Children's health
It is normal to worry about the health of your child as they grow up. As well as making sure your children have their vaccinations, there are also other things to consider such as making sure they have gained the skills to be ready to go to school and have developed a strong bond with you as a parent.
Services and advice for children and young people
The core needs of all children and young people have; they include screening, preventative and treatment health services provided by GPs, midwives, and health visitors, educational provision such as Early Years, Sure Start Children’s Centre’s and public schools. We call this Children’s Universal Health Services.
There are some specific services for particular groups of children, which we group as Children’s Targeted Health Services. This includes obesity management, some special needs educational support, some Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), parenting support and hospital health services.
Children’s Specialist Health Services are for children and young people with specialist, acute, complex or very high level needs. They might include: continuing care services for children with complex needs and life-limiting conditions where care might be provided jointly by family doctors, community nursing teams, hospital care and local authority partners (social care and education).
Child health, vaccinations, and preventing accidents.
Childhood obesity is on the rise. It is important to make sure your child is a healthy weight and knows how to eat a healthy balanced diet – children who are healthy tend to be fitter, better able to learn and more self-confident. They are also less likely to have low self-esteem and / or be bullied by others.
Vaccinations
There are a number of vaccinations that your child should be given at different ages which are provided free by the NHS. You will be reminded by your GP / health visitor when it is time for your child to be vaccinated as you will need to provide your consent.
You can find a list of the vaccinations your child should be given here.
Childhood winter illnesses
Many children experience common illnesses like coughs and colds. They are all part of growing up. The information in this leaflet will help you decide when you can treat your child at home or when to seek further medical advice. Treating your child’s illness yourself or with NHS online advice and medicines from your local pharmacy can often be the easiest and quickest way to help your child get better.
This booklet gives you lots of advice. Childhood winter illnesses - knowing what to do
Family Centres in Hertfordshire
The family centre service can help before your baby's born, right through to when they want to play and get messy.
Anyone can come along, whether you're coping fine or having a struggle - for more information visit The Family Centre here.
You don't have to pop in to a centre – check out our parent's survival kit with info and advice you can trust.