I beg to move,
That this House has considered the matter of giving every baby the best start in life.
I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for giving us time for the debate. Among all the turbulence created by the pandemic and the lockdown, I am pleased that we have the opportunity to debate at length the impact of those events on those who are likely to live with its after-effects the longest.
The building blocks for lifelong emotional and physical health are laid down in the period from conception to the age of two. Those first 1,001 days are a critical time for development, but they are also a time when babies are at their most vulnerable. Babies do not yet have the language skills to advocate for themselves, so carers and services must be equipped to do that on their behalf. During the first 1,001 days, babies are also uniquely susceptible to their environment. Chronic stress in early childhood, whether caused by maternal depression, poverty or ill health, has a negative impact on a baby’s development.
Early intervention and prevention to support the wellbeing of babies during this time is strongly linked to better outcomes in later life, including educational achievement, progress at work and mental health. Failing to invest in giving babies the best start in life delivers not only a human cost but an economic one. The total known cost of parental mental health problems per year’s births in the UK is estimated to stand at £8.1 billion.