Health Visiting and Children’s Centres

Your child can enjoy the best possible start in life

East Sussex HealthcareNHS Trust

eastsussex.gov.uk/hvandcc

The Health Visiting and Children’s Centre team can support you and your family from pregnancy until your child is 5

Your child will be offered five development health reviews

The teams are made up of health professionals and children’s centre workers and offer a range of support, either one-to-one or in groups, at a Health Visiting and Children’s Centre building or in your own home.

You can expect to be contacted by the health visiting team to be offered five developmental health reviews from pregnancy to 27 months. This is called the Healthy Child Programme. They will talk with you about your own health as well as your child’s health and wellbeing. If you need a little extra help they can get you the right support at the right time. It is important that you are available for the reviews offered to you.

From pregnancy to 27 months

1 Antenatal VisitYour health visitor will meet with you and your partner between 28-36 weeks of pregnancy and talk with you about preparation for your baby’s birth and becoming a parent. They will include information about the Healthy Child programme.

2 New birth review Your health visitor will carry out a new baby review with you and your partner within two weeks of the birth. It’s an ideal time to find out more about how to keep your baby safe and healthy with advice on sleep, feeding, crying, colic, establishing a routine and any other concerns.

3 6 - 8 weeksYou will be invited by your health visitor to discuss your baby’s immunisation programme and also to talk about your emotional wellbeing since the birth of your baby and how to feel confident in caring for your baby.

4 9 months - 1 yearYou will be offered a review looking at language and learning, home safety, diet, dental health and behaviour. It’s another opportunity for you and your partner to discuss your baby’s development and any concerns you may have.

5 At 2 - 21/2 yearsThe final part of the universal programme will be a 2-2½ year review by your health visitor. This will also include your child’s nursery if they’re attending one so that they can both understand your child’s needs more fully. The review will cover general development, including; speech, behaviour, hearing and vision, encouraging good sleeping habits, going to the dentist, vaccinations and keeping your child safe.

Our team is here to help...

Extra support from your Health Visiting teamYour Health Visiting team are able to support families when they need extra help, including long term support to help with more complex issues. Heath Visitors will identify health problems and areas where parents may be struggling so that the best person in the team can provide early support. This might be a Community Nursery Nurse, an Early Communication Support Worker or a Children’s Centre Keyworker.

When your child reaches school age you can get support from the School Health Service. Ask your Health Visitor for details.

Community Nursery NursesCommunity Nursery Nurses work directly with families in the home or in a group work setting. They provide the 12 month review for all babies and can help with a range of issues that many parents face such as behaviour management, sleep routines, breastfeeding, exercise and nutrition and home safety.

Children’s Centre KeyworkersA Children’s Centre Keyworker can help families with children under five to overcome difficulties and make positive changes. A family can find themselves under strain for many reasons. A Children’s Centre Keyworker will listen, help you to identify difficulties and provide practical support and advice on a range of issues.

Early Communication Support WorkersWhilst all babies and children develop at different times, our Early Communication Support Workers can help you have a better understanding of how you can support your child’s communication, speech and language development. They work closely with the Speech and Language team to ensure that you are offered the right help at the right time if you need it.

Early Years PractitionersTo enable you to attend courses and activities offered to you our Early Years Practitioners provide crèches for your child. The sessions are a safe environment for your child to play and explore, and for them to interact with others. The Early Years Practitioners will share crèche stories at the end of the last session and can offer home learning and play ideas.

Struggling with breastfeeding or got the baby blues?

What else is on offer?

Child Health ClinicsDrop in to a local child health clinic run by our health visiting team for support and advice on a range of general health issues, including breastfeeding, healthy eating and post-natal depression.

Breastfeeding supportEast Sussex Breastfeeding Peer supporters are mums who have breastfed and have been trained as volunteers to offer breastfeeding support to other mums, both before

and after they give birth. For more information about breastfeeding or if you are interested in training as a volunteer then please speak to your midwife or health visitor or ask for details at your local children’s centre.

Fun activities for you and your childChildren’s Centre Volunteers run a variety of groups for babies and young children under five, such as messy play and music groups. Going to a group is an ideal opportunity for parents to meet other mums and dads, and for your baby to enjoy playing and socialising with other babies and young children.

Learn new skills

Train as a volunteerIf you would like to become a valued volunteer in our children’s centre community talk to our volunteer coordinators. We have an accredited volunteer course and a range of roles. Gain further skills, training and confidence as a move towards employment. Drop in to your local centre and pick up a volunteer pack now.

Develop your skillsWe offer family learning courses as well. Come along to these to gain new skills and support your children’s learning. We have courses where families can learn together.

All our courses are positive, fun and free – we’re fully funded by the Skills Funding Agency.

Keeping you and your family safe - How we use your informationWe understand that family life can sometimes be hard and there may be times when parents need the support of others. As professionals working with children and families we have a duty to safeguard and protect the welfare of every child. So, if we have any concerns about you and/or your children we will talk to you about these, offer support and tell you what the next steps will be.

Information you give us about you and/or your family will always be stored securely on NHS and ESCC databases and will only be kept for as long as we need it or in line with our current retention policy. To ensure your family receive the right support we sometimes need to talk to and share some information about you and your family with other professionals. We may also ask them to share information with us. This helps us understand what support you and your

family may need. By professionals, we mean other services that may have been involved with your family, or may provide advice and support in the future.

Sometimes we also share or ask for information to help improve our services. Information shared internally to improve our service would be anonymised. Any personal details you provide, such as your name, address and NHS number can only be accessed by staff who need it in order to carry out their role (for instance to arrange for a home visit or book you onto a course). Only authorised staff can access these details after completing training on the proper use of your data and confidentiality.

For more information about your data and how we use it, please visit: eastsussex.gov.uk/privacy/hvandcc

For more information please visit the following website, or speak to a member of the Health Visiting and Children’s Centre service: eastsussex.gov.uk/hvandcc

To find out more drop in to your local

centre today, visit

eastsussex.gov.uk/hvandcc

or like us on Facebook

2017-18 272