Support from your health visitor
Video courtesy of the Bradford District Care Trust Vimeo channel
Support from your health visitor
The Health Visiting team provides a range of services to support you on your parenting journey, from getting ready to be parents and giving birth, to your child’s toddler years and starting school.
Health visitors along with school nurses, are trained specialist community public health nurses (SCPHN) who are qualified nurses or midwives that have done further training at an advanced level.
The team has knowledge and skills in a wide range of areas including feeding and nutrition, parent infant relationships, mental health and child development. They can provide a range of support to help you with, for example infant feeding, behaviour or sleep. They work with a range of different people like your GP, the midwife or other health and social care professionals.
We also have community nursery nurses that work with our health visitors to support you on your child’s development, including behaviour management, sleep, weaning and toileting. The nursery nurse is often the person that contacts you to complete your scheduled visits.
How do I get a health visitor?
All new parents will automatically be contacted by their health visitor, so you don’t need to worry about setting this up. You can meet your health visitor wherever is best for you – at home, at your local doctor, your community or children’s centre. You can tell us what suits you at our first meeting before you give birth.
When will the heath visitor contact me?
They will usually visit you and your baby at six key stages from 0-5 years, just to check you and your baby are healthy and developing well. This is usually:
- offering an appointment before your baby is born
- after your baby is born
- when your baby is around 6-8 weeks
- when your baby is 3-4 months
- when your baby is 9-12 months
- when your child is 2-2 ½ years
When your child is school age, health reviews and any further support needs are provided by the school nursing team.
Remember it’s important to know that if you’re worried about something in-between visits, you can always contact your health visitor to get extra support, you do not need to wait.
Important - We usually visit between 8.30am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. If you need help outside these hours, you should contact the local service that usually provides out-of-hours support like your pharmacy, or for more urgent queries, 111.
To find out more about your Health Visitor, please visit the ‘Health visiting’ page of the Better Lives, Healthy Futures website. You will also find lots of information around caring for a baby or child there, including guidance on mental health, feeding, healthy diets and more.