You will receive a statutory home visit by your health visitor about 10-14 days after the birth of a baby. He or she will then take over responsibility from the community midwife when she signs off around the 28-day mark. Every family with a child under five has a named health visitor.

In addition to carrying out health and developmental checks, your health visitor can also provide valuable breastfeeding support, put you in touch with local play and support groups, inform you about immunisation programmes and offer guidance on a diverse range of childcare and parenting issues. ‘The Health Visiting Service’, from the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association, describes all the practical ways in which a health visitor can help you take care of yourself and your family. 

Although health visitors tend to play a more prominent and active role in the early years with children, their responsibility is to promote and safeguard health within the family as a whole across the entire age spectrum. They can play a very useful role identifying physical, mental and social problems at an early stage and directing families towards relevant sources of professional help. Health visitors are often the first port of call, for example, for post-natal depression.

You have the option of going to see your health visitor at the local practice or arranging to be visited at home. If you wish to speak directly to your health visitor, call your local health centre, GP surgery or child health clinic. If you have not been assigned a health visitor, contact your local Community Health Visiting Office to discuss the matter.