0-19 Services
Health visitors are registered nurses or midwives with a specialist qualification in public health. They work with families who have children between the ages of 0-5.
Lewisham's health visitors are based across five hubs in the community: Downham Health and Leisure Centre, Honor Oak Health Centre, Sydenham Green Health Centre, Bellingham Children’s Centre and Lee Health Centre.
Lewisham Health Visitors see families that live in the Lewisham borough. The Greenwich health visiting service is run by Bromley Healthcare and they see families that live in the Greenwich borough.
About us
As a health visiting service, we provide support to families with children from birth until five. As part of the Healthy Child programme, our first contact to all families is around 28- 30 weeks to offer an online antenatal contact, followed by a home new birth visit between seven and 14 days following the birth of their baby.
There are four subsequent universal contacts with all families, which may be provided by our skill mix health visiting team; a clinic contact at 6-8 weeks, an online health promotion contact at 4-6 months, a universal child health development review at 7–11 months and another at 2–2 ½ years. If families require extra support, they can be supported with a more intensive targeted service or be offered our Maternal early childhood sustained home visiting service (MECSH).
Our service runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. We run community child health clinics in children’s centres, health and leisure centres and GP practices across the borough. At these clinics, we weigh under-fives and provide advice and support for families on all aspects of healthy living and parenting. Additional groups include breast feeding hubs and domestic violence ‘Freedom’ programme groups.
Safeguarding children is one of the most important aspects of our role. At times, some families may require additional support and services and our aim is to ensure families receive the right support at the right time to protect children from any harm.
The Lewisham Health Visiting service is pending Stage 3 UNICEF Baby Friendly accreditation for breastfeeding. The UNICEF Baby Friendly Standards aim to improve the information, support and encouragement provided to promote, protect and support breastfeeding and appropriate introduction to solid foods. This means that midwives, health visitors and other health professionals receive high quality baby friendly training to support breastfeeding mothers effectively. For more information on the UNICEF Baby Friendly initiative please see: www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly.
Six key stages
There are six key stages in your child’s development when you will be contacted by your health visitor:
-
Before your baby is born (when you are around 30 weeks’ pregnant)
-
New birth visit – between days seven and 14
-
Six to eight week contact
-
4-6 months - virtual health promotion and weaning
-
Seven to 11 month developmental review
-
Two to two and a half years developmental review
Each health visiting team runs a child health clinic, which you can attend with your under five for advice, support and weighing. You do not need to make an appointment to attend the child health clinics, which are held in a variety of venues including GP practices and children’s centres.
Speech and language development
Children develop communication skills from birth, and the way you talk and play with your baby can make a real difference to how they develop and learn. Children begin to understand words before they can say them. They then learn how to say these words and put them together to make sentences. It’s important to remember that children develop speech, language and communication skills at different rates.
If you are concerned about your child’s speech and language skills, contact your health visitor.
Below are links to factsheets from the Talking Point website, which contain lots of useful information about children’s speech and language development at different ages.
Toilet training
Most parents start thinking about potty training when their child is between two and two and a half, but there’s no perfect time. ERIC (The Enuresis Resource and Information Centre) has devised a leaflet to help you recognise when your child is ready for toilet training and how to make a success of it.
Lewisham health clinics
|
Days and times |
Clinic location |
Address |
|
Tuesdays, 9.30am–11.45am |
Sydenham Green Health Centre |
26 Holmshaw Close, London, SE26 4TH |
|
Tuesdays, 9.30am–11.30am |
Lee Health Centre |
2 Handen Road, Lee, SE12 8NP |
|
Tuesdays, 1pm–3pm |
Honor Oak Health Centre |
20 Turnham Road, Brockley, SE4 2LA |
|
Wednesday 9.30am – 11.30am |
Downderry Children’s Centre |
Shroffold Rd, Bromley BR1 5PD |
|
Thursdays, 9.30am–11.15am |
Bellingham Children’s Centre |
109a Randlesdown Road, SE6 3HB |
|
Fridays, 10am–12.30pm |
Clyde Nursery School |
Alverton St, London SE8 5NH |
Please note from 6 March 2024, the clinic that is currently at the Downham Health and Leisure Centre will be changing to every Wednesday, 9.30am–11.30am, at Downderry Children’s Centre (Shroffold Rd, Bromley, BR1 5PD).
Children's centres / family Hubs
You can access a range of information and support at your local children’s centre. For timetables and locations, see the links below:
Contact the service
To contact Lewisham's health visitor team, call 020 3049 1873. To contact the Greenwich health visitor team, visit the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust website.