Growing Healthy 0-19 Wakefield

The Growing Healthy Wakefield 0-19 Children’s Service provides health visiting and school nursing support – working with children, young people and their families to ensure that children have the best start in life and are able to fulfil their potential.

The service comprises varied public health practitioner’s working across the 0-19 service.

Healthy Child Programme (HCP)

The Healthy Child Programme (HCP) is a public health programme for children, young people and families which focuses on early intervention and prevention. The HCP offers a programme of screening tests, immunisations, developmental reviews, information and guidance to support parenting and healthy lifestyle choices.

The Healthy Child Programme contacts include:

• Antenatal contact
• New birth visit at 10-14 days
• Contact at 6-8 weeks
• Contact at 3-4 months
• A child health review/development assessment by one year of age
• A child health review/development assessment by two and a half years of age
• A child health review/development assessment may be offered between 3-5 years

Some common areas of information and support:

• Pregnancy and transition into parenthood
• Infant feeding/ specialist breast feeding support
• Growth and nutrition
• Healthy eating
• Dental health
• Development
• Behaviour
• Accident prevention
• Safe sleeping
• Speech and language development
• Common childhood illness/infection
• Safeguarding
• Postnatal depression and emotional wellbeing
• Parenting

Our service is delivered in partnership with a range of health, social and education organisations and teams including:

• CAMHS
• Early Help
• Early Years Education providers
• GPs/paediatricians
• School nurses
• Wakefield Families Together
• Voluntary sector
• Sexual Health Services
• Turning Point

The Family Nurse Partnership programme (FNP) is an intensive home visiting programme for first-time young mums and families, working with them to:

• Have a healthy pregnancy.
• Improve their child’s health, development and readiness to learn at school
• Reach their goals and aspirations.

Parent and Infant Relationship Team (PAIR)

Wakefield’s Parent and Infant Relationship Team (PAIR) will work with families at any point throughout pregnancy and until your baby is 2 years old.

When parents and carers can tune-in and respond to their babies’ needs sensitively, in an appropriate and timely way, it lays the foundations for lifelong mental and physical health and helps them to:

• Grow up feeling safe, secure and ready to play, explore and learn.
• Have skills to understand and manage their emotions and behaviour.
• Feel confident in themselves and develop trusting relationships with others.

However, not all parents and carers find this easy. Lots of things can affect how you feel about your baby and yourself as a parent, and this can get in the way of developing a positive relationship with your baby.

The PAIR Team can help you with difficult feelings that may be impacting on your relationship or connection with your baby by offering advice, 1:1 support or group interventions.

The Pair team consists of a Parent and Infant Psychotherapist, Specialist Health Visitors, Staff nurse and Family Peer supporters.

School Nursing

We provide a service to all children and young people of school age, and their families, whether they are attending school or not. We offer advice and information and assess health needs on children entering school and on transfer to secondary schools. We are the first point of contact for schools when there are concerns about a child’s health and wellbeing.

We are also responsible for:

• Measuring and weighing children in reception and year 6 as part of the National Child Measurement Programme
• Universal screening for vision and audiology for reception children
• Providing first level enuresis (involuntary urination) advice and support
• Providing emotional health and wellbeing support
• Supporting children and families with additional health needs or disability
• Parenting and behavioural problems
• Risk taking behaviour including drugs and alcohol
• Stop smoking and vaping support
• Relationships, sexual health and pregnancy
• Promoting healthy lifestyles in schools and communities through health education

Specialist advice and support will also be offered to:

Children in need of protection and their families; children and families in need; foster carers and children who are in care.

The team comprises specialist community public health nurses (School Nurse), community staff nurses , Public Health Practitioner, school screeners and health administrators.

We work closely with Health Visitors so that children and families with complex health and social care needs are identified early. We support the development and implementation of health management plans to promote the child’s health and wellbeing, school attendance, education and attainment.

Service Manager – Claire Abell

Perinatal Mental Health

Having a baby can be really overwhelming especially if your pregnancy has been hard, or your delivery traumatic. Your Health Visitor is on hand to support you through this difficult time, even if your baby is well. Our service is here for you as parents, as we understand that if you’re supported, happy and healthy, then its likely your baby will be too.

Our team is available Monday-Friday, 9-5pm on 0300 373 0944

We can arrange to visit you as frequently as needed to help you feel emotionally well again, or we can get you in touch with services that can offer specialist help (such as the Parent and Infant Relationship Team, Turning Point, The Perinatal mental Health Team, or Well Women’s Centre).

If you’re experiencing low level or mild/moderate anxiety or low mood then Emotional Wellbeing Visits might be an option for you. These can be delivered by your Health Visitor in your home. These will be done in partnership with you at your pace.

Emotional Wellbeing Visits

If you have low level emotional health problems your Health Visitor or Staff Nurse may recommend Emotional Wellbeing Visits.

These are a series of 6 visits, all lasting around 1hr that take place in your home or at a venue you feel comfy with.

The practitioner will give you the time and opportunity to explore your current emotional wellbeing, talk through your worries or consider what triggers anxious thoughts for you. You will be given time to think through what helps to boost your mood, ease anxiety feelings and you will be given suggestions to move you back to a state of wellness.

Practitioners will offer strategies to reduce emotional distress and help you move away from unhelpful thinking. Our lifestyle choices and the time we dedicate to self-care is usually very low after having a baby. This is why Emotional wellbeing visits will spend time considering how simple changes will make a big difference; because the way we look after ourselves directly impacts our mental health.

Speak to your Health visitor if you think Emotional Wellbeing Visits might be useful for you.

Help and support

In crisis:

Click the button below for the Wakefield (SWYT)

Visit Website

In Wakefield 24/7 open access to our mental health services:

Adults (aged 18+) Crisis Team– 01924 316900

Women 18+ Perinatal Mental Health Team – 01924 316009

Children and Young People (CAMHS) – 01977 735865

People with a learning disability – 01977 465435

There is now a 24 hour mental health helpline for anyone registered with a GP in Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. The service can offer help to carers, those suffering with poor mental health, and help you get the care to help you recover.

Call 0800 183 0558

Contact your GP, Health visitor via the SPOC or Midwife on the numbers below:

0-19 Single Point of Contact – 0300 373 0944

West Wakefield Community Midwives – 01924 543424

East Wakefield Community Midwives – 01977 747432

Turning Point Talking Therapies:

Turning Point provides free Talking Therapies to support people to develop the skills and personal resources needed to navigate challenges. Qualified therapists talk with you about what you are facing and what coping strategies could be useful in managing stress and negative thoughts or building resilience.

Turning point offer specific sessions and interventions specifically for women and men who are in the perinatal or post natal period. This is because we know how unique this time is, and therefore essential you get help to meet your personal needs. There is a specialist arm of Turning Point who focus on the Perinatal time and this means that your referral will be prioritised.

You can self refer by contacting them on their website, calling into one of the community shops, or call them on 01924 234 860. They’re also on Facebook, X and Instagram. Or access their service via your Health Visitor, GP or by their website below.

Visit Website

Well Womens’ Centre: For women, By women

Well Womens are a charity based in Wakefield providing mental health, emotional and practical support in a women only space. Supporting women of 16 and above at premises in the centre of Wakefield and outreach, they provide a holistic, non-medical approach to help improve women’s mental health and wellbeing.

Follow the link for more information

Visit Website

Peri-natal Mental Health (PNMH) Team:

Your Health visitor, GP or Community Midwife may recommend referring you here. The PNMH team offers specialist assessment, diagnosis and treatment of women affected by moderate to severe mental health problems during and after pregnancy.

They offer specialist advice about the use of mental health medications during pregnancy and whilst breastfeeding.

They also offer pre-conception advice for women planning a pregnancy who have concerns about their mental health and specialist treatments that can help you and your baby bond. They will work together with you, your family and other services involved in your care.

They will agree an individualised plan of care for you during your pregnancy and in the postnatal period. They also run antenatal and postnatal therapy groups in all our local areas.

Follow the link below to find out more

Location

The team is community-based and deliver services in a range of community settings including the family home, family & youth hubs, schools and other community venues. The service works in partnership with other agencies to ensure all families receive right support by the most appropriate service to meet their requirements.

Contacting our team

If you need to contact the team please use the Single Point of Contact telephone number: 0300 373 0944

We’ve got a local Growing Healthy Wakefield 0-19 page on Facebook & you can follow us on twitter

You can also find information about our service, your Childs’s development, family health and wellbeing and local services by downloading our App.

Opening hours

The 0-19 Service can be contacted Monday-Friday 9am-5pm excluding bank holidays.

Referral

We accept referrals from a range of sources including children and young people, parents/carers, schools, other health professionals, GPs and partner agencies.

Useful links

The 0-19 Service is delivered in partnership with a range of health, social, education and voluntary care organisations and teams such as

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