Advice and resources : The Healthy Child Programme

Overview

The Healthy Child Programme is a national programme offering every family an evidence-based intervention programme consists of screening, immunisation information, support and advice.

Health visiting contacts

Our health visiting teams continue to provide the Healthy Child Programme through video calls, face-to-face appointments, or appointment-only clinics.

If you move into the area, we may offer your family a contact with our team if you meet certain criteria.

We offer the following contact:

Antenatal contact

This first contact will be either a face-to-face group session or access to an online presentation, depending on where you live.

In some cases, you may meet your health visitor at home before your baby is born. This will be arranged by your midwife and health visitor if needed.

We will contact you in good time to offer an appointment, a place at a group session, or access to the online presentation.

During this contact, we will talk about:

• Your health and wellbeing
• Feeding your baby
• Becoming a parent
• Keeping your baby safe, including safe sleeping
• How you can support your baby's early development

You can also visit our antenatal page for information, advice, and support to help you prepare for your baby's arrival.

• Antenatal advice

New birth contact (Day 10-14 after your baby is born)

Your health visitor will offer advice and support during the early days of your baby's life. They will check how you and your baby are doing, help with feeding, make sure your baby is gaining weight well, and talk about safe sleeping and keeping your baby safe at home and when out and about.

We will also talk about building a close bond with your baby, responding to your baby's needs, and the childhood vaccination schedule so you have the information you need to make informed choices.

It is normal to have lots of questions at this stage. Your health visitor will tailor the visit to meet your family's needs and help you feel supported and reassured.

You may find it helpful to write down any questions before the visit so you can remember to ask them.

6-8-week postnatal contact

Our contact between 6-8 weeks is normally held in a clinic setting, but sometimes it may take place at home.

During the appointment, we will check your baby's health and development. We will make sure your baby is feeding well and gaining weight as expected. If you have any concerns, we will offer advice and support.

We will also talk about how you are feeling and discuss your mental health after having a baby, including signs of postnatal depression.

We can tell you about local support groups, activities, and services that may help you and your baby. This can be a great way to meet other families and get involved in your local community.

9-12-month developmental review

During this contact, we will check your child's growth, development, and vaccination status.

We will send you an appointment date and a development questionnaire to complete. Please keep it safe and take some time to look through it. Complete the questionnaire as close to your appointment as possible, as children develop very quickly at this age.

We will talk about keeping your child safe at home and when out and about, especially as they become more mobile. We will also discuss healthy eating and looking after your child's teeth.

You may have questions about sleep, daily routines, starting solid foods, or returning to work. This appointment is a good opportunity to ask these questions and talk through any concerns you may have.

2-2½ year developmental review

This is an important stage in your child's development. It is a good time to think about getting ready for nursery, preschool, or school. Some children may start to show difficulties with behaviour, speech, language, or other areas of development at this age.

During the developmental review, we will talk about how your child is growing and developing, and whether they are meeting expected milestones.

We will send you an appointment date and a development questionnaire to complete. Please keep it safe and take some time to read through it. Complete the questionnaire as close to your appointment as possible so it reflects your child's current development.

If we identify any concerns, we can help you access the right support. This may include planning next steps, making referrals, or directing you to local services. Early support can help make the move into nursery or school as smooth as possible.

School Nursing information

We measure the height and weight of children in reception and year 6 as part of the National Childhood Measurement Programme (NCMP). After the screenings and measurements are completed, you will receive a copy of the results. If your child’s measurements fall outside of the healthy weight range, you will be sent a letter to your home address with further advice and information.

We check the hearing of children in reception (hearing screening) at schools in Bracknell and West Berkshire. Children in Reading and Wokingham schools will not routinely be screened, but this will be offered if concerns are raised about hearing in the health questionnaire

We check the sight of children in reception (vision screening) at schools in Bracknell. For children at schools in Wokingham, Reading and West Berkshire, this check is done by orthoptist teams from the Royal Berkshire Hospital

We review all completed health questionnaires from parents/carers for all children in reception

We provide confidential health advice and support to children and young people of school-age and their families on a range of health-related topics, including:

• Long term medical conditions such as asthma, epilepsy and acute allergy
• Bed wetting (enuresis) which includes advice on toilet training and the use of nappies, drinking patterns, bed wetting alarms and medical therapies.
• Behavioural or emotional difficulties 

We work with other health services to get children and young people with non-complex needs or disabilities the specialist services they need

We offer support and advice to families regardless of the child’s age on weight management and healthy lifestyles.

We work closely with children and young people who have been identified as needing to be safeguarded or “looked after” by the local authority

We keep school staff up to date on common medical conditions such as asthma and epilepsy

Where needed, we can refer a child or young person to other services such as GP’s, speech and language therapy, audiology, Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) dieticians, talking therapies, paediatricians (through their GP), children’s social care and voluntary services.

We play an active role in keeping children safe in accordance with the government policy “Working Together to Safeguard Children (March 2015).