Best Start in Life Services – Healthy Babies and Wider Maternal Health
This section outlines Torbay’s health provision from the antenatal period to age 2½, including the Healthy Babies programme. It summarises current support across Infant Feeding and Perinatal & Infant Mental Health (PNIMH), describing what is in place and consolidating the gaps, actions and measures of progress. It also provides an overview of the wider maternal health offer that helps give babies the best start in life.
Although these interventions do not directly determine whether a child achieves a GLD, they play a crucial role in shaping the health, relationships and early environments that underpin children’s cognitive, social and emotional development, and therefore influence their readiness to learn. The actions in this section focus specifically on Infant Feeding and PNIMH because they address the foundational health and relational conditions that support early child development and create the circumstances in which more children can progress towards achieving a GLD.
Since 2022, Torbay has delivered Infant Feeding and PNIMH, Parent Infant Relationship (PIR) programmes through Family Hubs Start for Life investment, now collectively known as Healthy Babies. These programmes work in partnership to strengthen early relationships, promote infant wellbeing and ensure families receive high‑quality support throughout pregnancy and the first 1,001 days. By supporting secure attachment, parental mental health, early nutrition and responsive caregiving, key drivers of child development, the Healthy Babies offer contributes to the foundational conditions that enable more children to move towards achieving a GLD. With three further years of secured funding, Torbay is well‑positioned to continue integrating feeding, bonding, emotional wellbeing and early development within a single, coordinated vision.
Positive infant feeding experiences help strengthen early bonding and support secure attachment, giving babies a strong emotional foundation from the very beginning. Breast milk provides additional benefits, offering optimal nutrition, supporting immune development and contributing to improved health and developmental outcomes throughout childhood.
Infant feeding support in Torbay is about making sure that every woman feels supported to feed her baby in the way that is right for her, with a strong commitment to prioritising breastfeeding for those who choose it. Many women stop breastfeeding earlier than they had hoped, and one in ten stops before they feel ready, underlining the importance of providing consistent, compassionate support throughout the early weeks and beyond.
In Torbay, breastfeeding rates at six to eight weeks have continued to improve, rising from 39% in 2016/17 to 58% in 2026, bringing local performance broadly in line with the national average.
In 2023, Torbay’s Public Health Nurses were awarded the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) Gold Award, reflecting their sustained commitment to delivering high‑quality, compassionate infant feeding support. Action for Children has Level 2 accreditation, working towards level 3 assessment in 2026, demonstrating strong foundations are in place to support families.
The infant feeding support system spans maternity services, public health nursing, the community and voluntary sector and the wider community, ensuring families receive coordinated support from pregnancy through the early months of parenthood.
Regarding breastfeeding, antenatal breastfeeding masterclasses are delivered in all Family Hubs and at Torbay and South Devon hospital, through education classes with sessions on breastfeeding and parent infant relationships. These are available both face-to-face and digitally, scheduled at times that suit working families and those with other childcare commitments. In‑ person‑ sessions take place in Family Hubs, and feedback from attendees is consistently positive.
Continuity of support is maintained through the One Feed at a Time messaging which provides practical, timely and compassionate support, including access to help around the clock and support delivered in ways that suit each family’s circumstances.
Breastfeeding specialist clinics run from all Family Hubs and selected community venues. Appointments can be booked directly or made through referral from health professionals. Drop in sessions are also available for families who prefer flexible, on‑ the‑ d‑ay support. Both approaches are well publicised and well attended. The support offer includes access to breast pumps, ensuring families who need additional support to establish or maintain breastfeeding can access equipment quickly and with appropriate guidance.
Twenty four‑ hour‑ digital and remote breastfeeding support is available through both maternity and health visiting services, promoted across websites, social media and at hospital/midwifery discharge.
A comprehensive peer support programme is in place, offering group ‑based infant feeding support for new mothers. An enhanced peer support pathway is available for families identified as having additional vulnerabilities, providing proactive contact from immediately after birth through to the New Birth Visit. This programme is based on an evidence informed‑ model, with outcomes showing that all mothers who started the programme breastfeeding were still feeding at the end of the intervention.
Additionally, all Family Hubs operate a breastfeeding friendly policy and include designated spaces where babies can be fed in privacy and comfort, with support available if required‑. These facilities are widely promoted so families know they can access a welcoming place to feed their baby. Breast feeding friendly spaces are also in Paignton and Brixham libraries.
Torbay’s breastfeeding friendly business scheme continues to grow, with updated resources for participating organisations and a map locator on the Family Hub website to help families find supportive venues. A promotional video featuring parents and local businesses showcases‑ the scheme and encourages wider involvement.
Feed and Nurture groups run as rolling programmes across all Family Hubs, offering practical infant feeding and early nurturing support in a welcoming environment. For weaning, No Rush to Mush sessions give parents clear, evidence based‑ guidance as they move into introducing solids. Community based training through the Nurture Network further extends support by building the skills and confidence of volunteers and practitioners, helping ensure consistent, nurturing‑ and responsive feeding messages are shared with families across a wider range of community settings.
Regular service monitoring is carried out through digital surveys and ongoing parent feedback. This provides a consistent picture of how families experience the infant feeding offer, with feedback routinely highlighting the responsiveness, compassion and practical value of the support provided.
National data shows that perinatal mental health difficulties affect around one in five women during pregnancy or in the two years after birth, with up to 27% of new
and expectant mothers experiencing a mental health condition, and 40% of maternal deaths within a year of birth linked to mental health‑ ‑related causes such as suicide and substance misuse. Fathers are also affected, with up to 1 in 10 experiencing perinatal depression or anxiety, often under‑diagnosed. Parental mental health difficulties are known to impact early bonding, interaction and infant development.
Positive parental bonding plays a crucial role in supporting a baby’s early emotional development, helping to build secure attachments that lay the foundation for lifelong wellbeing. Strong early relationships are consistently associated with improved cognitive, social and behavioural outcomes for children, demonstrating the powerful impact that nurturing, responsive parenting can have on long‑term development.
Torbay’s mild to moderate PNIMH programme, led by Public Health Nurses and supported by Action for Children, has developed significantly since receiving Start for Life funding. The programme aims to support families experiencing low to moderate mental health difficulties and parent-infant attachment concerns identified both antenatally and postnatally.
The PNIMH offer provides holistic, whole family support delivered in the home, in community settings and, crucially, in the places where families feel most comfortable and where their needs are best met. The focus is on strengthening early relationships, supporting parental emotional wellbeing and promoting positive ‑parent-infant‑ interaction.
The Parent and Infant Wellbeing service delivers a broad range of interventions tailored to individual family needs. This work is underpinned by strong connections across health visiting, Family Hubs, early years providers and wider community partners, with ongoing efforts to strengthen alignment with maternity services, voluntary sector organisations and NHS mental health teams.
A core part of the programme focuses on strengthening early relationships and supporting parents to understand and respond to their baby’s cues. Baby massage sessions provide guided opportunities for bonding, relaxation and early communication, helping parents develop confidence in soothing, touch and reading their baby’s signals.
Newborn Behaviour Observations (NBOs) deepen this understanding further, offering early insights into how babies communicate through movement, behaviour and responses, and supporting parents to develop sensitive, attuned caregiving.
Wellbeing sessions for mothers and fathers provide structured time for parents to focus on their own mental health, explore strategies for managing emotional demands and build peer support networks. These sessions help normalise the challenges of the perinatal period and give parents space to reflect, connect and access early emotional support.
More targeted intervention is available for families where early relational concerns are emerging. Parent–infant relationship support offers focused work to strengthen emotional connection, build secure attachment and help parents feel better equipped to meet their baby’s needs. Specialist perinatal mental health and emotional wellbeing interventions are available for parents’ experiencing anxiety, low mood or more complex mental health needs, ensuring that timely support is accessible when families require it.
Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) is available to help parents reflect on positive moments of interaction and build confidence in relational skills. Additional evidence informed approaches, such as parenting support for young parents and programmes including Triple P Baby and single‑ session‑ interventions, enhance the range of support available across the early months.
From Spring 2026, all families open to a Care Plan, along with targeted young parents, will be routinely offered Newborn Baby Interactions (NBO) and Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) as part of their early support pathway. This will help strengthen early attachment, deepen parents’ understanding of their baby’s cues and promote secure early relationships at the earliest opportunity.
Support from the Specialist Practitioner for Parent and Infant Mental Health will continue and be strengthened through increased supervision capacity, ensuring that practitioners are confident, well supported and able to deliver safe, evidence informed‑ relational work with families.
In September 2026, the Leeds Early Attachment Observation (LEAO) tool will be introduced into the 6–8 week review delivered by Health Visitors. This will strengthen early identification of any parent–infant relational concerns by including an observation of the baby’s experience. Early recognition will allow for quicker access to support, ensuring families receive the right help at the right time and strengthening pathways into specialist PNIMH and wider early years services.
Workforce development forms an important pillar of the PNIMH offer. Practitioners receive reflective supervision from specialist clinicians, helping them work safely and confidently with families experiencing a range of emotional and relational challenges. Ongoing workforce training, delivered by specialist practitioners within the parent and infant wellbeing team, supports a shared understanding of early
relational health, infant development and perinatal mental health across all agencies. This ensures consistent, evidence informed‑ practice and strengthens the quality and coherence of the support families receive.
Additional resources such as the Dad Pad app help ensure that fathers have access to practical guidance and emotional support tailored to their needs, further strengthening inclusivity and the whole family‑ approach.
Limited engagement with families on barriers to breastfeeding and accessing feeding support, including lower uptake among families from Torbay’s most deprived areas, EAL families and young parents.
Breastfeeding data across services including maternity, health visiting and action for children is not aligned, with gaps in understanding initiation rates and drop-off rates.
Antenatal and breastfeeding sessions are not consistently accessible, relevant or tailored to Torbay’s most deprived areas, young parents and those with EAL.
PNIMH Peer support is under-developed
Young parents are not routinely offered a tailored parent infant relationship or PNMH offer
The Healthy Babies PNIMH programme is not yet connected or aligned with the NHS Perinatal Mental Health Team’s pathways.
Torbay’s wider maternal and early years public health interventions provide the foundations that enable children to thrive and move towards a GLD. These interventions sit alongside the Healthy Babies programme and address the broader social and health inequalities shaping the early experiences of Torbay families. By focusing on immunisations, nutrition, oral health, smoke‑free homes and targeted support for young parents, the system works to reduce entrenched patterns of disadvantage seen across parts of Torbay, particularly within our most deprived communities, and helps create more equitable starting points for children from birth.
Healthy eating and nutrition programmes play a vital role in supporting early growth, concentration and the ability of Torbay children to engage fully in early learning. With clear links between food insecurity, low income and excess weight in several Torbay communities, initiatives such as NCMP follow up, access to Veg Power programmes and consistent nutrition guidance for early years settings provide practical, accessible support to families. These activities help children develop positive eating habits and support their physical and cognitive development, while offering additional benefits to families living in areas where healthier food choices may be limited.
Vaccination uptake forms an important part of Torbay’s wider maternal and early years public health approach, helping protect children from preventable illness and across many Early Years vaccinations, with two reaching the World Health Organisation/UK target of 95% coverage and the majority sitting within the amber range, generally above national averages. While some vaccines, such as the second dose of Measles Mumps & Rubella (MMR) and the DTaP/IPV booster for Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis & Polio at age five, remain below the 90% threshold, local uptake is still higher than the England average, reflecting the impact of coordinated work across public health, immunisation providers and primary care. Targeted action, such as focused MMR campaigns in areas of deprivation, enhanced accuracy of vaccination records, and engagement with Early Years setting helps strengthen vaccine confidence and ensures children are protected early.
Torbay’s focus on oral health is also crucial in supporting early development. Local data shows dental decay in young children remains significantly higher than national and regional averages, highlighting the need for preventative action across the Bay. The expansion of supervised toothbrushing into Torbay’s schools and nurseries, early prevention through First Dental Steps and targeted oral health education delivered in local settings all help children avoid dental pain and disrupted sleep, issues that can affect behaviour, communication and school readiness. These interventions are particularly important for Torbay’s most disadvantaged areas, where dental decay is most concentrated.
Tobacco dependency support further contributes to healthier early development in Torbay by reducing the risks associated with smoking during pregnancy and in early childhood. While Torbay has successfully brought smoking at time of delivery closer to the England average, early pregnancy smoking remains a challenge locally, especially within communities experiencing higher deprivation. Torbay’s tobacco support system, including Baby Clear, Carbon Monoxide (CO) testing, and the national pregnancy incentive scheme, helps reduce exposure to tobacco smoke and supports healthier pregnancies, improved birth outcomes and safer home environments for infants.
Support for teenage and young parents addresses another inequality within Torbay. Teenage conception rates remain higher than national averages in key wards, and the impact on young parents and their children is reflected in poorer infant health, higher smoking rates, lower breastfeeding rates and greater socioeconomic instability. Torbay’s targeted interventions, from housing support and safeguarding pathways to sexual health provision and youth focused relationships education, aim to reduce these risks and provide young parents with the stability, confidence and practical support needed to nurture their children. This has direct benefits for early attachment, parental wellbeing and children’s developmental outcomes.