18th February 2016
Following the announcement that NHS England will invest an extra billion pounds a year to tackle mental illness, the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is urging the government to specifically invest more into the first two years of life – arguing that this would reduce later expenditure on mental illness and its consequences.
The Mental Health Taskforce report, published on 15 February, reported that one in four people will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime and the cost of mental ill-health to the economy, NHS and society is £105 billion a year.
A strong research base demonstrates that the foundation for later emotional wellbeing starts when babies are still in the womb, and is established in the early months of life. Positive infant mental health (IMH) lays the foundation for mental wellbeing in a baby’s early years and ensures better social and emotional health in later life.
Dr Cheryll Adams, Executive Director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said: “Recent iHV surveys into infant mental health show that over eighty per cent of health visitors use their antenatal visit to talk to parents about infant mental health. However, post-birth, they do not have sufficient contact with mothers in order to give adequate ongoing support. Over 50% of health visitors believe that the mothers they visit should be talking to their babies more, as this helps develop the babies sense of security and belonging – an early sign of mental health.
“Helping parents to understand how to interact with their babies, from day one, helps all children to have the best start in life and, in many cases, helps to prevent later mental health issues from developing. New local authority commissioners must ensure that all health visitors have the training, capacity and support to provide sufficient advice to all new parents.”
An iHV survey into infant mental health further showed that health visitor training on this topic is inconsistent across the country. Over 26% of health visitors have never received any formal training in infant mental health and, for those who had, it varied across the country in quality and duration.
Ensuring that there are specialist health visitor posts in perinatal and infant mental health within every UK health visiting service would, iHV argues, help the NHS to reduce the incidence and impact of maternal depression and other perinatal mental health problems that can affect infants’ developing mental wellbeing, through earlier diagnosis, intervention and improved support.
Dr Adams added: “The Institute would welcome the creation of specialist health visitor posts in perinatal and infant mental health across the country, to ensure that every health visitor has access to the training and specialist advice they require to maximise the support that they give families in the first 1001 Critical Days of Life*. It is imperative that the government and commissioners support early, preventative action on infant mental health by well-trained health visitors, in order to lay the foundations for social and emotional wellbeing for all babies. This would significantly reduce NHS spend on mental health services in later childhood and adult life.”
—-ENDS —-
For more information, please contact: Julie Cooper on 07508 344716 or [email protected]
Dr Cheryll Adams, Executive Director of the iHV
Photo caption: Dr Cheryll Adams, Executive Director of the Institute of Health Visiting
iHV stock photography from Croydon area. Picture by: www.matthewwalkerphotography.com
Photo caption: Baby making eye contact with mum
Notes to editors
iHV Survey into Infant Mental Health (February 2016)
- Survey carried out 13-16 February 2016
- 555 respondents
- 27% of health visitors have never received training in infant mental health
- 95% of health visitors know that infant mental health is about healthy attachment and healthy relationships
- 55% of health visitors think that parents do not talk to their babies enough
iHV State of Health Visiting Survey 2015 (November 2015)
- 1413 members of the Institute of Health Visiting completed the survey in November 2015
- 68% of health visitors have seen an increase in postnatal depression over the last two years.
- 1 in 4 health visitors cannot provide every family with a postnatal mental health (PMH) assessment at 6-8 weeks, and 3 in 4 cannot at 3-4 months as recommended by the government.
About the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV)
- The Institute of Health Visiting is a UK Centre of Excellence supporting the development of universally high-quality health visiting practice. It was established with the support of the Prime Minister and launched on 28 November 2012 to promote excellence in health visiting practice to benefit all children, families and communities.
- The aim for the iHV is to raise standards in health visiting practice, so improving public health outcomes for all children, families and communities.
- For more information, go to ihv.org.uk
- Follow the Institute of Health Visiting on Twitter @iHealthVisiting and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/iHealthVisiting
About the Five Year Forward Plan for Mental Health
- Published by the Mental Health Taskforce on Monday 15 February 2016
- https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mental-Health-Taskforce-FYFV-final.pdf
*1001 Critical Days Manifesto
- The ‘1001 Critical Days Manifesto’ was originally launched in the last Parliament to persuade all political parties to incorporate these measures into their election manifestos.
- It was relaunched on Monday 14 December to bring the importance of early years care for children to the forefront of politics ahead of a debate in the House of Commons.
- http://1001criticaldays.co.uk/1001days_Nov15.pdf
