Question reference: S5W-34631
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 18 January 2021
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to young mothers on maternity leave during the COVID-19 pandemic who are not (a) entitled to access paid childcare and (b) part of an extended household.
Answer
We recognise the difficulties and challenges that new parents, particularly mothers, face during this pandemic. Measures have been put in place to ensure that families continue to get access to the support they need. For households with caring responsibilities (for a person of any age) there are exemptions to restrictions on household visiting and travel to provide care or support to a vulnerable person. Informal childcare rules also apply, where there is an essential childcare need. Further guidance on this is on the ParentClub website.
For social support, up to two people from two separate households can meet outdoors for social interaction. Children under the age of twelve from these households do not count towards the total number of people permitted to gather outdoors so a parent can still meet another parent with their babies, and any other children under 12.
New parents will continue to have access to universal services, such as maternity services and health visiting, to further aid access to community local supports. The health visiting service remains a particularly key source of support for families with young children; it remains available to support all families with preschool children by providing information, advice and help to access other services and supports. In keeping with the latest route map advice and in line with the Universal Health Visiting Pathway, where a home visit is not suitable, contacts over the phone or using video through services like Near Me or Attend Anywhere might be offered. The health visitor can be contacted directly by parents with any concerns about their child’s development or wider wellbeing.
The Family Nurse Partnership is an intensive, two and a half year home visiting programme available for first-time mothers aged 19 and under, and eligible 20-24 year olds. Family nurses support first-time mothers to give their baby the best start in life, and with their mental health, confidence and self-efficacy, education and employment. The three main aims of the programme are to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes, improve child health and development outcomes, and improve economic self-sufficiency of the family.
In recognising the particular needs of babies and young children, the Coronavirus (COVID-19): organised activities for children supplementary guidance was updated on 5 January 2021 for the safe running of organised activities for children and young people during lockdown. The guidance sets out the maximum number of adults who can attend parent/baby or toddler groups (under 5s) and associated organised activities at any one time, to provide more flexibility in this age group.
Parents can also access the new national Family Support Directory , available on ParentClub, for direct support and information on a broad range of issues, such as support on childcare, mental health and wellbeing and family relationships.