More than 1,000 babies born in Croydon in 2019 – and in every year – will be born into poverty.

And 500 babies will suffer from at least four adverse and traumatic childhood experiences the time they are 18.

Many babies will  also face severe trauma in the crucial first 1,000 days of their lives, which will have a huge impact on their development.

The most damaging of these so-called ‘adverse childhood experiences’ are emotional and sexual abuse, being neglected by their parents, parental substance abuse and even homelessness.

When they grow up, these babies will be statistically more likely to get into trouble at school, end up in the criminal justice system and to get a sexually transmitted infection (SI).

As Croydon Council was presented with a new report on the subject, we spoke to its director for Public Health about it.

Rachel Flowers explains how ‘adverse childhood experiences’ will have the biggest impact on children from conception until they are two years old.

When asked what she found most surprising in the research, Ms Flowers said it was the fact that even the health of a baby’s grandmother (mother’s mother) can have an impact on their health.

The quality of a girl’s eggs in her ovaries can also be affected by her own mother’s health.

What is an adverse childhood experience (ACE)?

Ms Flowers says an adverse childhood experience can be anything from growing up in a crowded house to experiencing a trauma.

She said people who have experienced an ACE are statistically more likely to get a sexually transmitted infection or enter the criminal justice system.

These can affect children across all incomes but is children growing up in poverty are more likely to experience a higher number.

“We hear anecdotally what happens to people throughout their lives but it is a lot more complicated than that,” said Ms Flowers.

“If a child is in constant stress all the time it becomes toxic, the child can become hard wired into anxiety and a state of flight or fight.

“This is why it is important to be aware of the impacts of ACEs.”

Rachel Flowers

The report shows that ACEs can include maternal depression, abuse, neglect, divorce, domestic violence and homelessness.

More widely health is affected by poverty, discrimination and poor housing.

But she added that there are many people who have had these experiences who are fine as adults.

Things that can make the effects of ACEs better include having an adult who listens and being part of a community.

What is the impact of poverty in Croydon?

In 2015, nearly a fifth of the borough’s children lived in poverty.

This means that more than a 1,000 babies born each year may be touched by the effects of poverty in their early years.

Girls born in more affluent areas of Croydon are expected to live six years more than their peers in other areas and for boys, the difference is more than nine years.

In March 2018 there were 864 Croydon children or expected children living in temporary accommodation.

And data from 2016 shows that 7% of babies born in the borough had a low birth weight which was more common in deprived areas.

This is related to children with worse health up to 11-years-old and means they are twice as   likely to have development problems or need specialist support in school.

What happens now?

Off the back of the report which was published at the end of last month, 1,000 frontline staff, including health visitors and midwives, will be given training on adverse childhood experiences.

Also Ms Flowers said there will be more support for people living in the borough around sexual health as well as general health for people who are planning on having children.

The report estimates that 1,500 children are born each year in Croydon to a mother with an existing health condition.

“We want people who are thinking about having children to get prepared – The way that we work here is about having the community at the centre of this,” she said.

“It is important to talk about the things which are ACE – It is a difficult conversation to have and understand where [parents] can be supported.

“A lot of these things don’t need council or NHS support it could be out in the community or between mates.

“Within Croydon we’ve been looking around ACE for a while – What I learned was people take time to get comfortable with quite a difficult subject.”

She adds that to break the cycle of poorer outcomes social and economic factors like poor housing and deprived neighbourhoods  need to be addressed.

The report ends with: “What a child experiences in the first two years can be passed on to their own children which can trap some families and communities in a cycle of poorer outcomes. This is wrong.”

The independent report is a requirement of the director of public health each year and this is the third Ms Flowers has put together.

She worked on the report for more than six months with the help of her team.