Dr Shirley Gracias, a consultant in infant, child and adolescent psychiatry, and ex-chair of the Association for Infant Mental Health UK (AIMH UK), commented following the International Association for the Study of Attachment, which took place at the end of August.
She said, 'I am alarmed by the approach being taken by some in the NHS towards the mental health of infants. Helping parents to form attachments with their babies is being seen as a dispensable luxury, with funding being withdrawn. Money is being channelled into only providing services for older children or adolescents in whom problems are already entrenched, and services for babies are being shut down. This goes counter to the expressed view of the coalition Government that prevention is better than cure.'
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