You will be contacted by your Health Visiting team between 28-32 weeks pregnant inviting you to sign up for our Preparing to welcome your new baby. These group sessions will help you to feel more prepared for the arrival of you baby.

The contact includes:

• The role of the health visitor and services we offer
• Bonding and building a loving relationship with your baby
• Caring for your baby
• Safer sleep
• Feeding your baby

This visit will be at home, we will visit between 10-14 days following the birth of your baby and will give us a chance to talk about your delivery and how the family are adapting. The Health Visitor will also discuss contact plans going forward and what to expect

During this contact, you will be able to discuss:

• Feeding your baby
• Health of your baby including baby behaviour and interaction
• Safe sleep
• Safety
• Physical, emotional wellbeing and support
• Your family and home environment

When your baby is between 6-8 weeks, you will have an appointment with your GP. In addition, you will also have a contact either with the Health Visitor or Community Staff Nurse who will have a further chat about how your experience as a parent is going, as well as any support you may require between now and the 10-12 month review. This contact may be a face to face visit,  or a clinic appointment.

During this contact, you will be able to discuss:

• Feeding
• Development
• Crying
• Safe sleep
• Safety
• Vaccinations
• Oral health
• Emotional health and wellbeing
• Bonding with your baby

Health reviews are a time for you to see how your child is progressing (children are all different and will develop at different rates for all sorts of reasons). These reviews may be carried out by a Health Visitor, Community Staff Nurse or Community Nursery Nurse.

Before the health review you will be sent two Ages and Stages questionnaires to help you record all of your child’s achievements and they will also give you chance to voice any concerns that you may have about your child. Please bring the completed questionnaires and your child’s personal child health record (Red Book) with you to the appointment.

This contact will be face to face either at home or in a clinic setting or a virtual contact and will give you the opportunity to discuss:

• Your child’s development including speech and behaviour
• Diet
• Sleep
• Accident prevention
• Immunisations
• Play
• Your own emotional health and wellbeing
• During this contact your child will also be weighed and measured.

Health reviews are a time for you to see how your child is progressing (children are all different and will develop at different rates for all sorts of reasons). These reviews may be carried out by a Health Visitor, Community Staff Nurse or Community Nursery Nurse.

You will be contacted by our admin hub when your child is between 2 years and 2 and a half years old. Before the health review you will be sent two Ages and Stages questionnaires to help you record all of your child’s achievements and they will also give you chance to voice any concerns that you may have about your child. These questionnaires help to form part of the discussion at the review. Please bring the completed questionnaires and your child’s personal child health record (Red Book) with you to the appointment.

This contact will be provided face to face either in the home or in a clinic setting or a virtual contact and will give you the opportunity to discuss:

• Your child’s development, speech, behaviour and toilet training
• Your child’s health, including diet, vaccinations and oral health
• Early years education
• Family environment and safety in the home
• Emotional health and wellbeing
• During this contact your child will be weighed and measured.

Your health visiting team can provide additional support when needed.  You can self-refer for support with:

• Parenting / adjusting to parenthood
• mental health and wellbeing
• Infant feeding / breastfeeding
• Introducing solid food and feeding issues
• Healthy eating / healthy weight
• Home safety
• Behaviour and sleep management
• Toilet training
• Child not developing as expected
• Complex health needs / disability
• Getting ready for school

We will work with you to devise an individual plan of support based on your needs.  This may be needed when a child or parent has a disability or complex health needs, or because the Early Help Hub or Children’s Services are providing support to help you.