27th September 2016
The New Birth Visit is a significant core element of the Healthy Child Programme which has been supported by research evidence. The visit takes place between 10-14days post-delivery and it is performed by the health visitor, which means that the midwife and the health visitor have the opportunity to work in partnership to assess health needs and provide advice to parents in order to facilitate smooth transition to parenthood.
This visit should be done by the health visitor, research findings show that health visitors have adequate knowledge, skills and professional values/attitude based on the nature and scope of their training (Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) programme). The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) sets the standard of education and competencies to be achieved before registration. Health visitors have a wide range of experience in child development, health promotion and safeguarding of children and families. They are very passionate, confident and competent in influencing and empowering families to ensure every child has a positive and best start in life.
My organisation provides health visiting service to a diverse community with cultural and communication barriers, and the population is very mobile due to different social and economic factors – so the health visitors have to be dynamic and adaptable to meet various clients’ needs.
The New Birth Visit is very crucial as the assessment is very comprehensive; starting with the development of therapeutic relationships and using appropriate tools to ensure information is collated to capture key areas such as child developmental needs, environmental factors and parenting capacity. We work in partnership with parents/carers to make decisions based on the analysis of the outcome of assessment. The level of service provision could be/Universal/ Universal Plus / Universal Partnership Plus depending on their circunstances.
A mother once said to me:
“Thank you, I can take my baby to children centre, I’m learning English Language and making new friends.”
Ekaete George, Senior Practice Teacher-Health Visiting, Guys & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Ekaete George, Senior Practice Teacher-Health Visiting, Guys & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
