Supporting early family life: the importance of public health programmes

Globally, women are generally offered maternity-specific care during their pregnancy through obstetricians, gynaecologists, nurses and/or midwives. While this care extends into the postpartum period, guidelines currently do not recommend visits to the mother beyond 6 weeks (World Health Organization, 2014). However, in the Fair Society, Healthy Lives report, it is emphasised that the two first years of life represent a critical time point in which the obstacles to healthy brain development can lead to long-term disadvantages, and that interventions are required to prevent the emergence of health inequalities and to improve children’s life chances (Marmot et al., 2010).