The Princess of Wales was left in stitches by a burping baby, while another clung to her arm as she met mothers to promote the work of “wonderful and valuable” health visitors.
Kate chatted to the group of women, who cradled their babies in their laps, and quizzed them about the support they received at a children and family centre in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
She also met privately with families who needed extra support from health visitors, dancing for one youngster and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for the child.
The princess, who has made promoting the early years development of children a major part of her public work, also met health visitors taking part in a field study that aims to improve the assessment of babies.
During her meeting with the mothers, nine-month-old Talia Saliba-Kerr grabbed the princess’s hand and hung on for a few minutes and, a little later in the conversation, grabbed hold of the royal guest again.
Her mother Mischa Kerr, from Nuneaton, who has three other children, quipped afterwards: “I was very surprised – she tried to eat the princess.
“I think it’s great she came down to see everyone, it’s important everyone knows what resources are available and what health visitors do.”
Kate said “well done you” and everyone laughed when 10-week-old Raphael Pickering gave a large burp.
Brogan Goodwin, from Nuneaton, later joked about what she would tell her son about his social mishap: “I’m going to wait until his 18th birthday and then drop it when he’s really cocky.”
Kate’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has provided a £50,000 grant for the study to trial and evaluate the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB) model, a system the princess saw in practice during a 2022 visit to Denmark that assesses how a baby interacts with its environment.
She told the health visitors she had travelled to Nuneaton: “… not only to hear about this new ADBB programme which I’m really excited about but to say thank you for the amazing job you do and to really celebrate and highlight this critical role.
“It’s such a wonderful and valuable role that you all play to the future of our whole society … ”
Following her trip to Denmark, Kate and her centre for early childhood worked closely with the Institute of Health Visiting to explore the potential for implementing ADBB in the UK, and the trial programme is now being run in partnership with the institute and the University of Oxford.
During the meeting with health visitors, one professional who has just completed her training in ADBB said the course had “blown my mind”.
Kate, who went on a brief walkabout when she first arrived to meet local school children, also praised the innovative project describing it as a “wonderful pathway to supporting parents”.
Under the ADBB model a baby’s eye contact, facial expressions, vocalisation and activity levels are studied to help health professionals and families better understand the ways they express their feelings, and to support parents with bonding.
It can also be used to recognise early signs of psychological distress, enabling specialist support to be accessed as soon as it is needed.
The 10-month-long trial is running through the South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust and the Humber Teaching NHS Foundation.
