The Babies Bill

Have you heard about the Babies Bill?

The story of the Bill

Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne won first place in the 2026 Private Members’ Bill ballot. His bill is called the Infants, Parents and Carers Bill, now known as the Babies Bill. It was discussed for over 5 hours in the House of Commons chamber on Friday 4 September at its Second Reading, which is the opportunity for MPs to discuss the main principles of a proposed bill. It was passed and has now passed the committee stage. You can follow the Bill’s progress here.

Sir Desmond chose this bill because ‘The period from pregnancy to the age of two is not simply another phase of childhood. It is the foundation upon which everything else is built: emotional security, language development, physical health, resilience, attachment and even future capability…..Pregnancy to age two is the time when prudent investment delivers the greatest return, in human capital, and in economic saving down the line.’

The bill places ‘a duty on government to:

• assess the needs of infants, parents and carers
• commission and provide appropriate information and services
• report annually to Parliament on how better support is improving outcomes.’ (Ibid)

Thus the bill does not specify details of the services to be provided but provides the statutory framework.

Work on the issue involves MPs from various political parties and builds on the work of Dame Andrea Leadsom, who founded the 1001 Critical Days Foundation, and whose Parliamentary work led to the establishment of family hubs across England . The current chair of the Foundation is former MP Will Quince, who made a major contribution towards the development of the Bill.

At the Second Reading on 4^th September, about 20 MPs covered a wide range of issues, pointing out the need for early and better intervention for all new families on:

Credit: Kevin Gent via Unsplash

• health and education
• maternal mental health
• maternity services and postpartum care
• breastfeeding and the microbiome
• the vulnerability of most new parents
• the postcode lottery of services
• options for childcare
• child poverty.

They also pointed out the challenges of lack of family support in the community, poor housing in deprived areas and the need to restrict baby screen time.

Several MPs stated that the right support at the right time lasts a lifetime, paying for itself down the line with every £1 spent bringing back £2 in society value.

Most MPs condemned the loss of Sure Start centres, which had had a proven positive impact on society. It was too easy for Sure Start to be dismantled and funding had not been ringfenced. They reiterated that the loss had opened up huge gaps, compounded by Covid. This had created a wild west, particularly in the infant sleep industry, where unqualified and unscrupulous individuals make profit from vulnerable families, without any legal recourse.

Now was the right time to make childhood support, rooted in overwhelming evidence, statutory. This would:

• protect the critical 1001 days (conception to age 2)
• build the Healthy Babies programme to be universal
• control/monitor marketing of breastmilk substitutes
• increase and train the workforce
• educate, support and sustain “universal integrated support” for new families in accessible anchored institutions, creating the village network that every family needs
• help towards making every baby’s start in life equal and fair, creating social justice for the future.

Credit: Kathryn Stagg

There was encouragement to include voluntary groups in the statutory protection. Some groups were mentioned individually as examples of good practice: Leicester Mammas, Bosom Buddies and Chichester Milk Spot group.

The government’s response, which was very positive, was given at the end of the discussion by Dame Diana Johnson MP, Minister of State for Public Health and Patient Safety.

Thus the Babies Bill provides the statutory framework for making the services accountable and protecting them from being deprioritised, as happened with the Sure Start programme. The Secretary of State will be required to define the specifics of the services, making assessments of need and then, within a three-year period, make provision for those services, with accountability through annual reports.

In his final remarks, Sir Desmond Swayne explained that he was now ‘presented with the difficulty of forming a Standing Committee that balances those who supported the Bill on Second Reading with those who opposed it.’ Everyone who spoke in the discussion was in favour.

Other blogs on the Bill

Sharon Hodgson MP, until recently Public Health and Prevention Minister, ‘who has campaigned for decades on children’s health and wellbeing’, focussed in her blog on the importance of early intervention to prevent problems arising.

Dr. Saras Hosdurga, Early Years Clinical Lead at The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) published a blog on 3rd of September, calling on MPs to support the Bill, emphasising its importance and describing what more is needed to give every child strong foundations for a healthy life. In May, the RCPCH had launched its campaign ‘Strong Foundations’, which calls for strengthened health services to support babies, young children and their families.

The blog by Patti Rundall of Baby Milk Action and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) includes excerpts from MP speeches that mention the risk of commercial influence in relation to infant feeding information and support.

Relevant WBTi UK recommendations

The Babies Bill has real potential to strengthen the legal foundation for infant feeding support in England. WBTi UK supports that ambition, and our 2024 report (see p.66) clearly describes what effective support looks like.

We identified a specific gap in England: not all local authorities commission integrated infant feeding services. Integrated services combine routine care from BFI-trained health professionals, skilled peer support, and referral to specialist services for complex needs.

Based on UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Standards, our published recommendations included calls for:

🔹 Government to include ring-fenced funding for breastfeeding support in Family Hubs across all local authorities.

🔹 Government to make Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation in community settings mandatory and fully funded; a consequence would be that every health professional working with new families receives training.

🔹 All local authorities to commission high quality integrated services meeting Baby Friendly standards: a) routine care from BFI-trained health professionals, b) additional care from skilled peer supporters and c) a referral pathway to specialist services for complex needs.

• Government to implement national standards for training, using principles such as the Infant Feeding Competencies Framework and aligned with NICE guidance.

🔹 A clear referral pathway to specialist services, at certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) level or similar, for families with complex needs.

The Infant Feeding Support Competencies Framework is a valuable resource for commissioners as it describes the knowledge and skills needed for different roles to provide high quality integrated and multi-level services.

This is what the evidence supports. And it is what WBTi UK will call for as the Babies Bill is drafted.

Content of the Parliamentary discussion

You can watch it here.

Hansard has the written record of the discussion

Authors: Patricia Wise BA (Cantab), breastfeeding counsellor, and Clare Meynell RM (rtd), IBCLC

Clare had a long career as a midwife and infant feeding lead achieving the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Gold award accreditation at her local hospital. Currently, with Helen Gray, she jointly coordinates the UK WBTi working group and co-presented the first report for the UK in Parliament in November 2016 and the second in 2024.

Clare still volunteers her knowledge and experience at a regular mother and baby support group. 

Patricia is an NCT Breastfeeding counsellor and a member of the WBTi UK Steering Group. She has a particular interest in health professional training in breastfeeding and her e-book, Supporting mothers who breastfeed: a guide for trainee and qualified doctors, is available on the WBTi website. 

Banner photo: credit Steve Bidmead