Introduction
Family life and bringing up children are rewarding but can also be challenging. It has been widely recognised that your child’s early years are really important and will influence their development and future achievements.
Health Visitors are nurses or midwives who are passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing illness. They work with pregnant women through to a child’s fifth birthday. Their role is to help families adjust to being new parents, and provide information and reassurance to support a baby or young child’s health, wellbeing and development.
Health visiting is a free service and each family will have a named Health Visitor but might sometimes be seen by someone else in the team. Health Visitors may link with other professionals and provide additional support where families need more help.
How Health Visitors can help
Health visitors can help and support you to make healthy choices for yourself and your family. Health Visitors are based locally and visit families at home or through a clinic.
The Health Visitor will use something called the Personal Child Health Record or Red Book. The Red Book is given to parents at birth and offers lots of information about immunisation, developmental assessments and lots of general information about children’s health. Any health professional who comes into contact with a child can record things in the Red Book.
Other things they can help with
- infant feeding and breastfeeding advice
- child development
- immunisations
- healthy weight and physical activity
- emotional health and wellbeing
- parenting and local support groups
- behaviour
- sleep
They can also signpost to guidance on
- safeguarding children
- access to education and employment
- smoking, drug and alcohol misuse
- access to housing
- sexual and contraceptive advice
SEND information - part of our Local Offer
Autism and ADHD Pathway Assessments
The pre-assessment pathway documents for Autism and ADHD can be found here. These documents have been developed in collaboration with education, health and care colleagues as well as parent carers, children and young people. They have been developed to support education settings, practitioners, and parent carers so that everyone better understands the pre-assessment pathway.
Contact the team
ChatHealth – confidential help and advice for parents and carers of under 5s. A safe and easy way to contact your Health Visiting team. Send a text on 07480 635 514.
West Somerset and Taunton
- Taunton, Minehead, Williton and Wellington 0300 323 0115
- tauntonandwestHV@somerset.gov.uk
Sedgemoor
- Bridgwater 0300 323 0116
- Highbridge and Axbridge 0300 790 6836
- DutyBridgwaterHealthVisitor@somerset.gov.uk
Mendip
- Glastonbury, Street ad Wells 0300 790 6836
- Shepton Mallet, Frome and Coleford 0300 323 0118
- sheptonmallethealthvisitors@somerset.gov.uk
South Somerset
- Yeovil 0300 323 0119
- Crewkerne, Chard and Ilminster 0300 790 6839
- South Petherton and Langport 0300 790 6838
- Wincanton 0300 323 0118
- yeovilhealthvisitor@somerset.gov.uk
SEND information - part of our Local Offer
Local Offer Live: introducing health visitors and school nurses
Rachael from Public Health Nursing shares information about health visitors and school nurses in Somerset – the different health and wellbeing reviews and contacts you can expect. They also cover their involvement in the Multi-Agency Identification and Support in the Early Years (MAISEY), continence and constipation pathway and national child measurement programme.