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Best Beginnings is the podcast for everyone working in or caring about the early years. Hosted by George Looker, CEO of Babyzone, each episode brings together leading researchers, clinicians, practitioners, policymakers and parents to explore the evidence, ideas and innovations shaping how we support children and families in the UK.
From infant mental health and attachment to workforce challenges and systems change, Best Beginnings goes beyond the headlines to have the conversations that matter most in early childhood.
New episodes drop every Tuesday.
Best Beginnings is brought to you by Babyzone, a national charity operating free, evidence-based family hubs across England for families with children aged 0–5.
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I want to start with a number 1 million.
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That's how many new neural connections
form in a child's brain.
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Every single second
during the first three years of life.
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1 million every second.
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By the time a child turns to more than 80%
of their brain
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architecture is already in place.
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The connections that shape how they learn,
how they regulate their emotions,
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how they form relationships.
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Most of that is built
before a child can speak in sentences.
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And then something called pruning begins.
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The brain starts to refine itself,
strengthening
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the connections that are being used
and letting go of the ones that aren't
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what is nurtured in these first days.
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What is neglected fades.
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That's not a metaphor.
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That's neuroscience.
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So here's the question.
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If the first years of life
are the most formative period
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in all of human development,
if they shape a child's health,
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their learning, their relationships,
their resilience, and their life chances.
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Why, as a society, do we invest the least
in the years that matter most?
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And think about what that means
in practice.
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A new parent comes home from hospital
with a baby.
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They're exhausted. They're overwhelmed.
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They have questions.
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They don't know how to ask, about feeding,
about sleep,
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about whether their baby is developing
the way they should.
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They want to do the right thing, but
they're not sure what the right thing is.
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And the support that used to exist
in that community,
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the healthcare visitor
that came to the house, the local group
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where they could meet other parents,
a children's center down the road.
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For too many families,
that support has quietly disappeared.
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So they're left to figure it out
on their own.
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And that uncertainty is my child
hitting their milestones.
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Should they be talking by now?
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Am I doing enough?
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Doesn't just feel stressful.
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It has real consequences.
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Because when a parent's confidence drops,
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so does the quality
of those early interactions.
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The play becomes less playful.
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The reading stops,
the singing feels silly,
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and the child's brain, the brain
is forming a million connections.
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A second gets fewer of the experiences
it needs to thrive.
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And then by the time those children arrive
at school, that gap is already visible.
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In 2024, just 59% of children
in the most deprived areas
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reached a good level of development
compared to 79% in the least deprived.
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That's a 20 point gap
on the first day of reception.
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And then it compounds by the time
those children sit their GCSEs.
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40% of all pupils
don't pass English or maths.
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The infrastructure that once
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supported families in those earliest years
has largely disappeared.
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More than a thousand children centers
have closed across England in 2021.
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The Royal Foundation partnered
with the London School
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of Economics to calculate
what that failure actually costs.
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Their answer
at least 16 billion pounds a year.
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That's the cost to society
of the remedial steps we take to address
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problems from children in care to long
term mental and physical health issues
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that might have been avoided
through action early in childhood.
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And the researchers have said that
that figure is an underestimate.
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16 billion every year
not to solve a problem.
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That's what it costs us.
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But here's the thing
the research keeps telling us
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over and over again, the single most
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powerful influence in a child's
development isn't a government program.
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It isn't a curriculum.
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It isn't a piece of equipment
that you need to buy.
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It's what happens at home.
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The talk, the play, the reading,
the singing, the bath time routine.
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The moment you get down on the floor
and say, let's see what happens.
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Scientists
call it the serve and return that back
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and forth
between a parent, carer or a child.
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When the child reaches out with a sound
or gesture, the adult responds.
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And then that child reaches out again.
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That interaction,
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which looks like nothing from
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the outside, is literally building
brain architecture.
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Every exchange lays another connection.
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Nobel laureate James Heckman
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spent decades studying
the economics of early intervention.
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His conclusion was simple.
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The highest rate of return of investment
in human development comes from investing
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as early as possible, from birth through
to age five, in disadvantaged families.
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He found a 13% annual rate of return
on comprehensive early years programs.
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So it's not just a social argument,
it's an economic one.
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And in 2025,
the Institute for Fiscal Studies published
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what might be the most important piece
of evidence we've seen in a generation.
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They tracked children
from the 1990s, children who grew up
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near Shore Start centers
all the way through to their GCSEs.
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Those children
performed nearly a full grade higher.
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The children from the poorest backgrounds
benefited most,
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and every pound spent
generated 2.05 pounds in the long term.
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So the science
is settled and the economics are clear.
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What we do in the earliest years is the
single best investment a society can make.
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And yet,
most parents don't know any of this.
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Not because they don't care,
but because nobody has told them.
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Nobody has set them down
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and said what you're doing right now
at that kitchen table with your child.
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That matters more than anything.
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So that's where babies home comes in,
and that's
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where this podcast comes from.
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Baby zone is a registered charity.
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We operate free, evidence
based family hubs
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across the UK for families
with children aged 0 to 5.
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There are no barriers to entry.
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You don't need to book.
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You don't need to fill in a form.
You don't need to qualify.
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You just walk through the door
and you're welcome.
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That's a deliberate choice
because the families who need us
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the most are often the ones least likely
to navigate a referral pathway
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or sign up online.
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We meet families where they are
and we build trust from the first visit.
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Inside Every Baby's
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Own how parents and children
accessed evidence based classes.
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Baby sensory.
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Many professors
think medics reading fairy toddler sense
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alongside health visitors, mental health
services, infant feeding
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teams, speech and language
therapy and specialist support.
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We work with partners like Dad Matters
to help fathers build confidence
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and bond with their babies.
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We work with the Department
for Work and Pension
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who comes into some of our hubs
so families can access
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benefits advice in a space
that doesn't feel like a job center.
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The NHS runs out of hospital early, help
clinics inside our hubs so parents
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can get developmental checks and referrals
without ever
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needing an appointment.
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When a parent can attend an early learning
class,
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speak to a health visitor and access
housing advice on the same visit.
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Problems?
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Get identified earlier
and the support is more effective.
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So it's not a theory, it's
what more than 260 partner
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organizations are doing with us
right now, or under one roof.
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So how big is Baby sign?
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Let me give you an idea.
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We have eight hubs in the UK, with hubs
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opening in Swansea and Glasgow
in the next two months.
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And on any given day,
each hub sees about 200 families.
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Since we've launched,
we've welcomed over 100,000 visits.
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And we serve thousands of families
up and down the country.
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And we have thousands
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more in WhatsApp communities
that we engage with every single week.
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Sharing tips, play ideas and support
between visits.
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74% of the families that come through
our doors are from the most disadvantaged
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communities, and we work with over
260 partner organizations
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so that each hub can support
those families.
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They cost about 130,000
pounds a year to run.
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That's 8 pounds per visit.
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And we use existing community venues
rather than building from scratch.
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So funding flows
directly to families, not to overheads.
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And by 2028,
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we aim to have 20 hubs in the communities
that need them most.
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But what I really want you to understand
is what's happening inside those visits.
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Because Baby Zone isn't just a place
to play.
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It's a place where we develop, test
and refine what works for families
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and then share it.
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We've developed our own flagship
programs, Baby Zones.
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Everyday maths is a 20 week pathway
that makes maths more visible in everyday
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routines, so that counting stairs
on the way to bed or sorting socks
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by color or spotting patterns
on the pavement makes more sense.
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That matters because the research shows
that early math skills at age five
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are the single strongest
predictor of later academic success.
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Yet maths anxiety is one of the most
common feelings parents describe to us.
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So we're helping families
find that numeracy and maths
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is already in their lives, and
showing it to them that it can be joyful.
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We've also developed a baby's own nest,
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which stands for Name,
empathize, self-regulate and Team Up.
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It's our program for building social
and emotional skills
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in the very youngest children
and in the adults that care for them.
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These are simple, repeatable tools
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that travel home with families
and become part of their daily life.
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And these programs don't stay in the hub.
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84% of parents tell us they use baby
zone ideas at home regularly,
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and we reinforce that through our WhatsApp
communities, through the Baby Buddy app,
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which families can access at three in
the morning when the questions won't stop.
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And also through The Baby's Own Academy,
a digital training platform
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that will equip thousands of early years
practitioners with our programs.
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So what works in our hubs
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can spread to nurseries, family centers,
and settings across the country.
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I want
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to explain something that I think
the most important thing
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Baby Zone is doing,
and it's not a program or a hub.
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It's a question.
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Do you believe you can do this
with your child?
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That's the question at the center of what
we call the parent confidence Index.
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The PCI,
we're developing it with academics
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from the University of Oxford Department
for Experimental Psychology.
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And it measures
something deceptively simple.
00;10;18;22 - 00;10;21;21
A parent's day to day
competence across four areas.
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Understanding your child's
cues and development.
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Health and everyday learning.
00;10;27;11 - 00;10;28;22
Routines and emotions.
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And the confidence to seek help
when you need it.
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It's not an audit of parents have
or haven't done.
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It's not a test.
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It captures the belief I can do this.
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And here's why that matters so much.
00;10;41;09 - 00;10;44;20
The research shows
that parental confidence is closely
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linked to positive child outcomes,
including self-regulation, early language,
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early maths, and social
and emotional well-being.
00;10;53;27 - 00;10;57;01
When a parent feels confident,
they talk more, they play more,
00;10;57;02 - 00;11;02;04
they read more and they persist more,
and their child's brain benefits directly.
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But here's the part that gives me
the most hope.
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Confidence is malleable.
00;11;07;29 - 00;11;11;08
It can grow within weeks when parents
are supported in the right ways.
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The PCI is designed to test
a clear hypothesis
00;11;16;04 - 00;11;19;25
if confidence is the catalyst,
then changes should be visible
00;11;19;28 - 00;11;23;05
long before traditional child
outcome measures shift.
00;11;23;17 - 00;11;26;12
In other words, if we can move confidence,
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then everything else follows.
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And we see this every week in our hubs.
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We see it with a parent struggling
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with severe anxiety
and postnatal depression,
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who now says that baby zone
has given them the confidence
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to seek support
that they would never have had before.
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We see it in dads who feel invisible
in every other parent group
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until babies are born, made it clear
that fathers belong in earlier spaces to
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and we
see it in the parent that comes to it.
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Babies are looking
for a play space with her toddler.
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Ended up joining our team.
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Going from participant to operations
officer, helping other families.
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The way that she was helped.
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Those aren't just outputs.
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They're transformations
and they start at the same way.
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Someone walked through the door
and was made to feel welcome and began
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to believe they could do it, too.
00;12;21;26 - 00;12;24;26
Our strategy is built around one idea.
00;12;25;10 - 00;12;29;07
Practice creates knowledge,
and then knowledge creates confidence
00;12;29;26 - 00;12;32;07
that confidence creates change.
00;12;32;07 - 00;12;34;02
That's the baby's own flywheel.
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And once it starts turning,
it doesn't stop.
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This work is more timely than it has ever
been.
00;12;41;18 - 00;12;45;17
The current government
has made the early years a stated priority
00;12;45;26 - 00;12;49;13
and the best start in life program
in the family helps roll out a design
00;12;49;13 - 00;12;51;15
to bring services together in one place.
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Exactly what babies are
and has been building for years.
00;12;54;24 - 00;12;56;12
For the first time in a long time.
00;12;56;12 - 00;13;00;16
There's genuine political momentum
behind the idea that the earliest years
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deserve serious investment
and serious infrastructure.
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In fact, Olivia Bailey,
the current minister for Early years
00;13;08;10 - 00;13;12;17
Education, visited Babies Zone recently
alongside the children's commissioner.
00;13;13;00 - 00;13;16;18
She spent time with families
and spoke to our partners and afterwards
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said something that I think captures
what we're trying to do.
00;13;19;28 - 00;13;22;07
Parents told us they don't want judgment.
00;13;22;07 - 00;13;25;08
They want practical support
that works in real life.
00;13;25;23 - 00;13;29;21
Baby zone is a great example of how warm,
welcoming community
00;13;29;21 - 00;13;34;13
spaces help families connect,
access services and feel supported.
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It reflects the ambition behind the Family
Hubs program, bringing help together
00;13;39;28 - 00;13;43;22
in one place so families
get what they need when they need it.
00;13;44;13 - 00;13;47;05
So it's not just validation,
it's alignment.
00;13;47;05 - 00;13;51;05
What we're seeing in our hubs, in our
data, the stories that families tell us
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is the same thing.
00;13;52;03 - 00;13;54;09
The government is trying to build
nationally.
00;13;54;09 - 00;13;58;02
So this podcast exists
to be part of that conversation,
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to connect
what the evidence says to families,
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experiences and what policymakers
are trying to deliver.
00;14;06;04 - 00;14;07;09
This podcast
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is a new beginning for best beginnings.
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Best Beginnings, the charity that spent
nearly 20 years creating practical,
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evidence based resources for parents
and professionals that support them.
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Their flagship product is Baby Body,
an NHS endorsed app
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that has already supported
more than 170,000 parents with expert
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guidance on pregnancy, birth
and the first years of a child's life.
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Free to download.
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Free from ads accredited
from the Royal Colleges and leading health
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organizations trusted by midwives, health
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visitors and families across the country.
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In March 2025, Baby
Body found a new home within Baby Zone
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and it became part of what we're building
a seamless ecosystem of support
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that connects our physical hubs,
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where families come to learn and connect
face to face with a digital platform
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that's there for parents
at three in the morning
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when the baby won't sleep
and the questions won't stop.
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And it reflects what this podcast
is trying to do.
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Bring together the learning from our hubs,
the research, the digital tools
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and the voices of people that understand
this area best all into one place.
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A place where you can find out
what the science actually
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says,
what real families actually experience,
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and what you can do right now today
to give your child the best possible start
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each week on best Beginnings.
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I'll be speaking to the people
who are thinking most deeply
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about how to give every child
the best possible start.
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Researchers, practitioners, parents
and policymakers.
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Creators. Business leaders.
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People who are changing how we understand
the early years
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and the people who are changing
what we actually do about them.
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You'll hear from the dad, who built
one of the world's biggest play based
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learning platforms from a kitchen cupboard
in London without a science degree,
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from the professor
whose neuroscience research is reshaping
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how we understand infant development,
from the man who has spent decades
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fighting for the early years
workforce to be valued and funded.
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And from the psychologist who studies
what happens in a child's brain
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when they learn to pay attention,
you'll hear from the parents
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who blog about chaos
and the beauty of raising young children
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from speech and language therapists
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who can explain why talking to your baby
matters more than any toy you could buy
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from the chief executives,
who are putting their own money
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and influence behind the argument
that early childhood
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is the best investment
a company or a country can make.
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This isn't a
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podcast that will lecture you
about what you should be doing.
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If you're already a parent,
you're doing more than you think.
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What this podcast will do
is explore together
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what the evidence says works
and what gets in the way.
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And I'll give the science to you
without the jargon,
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the practical, without the prescriptive,
and the honest conversations
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that parents, practitioners
and policymakers aren't having enough.
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Because here's what we've learned from
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over 100,000 visits to a baby's head.
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The early years are a time
when many parents feel unsure,
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they feel overwhelmed,
and sometimes they feel isolated,
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even when things are going well.
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It doesn't always feel easy.
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The conversations don't stop.
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The comparisons are everywhere.
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And the guilt,
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the sense that you should be doing more,
knowing more, being more is relentless.
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When families have the right support
through play,
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through evidence, informed guidance,
through someone
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simply saying what your child is doing
is completely normal.
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Everything changes not just for the child,
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but for the parent, for the whole family.
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That's what Best Beginnings is for.
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So the science is settled
and the economics are clear.
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Those first years
that impact lasts forever.
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With your support, we can make them count.
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I'm George, and this is Best Beginnings,
a podcast brought to you by BBC.
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Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
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And if you know someone that needs to hear
this.
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A new parent,
grandparent, practitioner or teacher
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or someone that works in early years
policy, share it with them.
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Because the more people who understand
what happens in the first
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five years of life,
the closer we get to a world where
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every child has the start they deserve.
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Let's begin.