Re: NSPCC and BUB, I sent them the following email last night...
Dear Sir / Madam
I spoke at length to both your duty manager and your public relations person last Wednesday regarding child protection concerns raised from the Channel 4 programme Brining Up Baby. I was quite surprised that, despite this being the second week of showing this programme (which has caused serious public concerns about child neglect and safety) the people I spoke to from your organisation seemed woefully un-informed both about the programme and also what could be done to protect babies from Claire Verity, the so called Maternity Nurse. I was told that ?there is nothing you can do? and that you would be issuing a press statement at the start of this coming week. I have since seen an email that you sent to someone else saying that you will not be commenting until the series is finished.
I have been a supporter and donor to you and Childline for many years. I am deeply troubled by your lack of swift action on many levels. How on earth can you run TV adverts that show a baby left alone in a cot saying ?Miles has learnt that no one comes whether he cries or not? and when there are real instances of this happening to real babies on TV (and potentially other babies through the airing of such methods) that you are so slow to make any definitive media statements to explain the serious developmental effects of emotional abuse nor take any actions to protect actual children?
Claire Verity has referred to day old infants as manipulative and called them ?it?. She has made parents leave them in a pram for 3 hour stretches in the garden regardless of any distress shown. She has taught them not cuddle the newborns in between feeds, not give any eye contact during feeds and put them in their cot, alone in a room (with the door shut) between 7pm to 7am, ignoring all the babies cries. She teaches them to only cuddle the babies for 10 minutes a day. My instinct tells me this is wrong. My professional background (social work) and much research tells me it is neglect, a form of child abuse under the Children Act 1989, that may well cause significant harm to the child?s development.
What these babies are being subjected to (and the fact that this method was being normalised by being shown on TV as a valid way to raise a baby)is now well known to cause damage to brain development (read ?Why Love Matters? by Sue Gerhardt for a good summary of latest brain development research). The consequence of this is not visible within 3 months (the length of Channel 4's 'experiment') but the impact can be profound - including severe depression, anxiety and personality disorders, problems with attachment and relationships and other serious mental ill health. This is well known by anyone in the childcare field who is competent and up to date (unlike it would seem, Channel 4?s medical advisors). I would have hoped that the NSPCC would have jumped at the chance to challenge this silent form of child neglect that has been provided by this programme. Instead, the only experts that seem to be given airtime are the FSID reps who make no point at all about emotional abuse and neglect. In addition to the PR / public education / media ethics being raised by this programme, I do think there are also child protection referrals with regards to the two families shown on the programme (I understand full well the vulnerability of new parenthood and my concern is more about Claire Verity exploiting these parents by getting them to go against their instinct in the quest to ?get their life back?). By the end of programme two, one set of parents was clearly referring to their 2 week old infant as manipulative and attention seeking, as if the baby was ?bad? for having needs and expressing them by crying. Any parent insisting on using these methods who were being assessed by social services would be failing. Any childminder using these methods would be struck off by Ofsted. Why is it not a child protection issue simply because it is on TV? If we were seeing televised paedophilia, I suspect that the child protection / safeguarding wheels would have started turning very quickly. Why is this form of abuse being treated differently? It is not given any different status under the Children Act ? emotional abuse is a clear category under law. I was astounded when your child protection helpline said to me that ?the NSPCC cannot act unless a member of the family is making a referral?. That is nonsense. I, and others on the various parenting forums, would like to see this taken up as a child protection case.
I am so frustrated that I have not heard members of the NSPCC on the media on such programmes as Five Live and BBC breakfast ? I don?t know if you have heard these interviews, but they are simply giving more airtime to Claire Verity and her methods - and turning this debate into a ?routine? v ?no routine? issue ? it is not about routine. It is about the serious neuro developmental damage done by her advocating a ?no touch / no responsiveness? approach to parenting that forces a newborn to be emotionally independent of its parents from day one in order to prove ?who is boss?. This is abuse. I am a new mum and all my mum friends are talking about this programme ? I am not exaggerating to say that every single one I have spoken to (and it is running into the 30?s) are deeply upset and distressed by it. I am now doubly distressed by the fact that the national organisation that should be speaking up for the child and against child cruelty is being so silent and seemingly ineffectual.
You may be interested to know that your name is coming up on mumsnet ? an online network of thousands of mum?s ? and it is not in a good light, for the reasons I have outlined above. Please act now - both for the sake of children and to restore your credibility in the eyes of your supporters.
I look forward to your reply.