Ideas Alliance are thrilled to be joining with The Parent-Infant Foundation as the co-production delivery partner on their new National Lottery funded initiative!
The Parent-Infant Foundation has been awarded more than £1 million from the National Lottery Community Fund to create a new National Parent-Infant Relationship (PAIR) Framework.
Babies depend on sensitive, responsive relationships to grow and develop healthily. But many do not get the nurturing care they need.1
Parent-infant teams and services support and strengthen relationships between babies and their parents or carers. They also join up the wider system to support parent-infant relationships.
But parent-infant teams and services are not available everywhere and there is currently no national pathway or guidance.
The National PAIR Framework will address these challenges by developing best practice guidance to support implementation of parent-infant relationship pathways and improve provision.
The Framework will draw on best practice from parent-infant teams and services across the UK. It will bring together insights from people with lived and learned experience, research, evidence from practice and professional guidance.
Led by the Parent-Infant Foundation with ourselves as co-production delivery partner and Anna Freud as the research partner, the National PAIR Framework is a four-year project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund for England.
This new initiative has extensive support from key stakeholders across the system who work with and advocate for babies. The Parent-Infant Foundation are grateful for the time stakeholders invested in shaping the project during its development. In particular to the Royal College of Midwives, the Institute of Health Visiting, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Local Government Association.
The National PAIR Framework will focus on the antenatal period up to age two, and link with relevant pathways and guidance for young children and expectant parents.
Keith Reed, Chief Executive at the Parent-Infant Foundation said:
“We are thrilled to have secured this funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.
“Every baby deserves a good start in life. Development of this National Parent-Infant Relationship Framework will really help us get closer to our vision of a UK in which all parents and carers are supported to create sensitive, nurturing relationships with their babies to lay the foundation for lifelong mental and physical health.
“A lot of work has already been done in starting to bring this National Framework project to life and I’d like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund for believing in this cause. Thanks too to our team at the Foundation, our delivery partners and other key stakeholders for their work, insights and support so far. We are excited to get this ambitious 4-year project underway.”
Lucie Stephens, Director at Ideas Alliance said:
“At Ideas Alliance CIC, we know that the most effective and meaningful change happens when people with lived experience are at the heart of shaping services and systems. The Parent-Infant Foundation’s commitment to co-producing a national Parent-Infant Relationship Framework embodies this ethos. By working in genuine partnership with babies, parents and practitioners, this initiative promises to create a framework that is not only evidence-informed but also rooted in the real experiences of babies and their caregivers. We’re proud to collaborate with the Parent-Infant Foundation and Anna Freud in this important work.”
Professor Eamon McCrory, CEO of Anna Freud, a mental health charity for children and young people, said:
“The first 1001 days of a baby’s life, from conception to age two, are critical for lifelong development. We know that early, joined up support makes a real difference for families. However, while there are pockets of excellent services for parents and infants across the UK, access is unfortunately unequal, and many aren’t getting the
support they need.
“With this funding, we look forward to working with partners to help address this postcode lottery. Eventually, we hope all babies and parents will thrive with support from services drawing on best practice.”
- The government’s approach to assessing need uses ‘disorganised attachment’ as a proxy measure. Start for Life puts the prevalence of disorganised attachment at 10% of the population. Academic research suggests the level of disorganised attachment at a population level could be as high as 15%. It should be noted that while this group represents the most vulnerable babies, professionals also recommend supporting babies at risk of developing other types of ‘insecure attachment’, as they too experience distress that can negatively impact their development ↩︎
