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Support from your health visitor after birth

The Kent Health Visiting Service supports families with a new baby or child under five-years-old by offering advice and guidance.

You will normally be discharged from midwifery care around 10 to 14 days after your baby’s birth and your local Health Visiting Team will arrange to visit you at this point.

We offer another visit around six to eight weeks to see how you and baby are doing.

As your child grows and develops, we offer a range of support including two development assessments, one at around one year and another at around two years old. This assessment looks at your child’s physical and social development and can support you and your child. You can find out about the visits we offer in the Health Visiting Services for you section. 

There are 12 Health Visiting Teams in Kent. You can phone your local team for advice or reassurance Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (except bank holidays). We really want to hear from you if you need our help or are feeling worried about anything. For medical concerns about your baby/child or yourself please call 111, GP or if urgent attend A&E. 

Each team has a mixed team of practitioners with:

  • health visitors who are registered nurses or midwives and have a specialised qualification in public health and the care and development of preschool children
  • community public health nurses who are registered nurses
  • senior public health assistant who have a qualification in child care, learning and development
  • public health assistants who have a qualification in childcare and education.

Useful resources

Find out more about the support from the Kent Health Visiting Service in our online leaflet or by visiting the Health Visiting Services for you section. 

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