Nursery World - Call for dedicated services to support early trauma

Most early years professionals understand that children’s earliest experiences are vital to their development, but more than 80 percent believe the Government is not doing enough to provide support to families, according to a survey ahead of Infant Mental Health Awareness Week.

Children's earliest years are vital to their development PHOTO Adobe Stock

To mark this year’s Infant Mental Health Awareness Week (13 - 19 June), the Parent-Infant Foundation is calling for national governments to offer vital parent-infant relationship support from specialised teams.

They say that ‘a comprehensive offering’ across the UK would significantly help protect the most vulnerable babies and young children from early trauma and help take the pressure off resources at a time when they are more stretched than ever.

It is now well-understood that nurturing relationships between babies and their parents shape early development, especially during the first 1001 days from pregnancy to age two.

But according to the charity, there is a lack of understanding about the lifelong complexities resulting from early trauma.

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