Health 0 to 5

Support for newborn babies and families

After a child has been born your GP and National Health Service: Midwifery (opens new window) service will be your key contacts initially, you can read more about the journey up till birth on the National Health Service: Pregnancy (opens new window) pages.

In Wiltshire you can also be supported by the Health Visiting service who will help ensure the best start in life for your child.

Section 23 and Early Years Pathway Navigators 

There is a legal duty under Section 23 of the Children and Families Act 2014 for health professionals to notify the local authority of any child under 5, who they consider may need extra arrangements made for them in order to successfully access education, and has, or is likely to have a special educational need or disability.  

Early Years Pathway Navigators will contact health professional and parents/carers to gather information around the child to gain a holistic understanding of the child's needs. This will help them work together to plan for services and provide provision to meet the needs of the child, and to improve services for families. 

Health Visiting

The Health Visiting service provides advice and support to all families with a pre-school child in Wiltshire (0 to 5 years).

The Health Visiting Service is a team of qualified professionals who can offer support to families from pregnancy to school age with any health-related issues. These can be related to family emotional well-being; infant feeding advice; adjusting to parenthood; child development; speech and language or just general evidence-based advice and support to give your child the best start in life.

They deliver the Healthy Child Programme where they offer contacts at 5 key points:

• antenatal period
• new birth visit
• 6 to 8 weeks
• 9 to 11 months
• 27 to 30 months

They see families both at home and in local community venues.

Families are welcome to attend their Healthy Child Drop-ins which run across Wiltshire and all the information is on our website.

They can be contacted from Monday to Friday for telephone advice and support between the hours of 9am and 5pm on 0300 247 0090.

Information on a variety of topics can be found on our website:

To find out more or to find out how to refer, visit HCRG Care Group: Health Visiting (0 – 4 Years) (opens new window).

Who to talk to about accessing health services

For information about patient advice and liaison services visit: Advice and support accessing health services