The health visiting service

Once your midwife has told us that you are expecting a baby, you will receive a letter of congratulations and be offered and be offered a home visit at around 28 weeks of pregnancy. This will be with your named Health Visitor. 

If you already have a child / children you will receive a letter of congratulations and either a phone call or home visit. Otherwise, your first home visit will be to meet you and your baby at the new birth visit. 

During the visit we will ask you about your feelings about the pregnancy, your health and health and development of your unborn baby / babies. This contact will enable us to get to know you and your family, and it is also a chance for you to ask any questions you may have or to discuss any worries and concerns. We will complete a genogram to consider the wider family and support networks. If you or your Midwife thinks you need more support, the Health Visitor will talk about how we can best offer this. 

You may have already decided how to plan to feed your baby, or you may want to discuss it further with your Health Visitor. Responsive feeding enables early relationship building, supporting early brain development, as well as providing the nutrition your baby needs to grow and thrive. 

We know that breastmilk has a unique way of responding to an infant's needs, providing active immunity from micro-organisms. This is increased by mothers and babies keeping in close contact with one another during breastfeeds. 

However you decide to feed your baby, your choice will be respected and you will be supported by trained and caring professionals. We are here to support your choices and can share lots of information on infant feeding. 

There are antenatal feeding groups that you can join. Contact us for more information: 

CYP Community Health Business Centre

Tel: 0345 607 8866

Email: childrenshealth@suffolk.gov.uk

Find out more about Suffolk County Council's virtual antenatal breastfeeding workshops

Go to the First Steps Nutrition Trust's simple guide for Breastmilk and Breastfeeding

Once your baby has been born, we will contact you to arrange your new birth visit. The visit will take place when your baby is around 10 - 14 days old. For babies that need to stay a bit longer in hospital, we will speak to you and do what works best for your family. 

A Health Visitor will come to your home for the new birth visit and meet you and your baby, see how you're getting on and to understand if there is any support you need. Don't worry about the visit or tidy up especially for us! 

We will talk with you about lots of different things including: 

• how you baby is feeding - we offer extra support such as 1-2-1 breastfeeding support, group drop-ins or tailored support to your needs. 
• how your baby is weeing and pooing
• the weight of your baby
• safe sleeping advice including reducing the risk of sudden infant death
• Childhood immunisations
• your book bag from Booksmart
• how you are all feeling - support and advice offered
• suggested links for you to download including baby check app
• Infant massage and other groups held at family hubs in Suffolk
• discussing the GP 6 week appointment for your postnatal check-up and baby examination
• going through the Health Visiting 6 week clinic appointment (this is separate to your GP appointment). This involves your baby's development and reaching milestones, weight, length and head circumference measurement to be recorded in your baby's Public Health Red Book. It may be with a Staff Nurse or Health Visitor. 

We are here for all of your family and babies up to the age of 5 year. We will talk to you all around adjusting to having a baby. We know a new baby can be amazing, but can take some adapting to. We will ask all of you how you found the birth, the physical and emotional recovery from it. We can discuss support services you may want to know about. 

We run regular local clinics that you can book onto if needed by calling the CYP Community Health Business Centre on 0345 607 8866. 

Find details of our breastfeeding support groups and national support helplines from our Infant Feeding webpage. 

The 6 - 8 week review will be in a clinic setting and give you a chance to talk again about some of the things discussed at the new birth visit. 

We will also talk with you about lots of different things including: 

• changes you may see in your baby as they develop or reach milestones
• baby safety - sleep patterns and routines
• discussing immunisations to book with your GP at 8 weeks
• how your baby is feeding - do you need extra support
• is your baby weeing and pooing regularly? 
• weighing your baby, measuring length and head circumference
• keeping a record of this information in your baby's Public Health Red Book
• discussing Infant Massage groups and other offers and providing information to your local family hub. 

Mental health and wellbeing will be explored for you and your partner and we will explore to provide extra support and signpost you to other services including Suffolk Wellbeing, which is an online self referral. 

There are postnatal groups at our family hubs that you can join. Contact us for more information. 

Visit the Facebook page of your local family hub for further details or ask your Health Visitor. 

Call the CYP Community Health Business Centre on 0345 607 8866. 

Visit this Maternity Action webpage for information on continuing to breastfeed when you return to work. 

Visit this Maternity Action webpage for information on breastfeeding while out and about. 

Visit our webpage for Introducing Solids (also known as weaning). 

When your child is between 9 and 15 months old we will send you a text message, email or letter in the post. We will ask you to complete a questionnaire about your child's development. This will help you to think about the stage your child is at and what you can do to help their development. This is called Ages and Stages (ASQ) and will represent the age of your child. 

This appointment is a great opportunity for you to ask questions you may have, as it is carried out by a member of the team, usually a staff nurse or one of the Health Visitors. It is important for us as health professionals in order for us to be able to assess if any further support may be needed to help your child fulfil their full potential. 

When your child is between 24 and 30 months old we will send you a text message, email or letter in the post. We will ask you to complete a questionnaire about your child's development. 

This is called Ages and Stages (ASQ) and will represent the age of your child. You will also receive a Social and Emotional development page. This is an important appointment as it looks at how your baby is developing in many different areas:

• gross motor skills (large body movements)
• fine motor skills (picking up small objects)
• language / communication
• problem solving (playing with lego etc)
• personal and social skills
• nutrition
• dental health
• toilet / potty training
• sleep routines / nursery ready

The appointment is a great opportunity for you to ask questions you may have, as it is carried out by a member of team, usually a Healthy Child Practitioner at a family hub. This appointment is important for us as health professionals to be able to assess if any further support may be needed to help your child fulfil their full potential.