Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has met some of the first babies born to young mums taking part in the pilot of a US-inspired programme, which supports first-time parents under the age of 19.
A total of 55 babies have so far been born to the 131 families currently taking part in the Family Nurse Partnership Programme, which is being tested in Lothian.
Sturgeon called the programme “truly inspirational”.
“I know from speaking to the parents involved that they are forming really strong bonds with the nurses from the project which is giving them the support and help they need to make the right choices for their children.”
The programme in
She added: "Intervening at the earliest opportunity to improve children's wellbeing is absolutely crucial to improving
Read our exclusive interviews with the programme’s American founder, Professor David Olds, and NHS Lothian’s Nurse Director, Melanie Hornett, who is leading the pilot in Scotland, here.
Katie Mackintosh
Katie is Holyrood magazine's Health Correspondent and has been with the magazine since 2005. She has an MA in Sociology with Gender from Edinburgh University and a post graduate diploma in Journalism from Napier University. Katie has twice been named PPA Scotland Feature Writer of the Year, in 2008 and again in 2009, and was shortlisted for magazine writer of the year at the Scottish Press Awards in 2012. She is an Aberdonian by birth, a Glaswegian by nature, who now lives in Fife with her...