Responding to the ‘Opening Doors’ report by NSPCC and the UK Committee for UNICEF

“New or expectant parents and their babies living in deprivation and poverty are at risk of poorer outcomes from birth. So the period following the birth of a baby is an exceptionally important one to ensure support services are accessible in every way and are easy for the parent to navigate.

“The report is right to acknowledge ‘high quality early childhood services, such as maternity, health visiting and integrated support in children’s centres or family hubs can significantly reduce these inequalities and provide a lifeline for families on low incomes’. However, it is important to note that these services do not exclusively benefit low-income families; they can also address barriers faced by families across different income levels, who also report challenges in accessing such services. And it cites evidence showing that ‘the continuity of care model underpins the ability to establish a trusted parent-professional relationship, which can improve access to maternity and health visiting services’.

“When parents are marginalised by a series of barriers - which may be a lack of interpreter for their language, an unaffordable transport fare to the clinic, a fear of the baby being removed or the fact that nobody has told them what is available – the first step is to re-establish trust. Seeing the same midwife after the birth as before can be a huge relief as the relationship already exists and time is saved by the midwife’s familiarity with them. A good handover to the health visitor is also vital – and a postnatal check with the GP to ensure physical recovery and emotional wellbeing are progressing.”

NCT was proud to contribute to this important research as part of the project's expert advisory group and support the research through interviews with new mothers from NCT's Newham Nurture programme. You can read the full report here.