‘Well done you!’ Princess of Wales is interrupted by a baby’s burp as she chats to health workers in Nuneaton at the forefront of her £50,000 NHS project to assess babies’ wellbeing
- The Princess of Wales first saw the model in action on a trip to Copenhagen
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The Princess of Wales congratulated an infant who let out a little burp during her visit to health workers in Nuneaton this morning, telling them: ‘Well done you!’
The room erupted in laughter as mother-of-three Kate, 41, stopped what she was saying to make a fuss of the tiny baby, who couldn’t wait any longer to let out a little bit of wind.
At the moment she was interrupted by the sweet baby, the Princess had been discussing a £50,000 NHS project she has funded through the Royal Foundation for Early Years Development which is trialling a new model of assessing babies’ wellbeing.
The health workers in Nuneaton are part of the pioneering project, which involves using indicators to understand the happiness of babies.
Upon arrival in the Warwickshire town today, Kate looked radiant in a £490 silk turquoise leopard-print dress from Samantha Cameron’s Cefinn brand, paired with Jimmy Choo white pumps, as she arrived this morning to continue her early years development crusade. She accessorised her chic outfit with a white structured handbag from Mulberry.
A cohort of mini royal fans waiting for her as they queued up eagerly to meet the Princess – and one of them even got a high-five.
As her visit got underway, Kate doted on a baby girl while chatting to her guardian – and couldn’t help making a fuss of the infant, gently holding out her hand.
Kate’s visit is the latest engagement in her crusade to promote early years development as part of her Shaping Us Campaign, launched in January.
The Princess’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has provided £50,000 of funding for an NHS project to assess babies’ wellbeing, which trials an innovative model.
As she arrived in the West Midlands city, the mother-of-three showed her maternal side, stopping to greet the children – who were wearing caps to shield themselves from the sun’s rays – and chat to them.
The purpose of today’s visit is to meet with health workers in the Warwickshire area who are being trained in the use of this model, called the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB).
Following a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, last year where she first saw it trialed, Kate has been fascinated by the system and believes it to be of importance in assessing the wellbeing of young babies.
The £50,000 project is being launched through Kate’s Centre for Early Childhood, and will be carried out in conjunction with the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) and Oxford University.
A high-five for a young royal fan! The Princess of Wales delighted a child who had queued to meet her in Nuneaton this morning as she paid a visit to health workers
As her visit got underway, Kate couldn’t help but make a fuss of a little girl as she chatted to her mother
The Princess of Wales beamed as she chatted to the children, who were all wearing caps to shield themselves from the sunshine, this morning
The mother-of-three appeared deep in conversation with the schoolchildren who were eager to meet her
As part of her crusade in early years’ development, Kate has been working with the IVH to explore how the model can be implemented in the UK.
The ADBB model uses a range of indicators, including eye contact, facial expressions, vocalisationand activity levels to help families and practitioners understand how babies express their feelings.
It was developed by Pr. A. Guedeney in Paris, and was initially created to assess infants from 0 to 24 months old.
It also supports parents and helps them with bonding and attachment to their children.
During today’s visit, the Princess will speak to the health workers being trained in the ADBB model and learn more about how their work is ensuring every child gets the best possible start in life.
The trial is running for 10 months within the South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust and Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust.
If considered successful, it may be rolled out to more trusts across the UK.
Since the launch of the Shaping Us campaign in January this year, Kate has been travelling up and down the country on a mission to promote early years development.
Last week, she visited Maidenhead Rugby Club where she chatted to rugby players and fathers within the community.
She joined players on the pitch before sitting down for important discussions later in the day as part of her Shaping Us campaign, speaking to fathers in the community about how sports clubs can be a good support network for children.
The visit came as the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has released statistics showing an increased awareness of the importance of early years development over the last year – but there is still plenty of work to do.
A public perception survey commissioned by the foundation and conducted by Ipsos UK showed that, last year, 17 per cent of people identified the period between pregnancy and the age of five as a crucial time for shaping a child’s future.
That proportion has this year risen by 2 per cent to 19 per cent overall.
Despite an overall increase in awareness, the data also showed that it was mostly women who identified the age range as important in shaping a child’s future, at 24 per cent – compared to just 14 per cent of men.
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