In the last budget, the Government announced that 15 hours of funded childcare will be extended to all children from the age of nine months from September 2024.
While there are immediate operational deliberations for early years settings, another less obvious consideration is that settings may be in contact with more mothers of younger children, which comes with its own set of health implications.
The World Health Organisation states that around one in ten of pregnant women, and 13 per cent of women who have just given birth, experience a mental disorder – primarily depression – across the world. There is a wealth of evidence which informs us of the detrimental impact that poor maternal mental health can have on women, children and their families.
It can impact the mother’s ability to respond to and form attachments with her child, and reduce the likelihood of an infant’s emotional needs being met. This can lead to the infant or child being unable to develop secure attachments themselves.
Attachment is important as it gives the child a ‘secure base’ to explore and learn. Children who experience good maternal attachment are more likely to form strong relationships with peers, be able to regulate their own stress levels and possess higher levels of resilience than those who do not.
Studies have shown an impact on educational outcomes too – securely attached children are more interested in learning and better able to make the most of opportunities to do so.
The old saying states ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, and it could be suggested that the extended childcare offer provides the opportunity for us to strengthen our village.
Early years practitioners will have increased exposure to families where poor maternal mental health is present – this could be an opportunity to increase the likelihood of earlier identification and support. Intervention is often assumed to be the responsibility of health professionals; however, it should be offered from every house in the village.
The Centre for Mental Health and the Royal College of GPs have highlighted that the biggest barrier to providing better support to women experiencing poor mental health in the perinatal period is the low level of identification of need.
Simple interventions include:
- asking a mother how she is feeling and providing a listening ear
- familiarising yourself with the NICE guidelines on postnatal mental health, which include the sorts of questions health professionals use to help spot the signs of mental health problems
- signposting to evidence-based websites and support groups or the mother’s local health visiting team or GP.
