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We Can't Be Prissy About Helping'


Expectant mothers whose unborn babies have been judged to be at risk of criminal behaviour and social exclusion are to be targeted under a new Government scheme.

Tony Blair has met with healthcare workers who will be piloting the Nurse-Family Partnership, which aims to help break a cycle of disadvantaged families by identifying those most in need of support early on.

The Prime Minister has rejected suggestions the scheme will stigmatise poor mothers, saying the country can't afford to be "prissy" about intervening to improve a child's life.

"If, for example, you have got a very young mother-to-be who is 15, 16 or 17-years-old and isn't living at home, it is pretty obvious that that is someone who has got certain challenges about to confront them in their lives," Mr Blair told the meeting at Downing Street.


"The important thing is to realise that of course we are going to have to take action in circumstances where the family-to-be will need that action .... and you can spend much more money, quite apart from more time and energy, trying to catch up later."
Under the scheme, mothers will receive advice on diet, exercise and parenting skills.


The news comes after the Children's Commissioner said Britain was one of the worst countries in the developed world in which to be a child.
Sir Al Aynsley-Green warned of a "crisis at the heart of British society" in the way children are treated by adults.
He said he was angry that adults frequently "demonise" children while vulnerable young people continue to die through poverty and neglect.
Mr Blair admitted that despite the Government's efforts, the most disadvantaged families were still falling through the net.
But Mr Blair said the Nurse-Family Partnership was designed to "reach the most vulnerable at an early enough stage to be able to make a difference".