Parent-Infant Foundation asks, ‘Who is holding the baby?’ this Infant Mental Health Awareness Week

To mark the start of this year’s Infant Mental Health Awareness Week (9^th – 15^th June), the Parent-Infant Foundation is launching a new report and asking, Who is holding the baby?

The new ‘Who is holding the baby?’ report uses research conducted by the Parent-Infant Foundation, including the findings of a questionnaire sent to specialised parent-infant relationship teams in the Parent-Infant Network, and new data from Freedom of Information requests.

The report highlights a growing number of parent-infant teams across the UK. But that in many areas, specialist support is still not available.

Key findings from the report show:

• An increase in the number of teams from 27 to 49 in 5 years from 2019 – funded in different ways.
• The number of babies seen by parent-infant teams is significantly below the level of need. Teams are supporting between 4-6% of babies estimated to currently need specialist support.
• FOI data shows that, not all mental health trusts take referrals for babies aged 0-2 and most of those that do, see less than 10 babies a year.
• Mental health trusts that show higher numbers of referrals tend to be those where there is a parent-infant team integrated into the system.
• Babies seen in other parts of the system are often invisible as they are not recorded.
• These specialised parent-infant relationship teams help join up the system and have trained and supported thousands of other professionals in the early years system.
• To reach the most vulnerable babies, Parent-infant teams have developed shared pathways with other parts of the system, e.g. social care, perinatal mental health, midwifery and neonatal care.

Infant Mental Health Awareness Week (IMHAW) is co-ordinated by the Parent-Infant Foundation and provides an annual opportunity to discuss the importance of supporting babies’ mental health and wellbeing.

The theme for IMHAW2025 is ‘Who is holding the baby?’ and will highlight the crucial job that parent-infant teams and services do, both supporting families and helping local services to join-up.  

Wook Hamilton, Head of Development at the Parent-Infant Foundation and one of the report authors said:

“We know that more than one in ten babies in the UK today, are at risk of ‘disorganised attachment’, living in fear, confusion and distress, because their parents are overwhelmed by trauma from their own childhood, or struggling with mental or physical health difficulties.

“Parent-infant teams work to support and strengthen relationships between babies and their parents or carers.

“In this report we have shone the light on some fantastic practice that is happening across the UK, which reaches some of these vulnerable babies.

“The research also underlines the need to grow the number and capacity of parent-infant teams so that every baby and family that needs support can benefit from a local team. We must urge commissioners, service planners and policymakers to look locally and make sure they know, who is holding the baby?”

“Thanks to the parent-infant teams who took part in our research and well done to the team who have put together this report. Thanks too to our funders who supported its production.”

Read more on the report here

See how to get involved with #IMHAW2025 here