0 – 4 Years (Health Visiting Service)

Health Visiting Service (0-4 Years)

Our Health Visiting service is for all families in Wiltshire with children under 5 years old who are not yet in school. We provide advice and support to families about how they can lead healthy lifestyles and develop nurturing relationships with each other so that all children have the best start in life.

Early experiences, even before birth, greatly affect lifelong health and wellbeing. The Health Visiting service provides parents and carers with advice, information and support to care for their children and their own emotional well-being.

The service also provides some additional support such as:

The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) programme – a programme for first-time mums and dads aged 19 or under who live in Wiltshire. For more information click here
The Baby Steps Programme – this is a perinatal group programme for soon-to-be mums and dads that helps them to prepare for parenthood. For more information click here

Work with Tiny Happy People

Tiny Happy People is an ambitious and exciting new initiative from BBC Education.

To view the poster click here and for more information click here

Download our new Growing Well Wiltshire app!

Our new family-focused app gives lots of information and advice about your child’s development, as well as resources to manage your family’s health and wellbeing.

Healthy Child Drop In's

Healthy Child Drop-Ins: Come along to our regular drop-ins to talk to one of our team who can discuss any questions or concerns you may have. Click here to access our timetable.

Join the conversation via our social media channels

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I access the Health Visiting service?

We help all families in Wiltshire with children under 5 years old who are not yet in school. We will automatically know about your family if you have a baby or move into the area, and we will contact you to book an appointment.

You can also get in touch with the service directly to access advice or information about you or your child’s health and wellbeing. You can do this by calling our Single Point of Access (SPA) on 0300 247 0200 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm excluding Bank Holidays), choosing option 1 and asking to speak to our duty Health Visiting team. You can also find out more about the service and contact us through our Growing Well Wiltshire App.

When will I be seen?

All families living in Wiltshire will have a minimum of five contacts with the Health Visiting service:

During pregnancy, between 28 and 36 weeks.
A home visit when your baby is 10 to 14 days old.
When your baby is 6 to 8 weeks old.
Before your baby turns 1 (usually between 9 and 11 months).
When your child is 2 years old (usually between 27 and 30 months).

Some families may also have additional planned appointments with the Health Visiting service to support meeting their family’s individual needs.

If you move into Wiltshire at any point during pregnancy or the first 5 years of your child’s life, you will automatically be contacted by the service.

Who might my child and I see?

Our service is made up of a team of qualified nurses and practitioners who are specialists in early childhood development. You might see different people depending on your family’s individual needs or depending on the age of your child.

Our team consists of:

Health Visitors: Health Visitors are qualified nurses or midwives with special training to support families with young children. They work closely with midwives, GPs and other children’s service professionals to provide advice and support about your child’s development as well as your wider family’s health and wellbeing.
Public Health Staff Nurses: Public Health Staff Nurses are qualified nurses or midwives who work alongside the Health Visitors. You will see them for some of your routine appointments.
Child and Family Wellbeing Practitioners: Child and Family Wellbeing Practitioners have a qualification in Early Years. They work with Health Visitors and Public Health Staff Nurses to give advice and support on behaviour, sleep, toileting, play, and development. They may also conduct your child’s 2 year review.