Best start for life strategies

Update - June 2024

Thank you to everyone who took part in this consultation. The consultation reports for both strategies are now available in the Documents section on this page. You will also find You Said, We Did documents providing details of how the consultation feedback has helped shape the final strategies.

The consultation reports, along with the revised strategies, will be presented to the Health Reform and Public Health Cabinet Committee on 2 July 2024. Following this meeting a decision is expected to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health on the adoption of these strategies.

We will publish details of the decision and links to the final strategies on this webpage.

Original consultation text

Kent County Council (KCC) is seeking feedback on two draft strategies to help make sure that every baby in Kent has the best start in life.

Nutrition, love and care are the foundations for happy, healthy children. But national analysis shows unsupported poor mental health linked to pregnancy and early years care can significantly impact parents and the bond they build with their baby.

Many mums can also feel unprepared for breastfeeding and families may not be sure about how to support them.

Nurturing little hearts and minds: a perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship strategy sets out the ways in which KCC plans to work with partners to support infants, parents and families during pregnancy and the first two years of life, nurturing positive mental health and building strong parent-infant relationships. This includes support for parents and carers who are expecting a baby, or have a baby under the age of two.

Nourishing our next generation: a 5-year infant feeding strategy sets out five key themes and how these could be developed to support families in their infant feeding journey. This includes ways to reduce barriers to breastfeeding, including in public spaces, and helping mums and their family learn about infant feeding choices before their new baby arrives.

Parent and carer event

We hosted an online information session for parents and carers on Thursday 7 March to provide an overview of the strategies. View the session by clicking on the 'Video of the parent and carer information session' section on this page.

Have your say!

Both strategies have been co-produced with parents, families and partners through workshops, surveys and interviews. But we want to make sure we hear from as many families and those working with families as possible to ensure the final strategies take account of all views.

The draft strategies can be downloaded from the Documents section on this webpage.

Please complete the consultation questionnaire below to tell us your views. You can provide feedback on one or both of the strategies. You can answer all or as many of the questions as you would like to. If you would rather not provide feedback on a section or question, just move on to the next one.

If you cannot complete the online questionnaire a Word version is available to download from this page, which you can complete and return either by email or post. You can also email your views to startforlife@kent.gov.uk.

Feedback from this consultation will be used to help us to finalise the strategies before they are agreed and adopted by KCC.

Update - June 2024

Thank you to everyone who took part in this consultation. The consultation reports for both strategies are now available in the Documents section on this page. You will also find You Said, We Did documents providing details of how the consultation feedback has helped shape the final strategies.

The consultation reports, along with the revised strategies, will be presented to the Health Reform and Public Health Cabinet Committee on 2 July 2024. Following this meeting a decision is expected to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health on the adoption of these strategies.

We will publish details of the decision and links to the final strategies on this webpage.

Original consultation text

Kent County Council (KCC) is seeking feedback on two draft strategies to help make sure that every baby in Kent has the best start in life.

Nutrition, love and care are the foundations for happy, healthy children. But national analysis shows unsupported poor mental health linked to pregnancy and early years care can significantly impact parents and the bond they build with their baby.

Many mums can also feel unprepared for breastfeeding and families may not be sure about how to support them.

Nurturing little hearts and minds: a perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship strategy sets out the ways in which KCC plans to work with partners to support infants, parents and families during pregnancy and the first two years of life, nurturing positive mental health and building strong parent-infant relationships. This includes support for parents and carers who are expecting a baby, or have a baby under the age of two.

Nourishing our next generation: a 5-year infant feeding strategy sets out five key themes and how these could be developed to support families in their infant feeding journey. This includes ways to reduce barriers to breastfeeding, including in public spaces, and helping mums and their family learn about infant feeding choices before their new baby arrives.

Parent and carer event

We hosted an online information session for parents and carers on Thursday 7 March to provide an overview of the strategies. View the session by clicking on the 'Video of the parent and carer information session' section on this page.

Have your say!

Both strategies have been co-produced with parents, families and partners through workshops, surveys and interviews. But we want to make sure we hear from as many families and those working with families as possible to ensure the final strategies take account of all views.

The draft strategies can be downloaded from the Documents section on this webpage.

Please complete the consultation questionnaire below to tell us your views. You can provide feedback on one or both of the strategies. You can answer all or as many of the questions as you would like to. If you would rather not provide feedback on a section or question, just move on to the next one.

If you cannot complete the online questionnaire a Word version is available to download from this page, which you can complete and return either by email or post. You can also email your views to startforlife@kent.gov.uk.

Feedback from this consultation will be used to help us to finalise the strategies before they are agreed and adopted by KCC.

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Have your say!

    We would like to hear your views on our two best start for life strategies and have provided this questionnaire for you to provide your feedback.

    We recommend you read the draft strategies before responding to this questionnaire. 

    You can answer all or as many of the questions as you like. If you would rather not provide feedback on both strategies, a section or question, just move on to the next one.