Rotherham's Children's Public Health Nursing Service (0-19)

From your baby being 2 weeks old the Infant Feeding Team provides follow on breastfeeding support within the community for information, advice and social support including:

• Positioning and attachment
• How to respond to your baby’s needs
• Recognising feeding cues 
• Breastfeeding challenges 
• Milk supply and expressing
• Mixed feeding 

Additional information can be found in your red book.

Breastfeeding support groups are run in the community by our breastfeeding support workers and breastfeeding peer support volunteers at:

• Aughton Children’s Centre
• Greasbrough Library
• Grimm & Co
• Rawmarsh Children’s centre

Peer support volunteers are other mums who have breastfed themselves and have received training to offer advice and support.

If you are interested in becoming a peer support volunteer please contact the Infant Feeding Team on 01709 423333.

Our Health Visiting team is made up of Specialist Community Public Health Nurses (also known as Health Visitors), Associate Public Health Nurse (also known as Staff Nurses) and Nursery Nurses. 

Your midwifery team will share information regarding your pregnancy and expected due date with Rotherham Children’s Public Health Nursing Service. This will be in the form of a referral to the health visiting team with your consent. 

The Health Visiting Team will offer everyone visits to check on their child’s development and give parents the information and support they need as their child grows. These visits may include:

• antenatal contact
• new birth visit (before your baby is fourteen days old) 
• 6 to 8 week contact
• 3 to 4 month visit
• 1 year development review (between 9 to 12 months) 
• 2 year development review (between 2 to 2.5 years) 

The Health Visiting Team also support parents by providing advice and guidance on:

• development checks for their child
• information and advice on physical and emotional development 
• advice on establishing good sleep habits
• information on keeping your child safe, reducing the risk of accident and injury
• infant feeding advice and support
• healthy eating, weaning and introduction to solid food advice
• immunisations

Further support may also be provided to those who need it. This may include an antenatal visit as well as working with other services and community practitioners.

Our School Nursing Team is made up of Specialist Public Health Nurses (also known as School Nurses), Associate Public Health Nurses (also known as Staff Nurses) and Support Workers.

The School Nursing Team deliver a service to all children and young people attending a Rotherham school. Support and advice is offered to children, young people and their families to be healthy, stay safe, and achieve their full potential.

Our School Nursing Team also accepts referrals to support families who choose home education and live in the Rotherham area.

Information, support and advice is available to children and young people through health promotions within a school setting on a range of topics such as:

• Abuse and exploitation
• Bereavement
• Bullying
• Emotional health
• Enuresis
• Healthy lifestyles
• Neurodevelopment concerns (via telephone)
• Oral health
• Personal hygiene
• Puberty
• Relationships
• Risky behaviours and issues related to alcohol and drugs
• Sexual health 
• Sleep hygiene
• Smoking and vaping

Height and weight checks for Reception and Year 6 children will be completed in Rotherham primary schools with follow up support where there are concerns about a child’s growth or weight.

Health clinics (also known as drop-in sessions) are run in Rotherham secondary schools where pupils can access information or discuss any issue that is affecting their mental or physical health with a member of the School Nursing Team.

Our health visiting and school nursing team can provide ongoing support to parents, children, young people and families when they need extra support. Some examples include: 

• postnatal depression
• managing challenging behaviour
• specific parenting issues
• children who have a long-term health condition
• CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation)
• families who are being supported by social care / early help services

After discussion and an assessment of your child’s needs, a health practitioner may also refer to other services that may be able to help and support you further.

If there are a number of different services involved with your family, your health visiting or school nursing team will work in partnership with them to help achieve the best possible outcome for your child and the rest of the family.

Parenting during your teenage years can bring its own challenges, so we offer a programme of regular visits for young parents.

This means young parents get the help they need to do the best for their baby at a time in their lives when they may also need support as young adults.

The programme is delivered by a Young Parent Nurse through visits to your home, or they may invite you to a clinic. The Young Parent Nurse will visit at key milestones throughout your child’s development, for example:

• antenatal visits
• new birth visit
• 6 to 8 week visit
• 3 to 4 month visit
• 6 month visit
• 9 to 12 month visit
• 2 year review

If you are aged 19 years old or under (in some circumstances 25 years or under) and are pregnant with your first baby, you will be referred to this service by your midwife or health visitor who will discuss with you whether you would benefit from the programme.

The programme starts in pregnancy and lasts until your child is 2 years old, and covers:

• health
• child development
• relationships
• emotional wellbeing
• everyday health support as a new parent 

You’ll have the opportunity to get to know your Young Parent Nurse which means you will feel more able to ask questions and get the help you need. This may involve seeking support and information from other specialised services.

The Weight, Health and Attitude Management (WHAM) service supports children and young people identified as being above a healthy weight through the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP).

The service is delivered in a friendly, safe, and non-judgemental environment by experienced health professionals, who offer a tailored approach to weight management. They encourage families to work together to make lifestyle changes that will help children achieve and maintain a healthier weight.

WHAM is embedded into the community with health improvement at the heart of what they do.

For more information about the WHAM service, please email rgh-tr.whamrotherham@nhs.net or call 01709 423214.

You can also follow the WHAM Facebook page, where they provide healthy lifestyle advice and support, including signposting to physical activity opportunities across Rotherham. 

Immunisation is a way of protecting against serious infectious diseases. Once we have been immunised, our bodies are able to better fight those diseases if we come into contact with them.

The NHS website offers lots of information about the national vaccination programme for babies, children and young people.

• MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine - NHS
• 4-in-1 pre-school booster overview - NHS

For school age immunisations (school years 7 to 13) please contact IntraHealth by telephone on 03333 583 397 (Option 6) or by email: contactimms@intrahealth.co.uk