More than one in ten babies in the UK is thought to be living in fear and distress. Whatever the root cause, we have a shared responsibility to help babies who are suffering.
Parent-Infant Teams specialise in helping families to overcome trauma and provide the sensitive, responsive care that babies need. Their work reduces the number of children going into social care and improves both parental and infant mental health. But too many babies do not get the help they need.
We campaign to convince national and local decision makers across the UK to prioritise and invest in services that support babies.
As a charity we do not support any political party - we work across political parties and with government to inform and influence policy-making.
We act as secretariat to the largest coalition of charities, professionals and organisations focused on the wellbeing of babies. The First 1001 Days Movement campaigns for changes to national policies to improve outcomes for babies. In 2024 we developed together a Manifesto for Babies and urged politicians of all parties to support its policy recommendations. Find out about membership and sign up for updates here.
Our campaign ‘Speak up for Babies’ ran through the 2024 UK General Election. 86 candidates and politicians agreed to ‘Speak up for Babies’, and 50 were elected to parliament. We are working with them now to get government to prioritise and invest in services that support babies. As part of this we act as secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Babies (Pregnancy to Age Two).
To inform policy-makers, we regularly publish reports and briefings and respond to government consultations.
Our 2020 report ‘Babies in Lockdown’ captured the experiences of over 5,000 families during the Covid-19 pandemic. This brought home the challenges of bringing up babies and toddlers without good access to services or support.
Our latest research in the 'Who is holding the baby?' report shows encouraging growth in parent-infant teams since the pandemic. In England, the Start for Life programme has boosted growth in local services. We are campaigning for Start for Life to be rolled out to all local authorities. More NHS funding is needed, along with measurable targets to meet the needs of more vulnerable babies. We set this out in our response to the NHS 10-Year Health Plan consultation.
The Parent-Infant Foundation is a member of:
- the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, a coalition of UK organisations that campaign for change and support local systems to improve perinatal mental healthcare.
- the Children and Young People's Mental Health Coalition, a coalition of leading organisations from across England, who are passionate about the mental health and wellbeing of babies, children and young people.
- the Children and Young People's Health Policy Influencing Group (HPIG), a coalition of charities, Royal Colleges and professional associations with the shared aim of improving the health of babies, children and/or young people.