Enhancements to child health programmes in the UK

Five programmes which offer additional services to enhance the child health programmes for families at risk of poorer maternal and child health and development outcomes are being evaluated. Flying Start is a community-based programme targeted on families with children under 4 years of age living in deprived neighbourhoods in Wales. A Better Start is a place-based programme implemented by local partnerships in English wards with high levels of economic deprivation, providing services and support for all families living in the target wards from pregnancy until a child’s fourth birthday. The Family Nurse Partnership is a structured programme of home visits for first-time young mothers. The Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-visiting programme is a structured programme of sustained home visiting delivered by health visitors in pregnancy and the first 2 years. The Trial of Healthy Relationship Initiatives for the Very Early-years is comparing two parenting programmes for women with additional mental health or social support needs in pregnancy with outcomes up to 18 months. Early published results are reviewed and links given to the websites to signpost the reader to up-to-date information on the effectiveness of each programme.