The Duchess of Cambridge has said she is “broody” after visiting young babies in Copenhagen, joking that the Duke worries about her working with under one-year-olds because she comes home saying: “Let’s have another one.”
Kate, who is visiting the Danish city to learn about its system of early years support, met new parents and health visitors to shine a light on the importance of children's social development.
Praising fathers for taking time off work to “get to know” their babies, she spoke of the universal struggle of parenthood where even the most well-educated can struggle to ask for help.
During a visit to Børnemuseet, the Children’s Museum in Frederiksberg, Denmark, to hear about the “Understanding Your Baby Project”, the Duchess said there should be just as much discussion about the social and emotional development of young children as their physical milestones.
After meeting with two eight-month-old baby boys and their parents, she joked: “It makes me very broody.
“William always worries about me meeting under one-year-olds. I come home saying ‘let’s have another one’.”
The Duchess spent time with three Danish health visitors, who told her about their system of continued care for families from pregnancy.
They visit seven times in the first year, and have all been trained to teach parents how to boost their baby’s social development through eye contact, chatting and play.
“Do you feel there is an awareness of social and emotional development?" the Duchess asked, adding that in her experience: “There is a lot of talk about feeding and nutrition and physical milestones, but less on the emotional and social milestones.”
Told how even well-educated mothers and fathers struggle with feeling “insecure” about their parenting, she agreed: “[There is] The expectation that maybe they should know already.
“Whereas some of the more disadvantaged families probably have different challenges?
“Do you feel there is a challenge for poorer communities and disadvantaged families, of having to concentrate on primary needs?
"If they are struggling with meeting primary needs [ like providing food and clothes] do they have time to focus on social and emotional development?”
In a small art studio, the Duchess sat around a table with two couples, each first-time parents, and their nearly-nine-month-old babies Svend and Aksel.
The Duchess asked them about their experiences of the Danish health visitor system, observing: “From what I’ve heard about health visiting here it seems really extraordinary.
“This focus on emotional and social development, looking holistically. It’s a highly-regarded profession.”
Asking whether they felt confident asking for help if they were struggling, or whether there was a “stigma”, she heard how important it was for parents to know that their trusted health visitor was giving advice based on research.
“To have first-hand advice based on research, founded in science, must be really good,” she replied.
Commenting on a tendency to look online for answers but not be able to trust the results, she agreed: “It’s a wealth of knowledge but you don’t always know where it’s come from.”
Hearing about how the Danish system trains health visitors to speak to new parents in a non-intimidating way about how to boost their children’s well-being, she asked the fathers whether it helped provide them “with a common language” to discuss emotions with their friends.
“As fathers, do you feel part of this conversation?” she asked. “Particularly the age your kiddies are, often people’s focus is on the mother. Do you feel the health visitors bring you into the role as well?”
Told that yes, many Danish fathers took parental leave, she added: “It’s so nice! You get to know him [your baby].”
The “Understanding Your Baby Project” is a universal educational parenting programme teaching health visitors to have more helpful and sensitive conversations with parents.
In Denmark, all children have seven “preventative health examinations” with their GP before they start school.
They will have an average five or six home appointments with a health visitor before the age of one, and there are around 2,000 health visitors for a population of 5.8million.
In the UK, there are five mandated checks for children before the age of 2.5, with some taking the form of a questionnaire for parents to fill out.
There are 7,408 health visitors in England for a population of 56.5million.
