Our Mission

Babies1st aims to help ALL parents to bond with their baby

More than 20% of new mothers experience depression or anxiety during pregnancy and the first year of their baby’s life. Fathers can suffer from postnatal depression too. Depressed parents tend to be preoccupied and interact less with their babies. This will ultimately affect babies’ emotional, social and cognitive development.

The last years have been especially stressful for parents and babies coping with the pandemic and with social isolation.

By building on positive moments, VIG helps parents become more confident, attentive and attuned. This results in happier parents and happier babies.

Costs of perinatal mental ill health are estimated at £8.1 billion for each annual birth cohort, or almost £10,000 per birth. Yet fewer than 15 per cent of localities provide effective specialist community perinatal services for women with severe or complex conditions, and more than 40 per cent provide no service at all. (NHS England Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, 2016).

VIG is recommended by UK government guidelines and by Public Health England. It is practiced successfully in over 15 countries. A growing body of evidence shows that VIG effectively supports parents to better understand and bond with their baby.

By offering services directly to families we aim to help those who are currently going unnoticed.

We are offering both services directly to families and also offering training for professionals to support parents and babies and address the ‘baby blind spot’ prevailing in current government policies.