The EIF have released a further report which focuses on the evidence for a range of maternity and early infancy support (up to 12 months of age), highlighting where there is good evidence of impact on child outcomes, weak evidence, or strong evidence of no impact.
The report reviews a number of treatment areas, including breastfeeding, sleep training, maternal mental health, SIDs, smoking and intimate partner violence, among many others.
Overall, the report concludes that there is good evidence underpinning many of the activities already delivered through the Healthy Child Programme. Whilst some notable gaps in the evidence have been identified, there are several areas of practice that could be enhanced by increasing the use of evidence-based activities.
However, it also identifies that there are some significant gaps in the evidence – in particular, around what works to tackle substance misuse among parents and its impact on their children.
The report also highlights a set of common, light-touch interventions which have been shown not to be effective in improving child outcomes.
To read either the full or abbreviated versions of the report Click Here