A £350,000 cash injection will see 100 young first-time mums in Bury helped to give their babies the very best start in life.

From October, mums aged 20 and younger will be supported from early pregnancy until their child’s second birthday by a team of specially-trained nurses.

The nurses will visit parents at home to advise on relationships, wellbeing, confidence, interacting with their child, future aspirations, smoking during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) initiative aims to prepare young people for parenthood’s challenges to ensure their baby has the best start in life and will achieve his or her potential.

NHS England’s Greater Manchester Team has provided the funding to Bury Community Services, part of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.

The nursing team will be integrated with Bury Community Services’ existing child and family teams, and work closely with Bury Council’s children’s services.

Wendy Thompson, Pennine Care’s senior manager for Children and Health Improvement in Bury, said: “Evidence shows that providing the right emotional and practical support early on can improve the health and social outcomes for young parents and ensure a solid foundation for their baby’s future development.

“Successful delivery of the programme will rely on the team working in an integrated way with other health and social care professionals.

"I look forward to this real opportunity to improve the health and wellbeing of future gen-erations.”

Lesley Jones, director of public health for Bury, said: “Providing babies with the best possible start in life is the most important thing we can do to secure a positive future as children grow up and become adults.”

Following the launch, young mums who are eligible will be informed of the programme by their GP or midwife as part of their early ante-natal care. Enrolment is voluntary.

Dr Raj Patel, medical director for Greater Manchester, added: “Investment in services for pregnancy and in the first years of life has been shown to transform the life chances of children.”

For more information: go to fnp.nhs.uk