New Parent-Infant Foundation and Centre for Mental Health research shows expanding parent-infant relationship services could save government billions

The Parent-Infant Foundation is delighted to welcome a new research report – ‘Why babies’ first relationships matter’ – from Centre for Mental Health.

The new economic analysis finds that expanding the services of parent-infant teams could save billions of pounds across health, social care, and education systems in the UK. As the authors point out, current provision leaves thousands of families without support.

A lack of a secure connection significantly increases the risk of anxiety and depression throughout life. Children that don’t form secure early relationships are disproportionately represented in child protection systems, care placements, and youth justice. Parent-infant teams strengthen relationships between babies and their parents or carers, improving both child outcomes and parental mental health. This reduces demand for statutory services, delivering strong social and economic returns.

The report finds that only around 4% of babies and families in need can currently access specialised parent-infant support. There are significant gaps in service provision in rural, coastal, and disadvantaged urban areas. Families living in poverty, from racialised communities, or experiencing parental mental health challenges, are disproportionately affected by gaps in service provision. Babies exposed to early adversity, trauma or socio-economic disadvantage are also much more likely to experience difficulties.

The new analysis finds that, based on costed expansion plans by the Parent-Infant Foundation, expanding the service could save over £1.15 billion per year, realised over the lifetime of those seen.

The report calls on the Government to commit to an expansion of specialised parent-infant relationship support. This should include multi-year investment, national leadership and statutory guidance to support consistent local implementation across all UK nations.

Andy Bell, Chief Executive at Centre for Mental Health, said: “Babies’ chances of having good mental health are affected from day one by their attachment to their care-givers. Parent-infant teams can help parents to bond with their babies, giving children a better chance of a mentally health life. Too few families get to benefit from this support. Our report demonstrates that investing in parent-infant teams is excellent value for public money and could help to turn around the decline in the nation’s mental health over the last decade.”

Keith Reed, Chief Executive of the Parent-Infant Foundation said: “This is the first time a research organisation has been able to quantify the long-term savings that parent-infant teams could deliver.  It finds that government could save billions by investing in expanding services.  Besides the financial savings for society, the mental health benefits for families would be tremendous.  Thousands of babies are living in confusion and distress because their parents are not getting the support they need.  That needs to be addressed urgently.”

Dr Ben Yeo, National Clinical Advisor at the Parent-Infant Foundation and Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist said: “Parent-infant teams work with parents who struggle to relate to their baby because of past traumas in their own childhoods, violence in their relationships or a traumatic birth. Their therapeutic support brings huge benefits for the baby, for the parent, and for society. It takes trained practitioners, time and trust.”

Read the report here.