Report welcomed, but more emphasis on birth and infant feeding also needed
The ‘Conception to Age 2: First 1001 Days All Party Parliamentary Group’ today published their report ‘Building Great Britons’, making recommendations to enable children at the end of their first 1001 days to have the social and emotional resources to form a strong foundation for good citizenship.
The report concentrates on the provision of perinatal mental health resources and preventing & identifying maltreatment. The cost of failing to deal adequately with perinatal mental health and child maltreatment has been estimated at £23billion each year
Kicki Hansard, Doula UK spokesperson, commenting on the report, said today:
“We welcome the publication of this positive report with clear and strong recommendations for actions to be taken. The evidence behind the importance of the first 1001 critical days on the development on children is immense, as the report reflects and Doula UK is proud to have been involved with the preparation of the report.
It is good that the report covers that problems can start before birth, that continuity of care from midwives for all women is needed and that birth and infant feeding can have a significant impact on the mental health of parents and the neuro-development of babies and children. We also particularly welcome the recommendation that a preventative approach is taken and that Children’s Centres should become a central source of support for parents.
However, it is disappointing that there were not specific recommendations made for birth and infant feeding, such as the importance of delayed cord clamping and immediate skin-to-skin with their mother for all babies, the need for more midwives and greater access to doulas to provide the best outcomes with continuous support and the need to provide easily-accessible infant feeding support from specifically trained professionals for all parents.”
Doula UK looks forward to working further with everyone involved in the report.
View the full report here.
Doula UK Press Release_150225_DUK Reponse to Building Great Britons Report (PDF 147KB)