Giving Every Baby the Best Start in Life

Alex Davies-Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates).

When I was first elected to this House nearly two years ago, I came here not just as a new Member of Parliament but as a first-time new mother. As the hon. Lady has already mentioned, it takes a village, and my village is the best. I had all the support in the world, from my husband, from my family, and from my mam especially, but I still found balancing motherhood and work incredibly difficult. In all honesty, I am still struggling to find the right balance.

How do we give every baby the best start in life? Quite simply, we ensure that our baby is born in Wales. In Wales, we have a real focus on childcare from our Labour Government. Everyone is offered 33 hours of childcare each week for children aged three to four with no terms, no condition. The Flying Start programme in particular does fantastic work supporting families with children under four who live in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Wales. I am also very lucky to have some fantastic local childcare providers in my constituency, including Little Inspirations, which has branches in Tonyrefail and Llantrisant.

Supporting families in looking after their children is an incredibly important part of giving every child the best start in life, and we must do more to support families at this difficult stage in their lives. For many people, myself included, bringing a baby home from hospital is not a straightforward process. I have spoken many times in this place about my own experiences when my son was being cared for on a neonatal unit, and I cannot resist once again taking this opportunity to urge the Government urgently to bring forward their promised legislation on paid neonatal leave for parents. On this occasion, I also want to draw attention to some research by the fantastic charity Bliss on the specific challenges that young parents—those under 25—face.

Bliss found that babies born to mothers aged under 20 are at an increased risk of premature birth and at a 75% increased risk of neonatal death compared with those born to mothers aged 30 to 34. Women living in the most deprived areas of the UK also have a significantly higher risk of stillbirth and neonatal death than more privileged women, as we have already heard today. In order to ensure that every baby has the best start in life, we must start here. Pre-natal and post-natal care are vital, and I would be grateful to the Minister if she could outline exactly what steps the Government are taking to address these inequalities.

We know that the first 1,001 days—from conception to a child’s second birthday—are vital. In many cases, these days are predictors for what level of education a baby will attain, what their health will be like, and even how long they will live. It should be of paramount importance to any Government to work to level this playing field. In this day and age, it simply should not be the case that where a person is born, and who they are born to is the most determining factor in their life.

This Tory Government talk a lot about levelling up, but when it comes right down to it, they fail to act on their promises. Just a few weeks ago, I and my colleagues on the Labour Benches lined up to urge the Government to rethink their decision to cut universal credit. We warned that nearly 300,000 children faced being plunged into poverty, and, once again, they failed to listen and failed to reverse the cut.

We have had a very high-profile U-turn from the Government in this past week, so how about we have another one this week? While I will not hold my breath for meaningful change, I will use the brief time that I have left to raise genuine concerns about the future of breastfeeding for mums up and down the country. I have spoken out many times about my passion for increased education, awareness and support for those who are breastfeeding in this place, and I pay tribute to the fantastic Breastfeeding Network, which gave a wealth of support to me personally when I was struggling, but, once again, I have to say that the Government have failed to protect those of us who are breastfeeding. I was frankly appalled that the campaign to make it illegal to photograph breastfeeding women without consent reached a halt in the other place last week when a Minister implied that banning photographs of this nature would potentially impact family pornography and require a complex change in the law. We should speak more and more about breast- feeding and the law surrounding the practice, especially in the context of giving babies the best start in life. I sincerely hope that the Minister and the Government are listening. Diolch.

--- Later in debate ---

[Maggie Throup]

I am short of time, so I will continue.

Some 300,000 of the most vulnerable families will be supported with an extra £200 million boost to the Government’s supporting families programme, which helps families through complex issues that could lead to family breakdown. In addition to the £500 million investment to transform support for families, the Government will provide more than £2 million per year to continue the holiday activities and food programme, providing healthy food and enriched activities for disadvantaged children in England and delivering our flexible childcare fund commitments.

Before I draw my remarks to a close, I would like to address some issues that have been raised this afternoon. The hon. Member for Richmond Park raised the issue of health visitors. As I have outlined, £10 million has been allocated to trial and evaluate new workforce models. The specific number of health visitors and case- loads is a locally determined decision based on local health needs, so the number and ratio of health visitors support staff will vary. She also raised perinatal mental health, which has been recognised in the spending review with £100 million allocated to rolling out bespoke parent-infant mental health support.

My right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire rightly stated that babies’ needs should always be at the heart of our work. She also highlighted some new ways of working that have developed as a result of the pandemic, from Camden’s Bump to Baby programme to Parent Talk, and the benefits that physical and virtual support can offer in reaching out to even more families.

My hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) said that we are building back better for babies. She was quite right. I welcome her support for family hubs and her recognition that they will provide support and services from conception to the age of 19 and to parents and carers.

The hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North also asked about family hubs. In the Budget, as I said, the Government announced a further £82 million to create a network of family hubs. Each of the 75 selected local authorities will receive transformational funding to support the change process of moving to a family hub model.

My hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) brought a great deal of experience to the debate, as did the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) and my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds). The hon. Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) raised the important issue of breastfeeding. I am delighted that the Chancellor has announced £50 million to establish multi-component breastfeeding support services in line with local needs.

[Alex Davies-Jones]

Will the Minister give way?

[Maggie Throup]

I must finish; I am sorry.

In conclusion, we will continue to work across the whole Start for Life system to improve health and development outcomes for our youngest citizens. We must do everything in our power to support all families to give their baby the very best start in life.