Brown looks to win votes of mothers
Offers package which encourages men to be more involved in the upbringing of their children
London : Fathers-to-be will be invited to meet health visitors with their pregnant partners under plans by Gordon Brown to woo the women's vote.
Men should be more involved in the upbringing of their children, the prime minister said as he stepped up the battle to win the support of so-called "mainstream mums" in the general election.
But Brown was forced to deny "patronising" female voters with largely rehashed policy pledges.
The package has been drawn up to respond to a Conservative focus on measures to support marriage and stable families.
"I hope that in no way does this seem patronising at all," the prime minister said.
"It is an attempt to show we are concerned about modern families and how we can improve the quality of life and the choices that are available to mothers and fathers."
Labour's maternity and early years plan includes a promise of hospital beds to ensure both parents can be near their baby if they end up in a neonatal unit.
Although in some parts of the country both parents are invited to meetings with health visitors, this is patchy, a government report said.
‘Family start' meeting
It pledges that in future all mothers and fathers will be invited to a "family start" meeting with a health visitor between 12 and 26 weeks of pregnancy.
There they will discuss where they can find support and talk about good nutrition.
The mother and father will be encouraged to develop a "parents plan" to help them "prepare with confidence" for the arrival of their child.
Critics, however, will seize on the proposal as an extension of the "nanny state".
Health visitors have already been told to ask new mothers when they will return to work. Tuesday's document also repeats a pledge — first made three years ago — that all mothers should be able to choose where they have their baby.
Last year the National Childbirth Trust said 95 per cent of women did not have a choice. Now the government says it plans to make it a legal entitlement — meaning parents might be able to sue hospitals.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls has already announced parents will be able to ask councils to find them free childcare for three- and four-year-olds for 15 hours a week from September, spread over 38 weeks.
On Tuesday he added that this would be made more flexible and spread throughout the whole year.
