Pregnancy and Early Years

Sally Anderson
Healthy Child Programme
Policy Lead

Central Hall, Westminster

Thursday April 2nd 2009
A healthy childhood is critically important

Children and young people are Supported by medical,

healthier than ever before technological, social and economic
advances

The past decade has seen Helped by more information and

continued improvements support for parents and more skilled
professionals

But we need to do more to To address inequalities, current

become world-class trends and public concern

The Strategy cements our standards and ambitions

Improving children and young people’s physical and psychological health, by

investing in children’s health from the early years, through childhood and
adolescence, will benefit children, families, society and the NHS.
Continued improvement to services to support families
from pregnancy onwards
Support to parents to give their
children a healthy start and Achieve long-term aims for
partners to deliver change in children and young people’s
every area health

World-class health
Pregnancy and the early outcomes
years
Services of the highest
School-age children quality
Young people Excellent experiences in
using services
Children with acute and
additional needs Minimise health
inequalities

Delivery
Delivery systems
systems
transformation
transformation
The Child Health Strategy cements our standards and
ambitions

Realising these ambitions will require partnership

Children and Young The Strategy will help young
People people to make healthy choices.

The Strategy will help parents and

Parents and Carers carers to support their children’s
healthy development.

The Strategy sets out how those

delivering health services to
Practitioners
children and young people will be
supported.
From Child Health Promotion Programme to
Healthy Child Programme

Following the publication of this strategy, the Child Health

Promotion Programme will be renamed the Healthy Child
Programme.

The aim is to encourage parents to ask for and use those

services that will promote their children’s health and
wellbeing in the early years.
 Support through pregnancy and the
early years
A wide range of guidance and care is available for parents, babies and young
children from before pregnancy through to the age of five delivered through
Children’s Centres as well as GPs and other health settings. The core programme
is the Healthy Child Programme:
 Commitments to strengthen support in
pregnancy and the early years
The expansion in the health visitor workforce to deliver
the Healthy Child Programme for 0-5s, working with
Health visitor workforce
the NHS and the professions to promote recruitment
and support professional development.

A strengthened role for Children’s Centres through

Role of Sure Start
health-based programmes and each centre to have
Children’s Centres
access to a named health visitor.

The development and testing of a new Antenatal and

Antenatal and postnatal
Preparation for Parenthood programme for mothers
support
and fathers.

The expansion of the successful Family Nurse

Help for vulnerable first- Partnership programme, providing intensive support
time mothers for the most vulnerable first-time mothers with an
interim milestone to cover 70 areas by 2011.
 Action on Health Visiting Programme

● Launched in March by Alan Johnson

● In response to Lord Laming review on child
protection
● Explores the role & competency of health
visitors
● Looking at ways to improve training and
recruitment
● Healthy Child Programme plays a key role in
this agenda
 The FNP journey

Small scale Large scale

Roll out?
testing 07-10 testing 08-11
2011-19
10 wave 1 sites 20 wave 2
20 wave 3
20 wave 4
Evaluation
07/08 to 09/10 Sharing the
RCT 2b and learning
wave1

Testing:
Programme delivery, training, organisational and service context,
workforce, commissioning, eligibility, recruitment pathways, roll out
FNP: what we have learnt so far……

We can deliver FNP in this country

The materials work in this country
It seems to be acceptable to clients
We seem to be reaching those who benefit
most
Fathers are involved
The nurses are highly committed
The clients value their nurses
The training is highly valued
Early impacts look promising

But it is difficult work and we have long way

to go………
Pregnancy, Birth & beyond
• Renewing how parents-to-be are prepared for
pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood, using a
progressive-universal approach
• Current work - literature review, ‘market research’,
scoping of existing practice
• 2 strands to project
Universal model Progressive model
Antenatal and early postnatal preparation Group-based
09/10 – development of model and Disadvantaged non-FNP clients
materials
10/11 – early testing and refining Antenatal and up to 1 year postnatal,
following FNP approach
Early testing 09/10
Father involvement high

Young fathers show high levels of interest in FNP, and

many want to be present for visits or complete the activities
Out of 7500 visits, father present for 1820 visits
49% of clients, father present for at least one visit, most
commonly for one to two thirds of visits
What are the actions that need to be prioritised to deliver
the commitments identified in the pregnancy and early
years chapter?

What specific issues need to be picked up in the cross

cutting workshops this afternoon to enable delivery for
pregnancy and early years?

What are the opportunities for integrated delivery through

the following programmes and settings?

- Family Nurse Partnership

- Children Centres
- Healthy Child Programme