different communities. Investing in babies and families is an investment in the North’s future – and this expansion provides an important opportunity to put prevention and tackling inequalities at the heart of that investment.”