Our vision and approach

Best Beginnings is a charity dedicated to ending child health inequalities in the UK.

We are committed to giving every baby the healthiest possible start in life. Our vision is a future in which all children in the UK enjoy excellent care from the very beginning.

We use innovative approaches to ensure families have the information and support they need to protect their children’s health.

Our projects focus on the time-period between preconception and two years of age because this is where the foundations for a healthy life are built.

There is a large child health gap between the top and bottom of the socio-economic scale in the UK and across certain ethnic communities. These gaps lead to premature birth, serious illnesses, developmental disorders and deaths in early infancy.

For example, the infant mortality rate in the poorest parts of the Midlands is six times greater than in affluent parts of Hampshire. Likewise the infant mortality rate of babies of mothers born in Pakistan is double the national average.

This huge health gap continues into adulthood, with children from more challenging backgrounds being significantly more likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease in later life.

Best Beginnings is addressing the challenge of reducing child health inequalities and infant mortality in three main ways. We:

develop pioneering interventions and resources for families and healthcare professionals, to ensure parents have the information and support needed to make choices that will improve their children’s health and avoid preventable illnesses and death;
promote equal access to health services for families with babies so that people who have difficulty accessing these services are enabled to do so;
advance the education of both the public and professionals who have contact with young people and families, about health issues affecting mothers and children.