Your antenatal (pregnancy) contact with a health visitor

Your antenatal contact will usually take place as a face-to-face visit to your home so you can meet your health visitor before the birth of your baby. This usually takes place after week 28 of pregnancy.

At the visit, your health visitor will share lots of information with you about the health and wellbeing of your whole family. This information is all based on evidence and research. We understand that it can be overwhelming and difficult to remember everything. This page is designed to support you with further information and links following this visit.
 

Choosing how to feed your baby can be one of the hardest decisions for anybody expecting a baby. Exploring your own personal feelings around baby feeding, talking to your support network and to professionals such as health visitors and midwives can help you to make an informed decision.

For further information to support your decision, you can visit:

For information on breastfeeding: 

For breastfed babies, and breastfeeding mothers, it is advised to take a supplement of vitamin D. For more information visit:

For information on bottle feeding:

For information on mixed feeding:  

Caring for your baby at night can be one of the most challenging aspects of becoming a new parent. It is normal for babies to wake regularly, and this can be difficult when you are tired and sleep deprived. For advice on caring for your baby at night:

It is also important that all parents and carers understand safe sleep and reducing the risk of cot death. For all sleeps, babies should:

  • Sleep on their backs with their feet to the bottom of their sleep space
  • Sleep in a clear, flat sleep space on a new, firm mattress
  • Not have any equipment, products, pillows or teddies in their sleep space
  • Sleep in a smoke-free environment
  • Sleep for at least the first 6 months in the same room as their parent(s) or carer
  • Not be overdressed or have heavy covers. Babies should not have covers that can come over their head and should not wear hats indoors
  • Be in a room that is not too hot (16-20ºC is ideal).

As an expectant parent it is tempting to look at the many products on the market for your new baby, including items that claim to help with sleep. However, most of these are not needed and some have not been properly safety tested. The Lullaby Trust Product Guide can help you understand what you might need:

The Lullaby Trust website has many useful pages and videos to help you to understand the importance of safe sleep and the website should be able to answer any questions you have related to safe sleep and caring for your baby at night:

Some vaccines, such as the inactivated seasonal flu vaccine and the whooping cough vaccine, are recommended during pregnancy to protect the health of you and your baby. An inactivated vaccine does not contain a live version of the virus. It is protecting against:

Vaccinations are the most effective way to prevent serious, infectious diseases. All babies in the UK are offered routine immunisations to protect you, your child, and the wider community from potentially deadly diseases. To learn more about the vaccination schedule, how they work, their safety and any potential side effects please visit the following pages:

You can discuss your birth plan with your midwife. You can talk about what you would like this experience to be like and who you would like to be your birthing partner.

You have already started to form a relationship with your unborn baby and this relationship will develop further from the moment your baby is born. An important part of this is skin-to-skin time with your baby which can help them relax and become used to the world around them as well as help them to prepare to feed. 

The following might help you to understand the stages, and timescales involved, with skin-to-skin and how you might want to add skin-to-skin time into your birth plan

Stages Time after birth What baby is doing
Birth cry After birth cry Distinctive cry familiar to midwives as baby expands their lungs. ‘I’ve arrived’
Relaxation 2 minutes No mouth movement. Hands and body totally relaxed. ‘Just give me a moment – it’s a bit overwhelming’
Awakening 2-4 minutes Small thrusting movements of head and body. Eyes beginning to open. Some shoulder movement. ‘Mmn smells, feels and sounds familiar’
Activity 4-12 minutes Stable open eyes, rooting, salivating, hand to mouth, hand to breast to mouth, tongue protrusion. ‘I’m in a safe environment to go exploring’’
Rest Frequent Lots of rest periods after activity. ‘I’m really new to this – I need to take things slowly as I’m processing and integrating what I’ve learnt before moving on to the next stage!’
Crawling 18-54 minutes Crawling, sliding, leaping and drawing up knees to push forward. Lots of rooting, searching. ‘Surprising myself and helping my Mum by massaging her womb and get the oxytocin flowing’
Familiarisation 29-62 minutes Important stage – can last 20 mins or more. Licking nipple, touching, massaging breast. Begins to interact with Mum and Dad. Stimulating Mum’s hormones. ‘Please don’t rush me – I need to work this out for myself so I won’t need so much help later’
Suckling 49-90 minutes Self-attaches after working out best approach and begins to feed. ‘I did it all by myself – well perhaps with a little help from Mum!’
Sleeping 90-120 minutes ‘Satisfied, sleepy and safe – life is good so far’                

Every baby is an individual, so don’t worry if they don’t follow the stages exactly! However, uninterrupted skin to skin will support this natural process to occur.

Here is a link to a video showing the crawling stage of skin-to-skin contact:

Babies are born with 100 billion neurons in place, but the connections between them have not been made yet. As parents you can support your baby’s developing brain, through ongoing skin-to-skin, responsiveness and stimulation. Further information can be found at:

Health visitors will regularly ask about yours and your partner’s emotional wellbeing. Having a baby can have a huge impact on your life and relationship as well as your mental wellbeing. Postnatal depression (depression after having a baby) and depression in pregnancy (antenatal depression) is common and affects more than 1 in every 10 women. It can also affect partners too. It is important to get support as soon as possible. For more information visit:

If you feel you are struggling, you can also talk to your GP and referrals to specialists’ services can be considered. In a mental health crisis, you can call Derbyshire Mental Health Helpline and Support Service on 0800 028 0077. Further mental health support including crisis support can be found here:

It is important to remember that a healthy mum supports a healthy pregnancy, but also, that babies and children benefit from having healthy parents for life. Now is a good time to prioritise yours, and your family’s, health. Health visitors can advise and signpost you to further specialised support regarding wider health including:

  • Physical health problems 
  • Diet, exercise, and nutrition
  • Dental health 
  • Stopping smoking
  • Substance misuse 

Live Life Better Derbyshire can offer further support through their website or programmes which you can self-refer to or talk to your GP about:

Did you know that you are entitled to free NHS dental care in pregnancy and for up to 12 months after having a baby? Speak to your midwife for more information.

Keeping your baby and growing child safe from harm is a priority and health visitors can support you to make sure that you have considered safety factors in your home.

For further information about safety topics please visit:

Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors

We are constantly learning from experience and health visitors will discuss with you specific safety topics relevant to your child’s age to help you create the safest environment for your family. It is important to have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors and you may be eligible for a Safe and Well Visit from the local fire service. Visit:

Pets

It is important to keep your baby safe around your pets, particularly dogs. Luckily, most dog bites are preventable with close supervision at all times.  You can also start preparing your dog for the baby’s arrival during pregnancy, for more information please look at the following:

Nappy sacks

At least 18 babies in the UK have already died after suffocating or choking on nappy sacks,. Find out the simple changes you can make to reduce the risk to your baby:

Blind cords

Shockingly around 2 children every year are strangled to death after being tangled in a blind cord. This can happen silently and very quickly. For advice on how to ensure your blinds are safe please visit:

Button batteries

Button batteries can badly hurt or even kill a small child if swallowed. For more information look at:

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have a safe and legal car seat for your baby. The following websites can help you understand the law around car seats and help you to choose the correct one for your child:

The safest baby carrier to use will keep the baby firmly in an upright position where a parent can always see their baby’s face and ensure baby’s airways are free. When wearing a sling/baby carrier, remember the TICKS guidelines:

  • Tight
  • In view at all times
  • Close enough to kiss
  • Keep chin off the chest
  • Supported back

For more information on slings see these links:

After you have had your baby the midwifery team will ask you to watch a video about the importance of protecting your baby’s head and preventing them from being shaken. Here is a short video to explain a little further:

ICON also offer advice and support about coping with a baby crying:

We understand that the cost-of-living crisis and the current financial situation is putting increasing pressures on families. If you need any support with finances including debt issues, benefits, employment concerns or pay and many other topics you can visit:

If, at your visit, you and the health visitor agree that further support is required, they will arrange a further contact. If you do not require further support, your next visit will take place after your baby is born, usually between 10 and 14 days after birth. Health visitors are notified automatically when you have had your baby and will be in touch with you to arrange this visit. Click here if you would like to find out more about this visit:

If you are discharged from hospital and would like support with feeding your baby, our infant feeding practitioners will be in contact with you. If you would like to find out more about this service visit our IFP page.

You do not need to wait for your next visit for advice and support. To find out the different ways that you can contact the health visiting team visit our ‘contact us’ page at: