Andrea Leadsom, Conservative Member of Parliament, wrote this for The Guardian. The first few paragraphs are presented here, and in the remainder of the post, which you can read on TheGuardian.co.uk, she discusses the Oxford Parent Infant Partnership and another in Northamptonshire, locally run programs that help parents, and how the model is being taken nationwide across Britain.
The greatest health challenge of our time is securing good mental health for our nation. To achieve good mental health, we should look no further than where it all begins – the conception of a baby.
Secure early bonding is the difference between the baby that grows up a secure, emotionally capable adult, and a baby that will become a depressive, anxious child, who will not cope well with life's ups and downs. In the most difficult cases, this baby is more likely to later experience criminality, substance abuse or depressive problems.
Human babies are unique in the animal kingdom in the extent of their underdevelopment at birth. But the physical underdevelopment is only a tiny part of it. The human brain is only partially formed when you are born. The earliest experiences of the human baby have a lifelong impact on their mental and emotional health.
Babies start interpreting their world immediately
When a baby cries, it doesn't know it is wet, tired, hungry, bored or hot – it just knows something is wrong, and it relies on a loving adult to soothe its feelings. The baby whose basic needs are met learns that the world is a good place, and he or she will retain this sense for life, as almost an instinct.
The baby who is neglected or abused cannot regulate its own feelings. If its needs are not met it will scream louder and louder and eventually take refuge in sleep. A baby left to continually scream will experience raised levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can damage the immune system
The "social" part of the brain only starts to develop at around six months. Where a baby does not receive any attention, this part of the brain does not grow and may never grow.
Shocking research suggests that in Britain 40% of children are not securely attached at the age of five. Of course this doesn't mean they will all go on to have behavioural or relationship problems, but they will be less robust in their emotional make up to meet the challenges and disappointments of life.
If we want to change our society for the better, we must focus on the crucial period between conception and the age of two.
To read the rest, go this page on TheGuardian.
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