Princess of Wales visits hospital to see infant support work

The Princess of Wales visited Chase Community Hospital in Bordon on November 11 to see work supporting babies’ social and emotional development through an approach backed by The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

During the visit, she met health visitors who use the Alarm Distress Baby Scale, or ADBB, an observational tool intended to help identify early social withdrawal in children aged zero to 24 months. The approach focuses on signs including eye contact, facial expressions and activity levels during checkups, which professionals use to assess a child’s social behaviour and whether further support may be needed.

The Centre has supported efforts to introduce and expand the approach in Britain. The Princess first saw the programme in Denmark in February 2022 and later asked the Centre to explore its implementation in the UK, according to reports of the project’s history.

Two pilot phases have been carried out at 10 NHS sites. The Centre announced a further £250,000 over three years to expand use of the approach and develop guidance and training resources. Those figures and plans were reported as part of the programme’s rollout; no measured outcomes from the pilots...