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The iHV continues to follow the advice and reports of the UK Government in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This webpage is to support health visitors and shares some relevant links to COVID-19 guidance to help you with your practice .

For parents and families – please see our Parenting and the COVID-19 pandemic webpage – https://iHV.org.uk/ParentingCOVID19

For historical COVID-19 documents/links – please see our COVID-19 historical information webpage

This page is being regularly reviewed and updated.

General GOV.UK / NHS/ OHID /DfE Guidance


GOV.UK Coronavirus (COVID-19): what you need to do

Contains all the latest COVID-19 updates from UK Government.


NHS


PHE Guidance


DHSC

The government has announced the start of a major new national antibody testing programme, with plans to provide antibody tests to NHS and care staff in England from the end of May. This guidance gives information on the programme. An accompanying infographic shows the differences between coronavirus tests.


NICE


Social Care Institute for Excellence

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) quick guide is for practitioners working to safeguard children and families during the COVID-19 outbreak, including social workers and those working in social care settings.


Department for Education

Guidance for health visiting practice


NHS


UNICEF Guidance Sheets

Delivering Baby Friendly services during the current coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak can be very difficult. However, babies, their mothers and families deserve the very best care we can provide. These guidance sheets are intended to support health professionals to provide care remotely. These include:

  • 1. Planning a virtual conversation
  • 2. Antenatal conversations
  • 3. Postnatal conversations
  • 4. Supporting parents with a baby on the neonatal unit

The collection also include a selection of sheets on supporting parents to overcome challenges

  • 5a. Engorgement and mastitis
  • 5b. Sore, cracked and bleeding nipples
  • 5c. Concerns about milk supply
  • 5d. Concerns about weight
  • 5e. Baby sleepy/not interested in feeding
  • 5f. Tongue-tie


Coronavirus (COVID-19), pregnancy and women's health

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is committed to supporting the delivery of high quality women’s healthcare in the context of COVID-19.


The Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists

FSRH is a faculty of the Royal College of the Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. It was established on 26 March 1993 as the Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care. Their specialist committees of SRH doctors and nurses work together to produce high quality training programmes, specialist conferences and events, clinical guidance and other SRH learning resources.

COVID-19 training for practitioners

Get psychological first aid (PFA) training and help people with different needs to cope with the emotional impact of COVID-19.

Infant feeding


Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative - Infant feeding during the COVID-19 pandemic

A Unicef quick reference guide for health professionals on supporting mothers to maximise the amount of breastmilk they are able to give or to re-lactate if they have stopped breastfeeding and wish to re-start.


Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Practitioner health and wellbeing

As Specialist Community Public Health Nurses, we are all focused on the care, health and wellbeing of the families that we are working with and may forget ourselves. The wellbeing of practitioners is essential to enable provision of safe and effective care. The following links provide useful resources to support you.


Royal College of Psychiatrists

Many people will be experiencing anxiety about their health and safety during this time. This page provides information about COVID-19 and how to manage your mental health during the pandemic.


NHS Our People


NHS Horizons

Do you have a role in workforce, occupational health, organisational development, leadership, trade union support or other area that is supporting the wellbeing of our NHS people during and following the COVID-19 response?

You are very welcome to join NHS England and Improvement’s weekly virtual sessions! 

If you’re not able to attend the live session, don’t worry: the session will be recorded, and available on the page on the link below after the event (to view recordings and slides from previous sessions, please scroll down the page). You can also follow on Twitter using the hashtag #Caring4NHSPeople.


Action for Happiness

Keep Calm! Stay wise! Be kind!

Daily actions to look after ourselves and each other as we face this global crisis together.

Our monthly calendars are packed with actions you can take to help create a happier and kinder world. Click a calendar to download – you can find other language versions there too!

Other


Barnardo's COVID-19 Support Hub


The International Marce Society

Evidence-based mental health guidance and resources for clinicians and researchers by category: Academic articles; Resources for clinicians; Resources for your patients.


NSPCC - Child Mental Health

Mental health is as important to a child’s safety and wellbeing as their physical health. It can impact on all aspects of their life, including their educational attainment, relationships and physical wellbeing. Mental health can also change over time, to varying degrees of seriousness, and for different reasons.


National Bereavement Care Pathway for pregnancy and baby loss

A pathway to improve the bereavement care parents in England receive after pregnancy or baby loss.


Childhood Bereavement Network

This includes a section on Supporting grieving children and families during the outbreak.


Sands - Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Charity

Health care professionals can have a positive influence on how parents and families experience their care even if their baby dies. Parents often replay every detail of what happened around their baby’s death and in the following weeks.

To support bereavement care during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sands has added a new resource on sensitive and effective communication to their website. Good communication can’t take away the pain parents and families feel when a baby dies but it can reduce the impact of trauma.

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