All Babies Count: reducing the pressure on new families.

The National Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is the leading children's charity fighting to end child abuse in the UK and Channel Islands. The charity helps children who have been abused and neglected to rebuild their lives, protects those at risk, and finds effective ways of preventing abuse. This is achieved through running and evaluating services for children and their families in 40 centres across the UK, but also through our helpline – ChildLine, and out training, consultancy, policy and research work. The NSPCC recognises that the perinatal period is a life-stage that involves rapid development for infants, as well as huge change, strain and psychological adaptation for new parents. Whilst it is important to remember that becoming a parent is often a rewarding experience, it can also be associated with high levels of stress and dysfunction, which has the potential to lay the foundations for subsequent family life. To support new families as they transition to parenthood and ensure infants are safe and nurtured, the NSPCC has developed an innovative programme of research, policy and service development. As part of our All Babies Count campaign (Cuthbert et al., 2011) we have published a series of spotlight reports which aim to take the early intervention story ‘wider and deeper’ by reaching new audiences in mental health, the criminal justice system, drug and alcohol treatment, and housing. The campaign also serves to help both front line staff, managers, commissioners and policy makers see the specific contributions they can make to ensure babies get the best possible start in life. Mental health is a key component running throughout the entire All Babies Count spotlight series, which explore complex and pressing social issues in the context of their impact on parental mental health and the capacity of parents to provide their infants with sensitive, responsive and consistent emotional care. Although the work of the NSPCC focuses on supporting families in the UK and Channel Islands, perinatal mental health difficulties are a global public health issue. We aim to work in complement with major international organisations such as the Marce Society, who are dedicated to supporting research that promotes the well-being of mothers, fathers and their infants in the perinatal period. We feel that our spotlight reports have important messages that will be relevant and important for local, national and international audiences. In recent years clinical accounts and research in the area of perinatal mental health have been mounting. From universal to mental health services, perinatal care has increasingly been under the spotlight due to the opportunity it provides to break the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage and optimise the onward legacy for infants. With compellingly high rates of prevalence, numerous policy documents and guidelines have been produced for high quality detection and management (i.e. Yonkers et al., 2009; Beyond Blue, 2011; SIGN, 2012; NICE, 2014). Despite encouraging changes in the right direction, provision of perinatal services across developed countries still reflects much disparity in provision and access. Consequently, there are a large number of families whose needs are not being met during this crucial window of opportunity for themselves and their babies. This article serves as an update on the All Babies Count campaign, whilst spelling out new messages for universal services on how they can contribute to improving the well-being of young families.