Media & Speaking

Are we as parents failing to support the later wellbeing of our children, by our lack of nurturing knowledge and by placing infants into childcare before their emotional self is formed?

As I found out, the answer to this question is not straight forward. It's complex, nuanced and doesn’t allow us to continue to fit ‘neatly’ into the boxes modern life loves to put around us. It requires us to take a fundamentally new approach to how and why we make the caring arrangements we do for our infants – a topic and a subject matter we had previously thought was of little consequence. Indeed, what I have found is that it has big long-term consequences that we ought not ignore.

 

I first encountered research during my undergraduate studies that I simply could not ignore; the evidence was compelling. After discovering how profoundly our mental wellbeing is shaped by the way we are nurtured in infancy, I undertook a PhD research project exploring how we can best support infants to flourish.

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This exploration took me on a cross-disciplinary journey through psychological and infant neuroscientific research, and then—using an ethical lens—into the question of why we have accepted our current child-caring practices.

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I am available to speak on each of the topics below:

Nurturing Infants

• The nurturing fundamentals that have been missing from the public dialogue.

• The positives—what we are doing far better than in the past.

• The concern that nearly 50% of parents do not provide some key nurturing fundamentals, leading to insecure attachment and the many negative consequences that follow, including relationship difficulties, poor mental health, physical problems, and deviant behaviours.

• What science tells us about the roles of mothers, fathers, and early childcare—information that is rarely in the public domain yet is essential when making caring arrangements for infants.

• How attachment theory can help us understand our own tendencies, and how this understanding can guide us in delivering the nurturing infants need.

• Loving and flourishing together as families.

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The Elephant in the Room – If Not Childcare, What?

• We can ignore the science and avoid disrupting the status quo, but—just as ignoring climate science carries major consequences—so does disregarding evidence about the outcomes for infants. What is the ultimate cost to them? What is the cost to society?

• Why we have accepted childcare as the norm, with insights from liberalism, capitalism, and feminism.

• How an ethical approach, informed by current science, can help us determine the best path forward for families and infants.

• Possible alternatives, developed by consulting women, men, and communities.

• Encouraging governments and society to prioritise the long-term wellbeing of persons.

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Women, Motherhood, and Paid Work

• A deep exploration of the obstacles to motherhood and maternal work.

• What the history of liberalism, women, feminism, and motherhood reveals about status, respect, and societal expectations.

• The barriers to maternal work and their consequences for women.

• What women need to both parent well and find fulfilment in maternal roles.

• Parenting, family, ethics, and community.

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General Wellbeing

• Investigating the science of wellbeing through the lens of attachment theory.

• What the evidence tells us about building a strong foundation in the first two years of life.

• The barriers to wellbeing.

• What we can do to develop resilience and flourish.

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Speaking Enquiries

If you would like to enquire about having me as a speaker, panellist, or media commentator for your program or event, please reach out using the contact form below. Please include the name and date of your event, the topics you would like me to address, and any other relevant details (e.g., other speakers).