27th November 2025
The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is honoured to be collaborating with Anna Freud, a pioneering mental health charity for children and young people, on a new initiative announced today during a visit to the Anna Freud Centre by their patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales.
The new workforce development programme, commissioned by The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, recognises the unique role of health visitors in promoting healthy, nurturing relationships between babies and their parents and carers, relationships that lay the foundation for all future development. The programme will draw on The Centre for Early Childhood’s Shaping Us Framework, the extensive evidence base from scientific research, and the lived and learned experience of key stakeholders. It will seek to enhance health visiting practice to ensure that babies in the most complex of situations receive timely and coordinated support to develop the social and emotional skills they need for a happy, healthy life.
Hilda Beauchamp, iHV Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Lead, was delighted to co-facilitate the workshop event at Anna Freud on Thursday 27 November, where the Princess met with parents and carers who have been helping to shape the content of the training programme.
Hilda Beauchamp, iHV Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Lead, said:
“It is so important to listen to what families want from services and ensure that young babies’ voices are acknowledged and acted upon. We know families want to have trusted relationships with their health visitors so that their individual circumstances, experiences, cultural and faith backgrounds are understood well. This strongly influences the way they get the help they want, when they need it, and ultimately will ensure that services work well together for everyone.
“Health visitors and their teams are committed to making a difference for all babies, children and families. When well-trained and fully-resourced, they certainly can! We are excited to collaborate with the team at Anna Freud to develop this new programme that will further develop health visitors’ knowledge and experience in effective relationship-based practice.”
Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales at the workshop with Professor Eamon McCrory, CEO of Anna Freud
Professor Eamon McCrory, CEO of Anna Freud, said:
“Good mental health is grounded in relationships, whether that’s with parents, friends, teachers or other professionals. Strengthening these bonds is essential for protecting wellbeing and preventing mental health problems in children and young people.
“It’s been wonderful to explore ways we can improve these key relationships with our Patron, who is deeply committed to building wellbeing as early as possible. From providing more mental health training to professionals working with young people, to creating more opportunities for connection within schools and communities, we can create the conditions to help every single child, no matter their background, thrive.”
This new collaboration builds on existing work between iHV and CfEC that focuses on enhancing babies’ and young children’s social and emotional development, notably the implementation of the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB) within universal health visiting practice, with the second phase of research due to be completed in March 2026.
