Penelope Leach is a research psychologist and one of the world's leading experts in child development. Her bestselling books on child development for parents include the renowned Your Baby and Child and The Essential First Year. She is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Visiting Professor at Winchester University and a Senior Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London and at the Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust. She is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and has been Vice President of the Health Visitors' Association, President and Chair of the Child Development Society and President of the National Childminding Association.