About our health visiting service in Enfield

If you live in the Borough of Enfield, our health visiting service is here to support you and your child as they begin to grow. Our health visiting teams work with mothers and fathers and their families to promote the health and wellbeing of children from pregnancy until their 5th birthday. 

Health visitors are nurses or midwives who have undertaken additional training in community public health nursing. Other members of the team include community staff nurses, early years’ practitioner (nursery nurses) and health visiting assistants. We also work closely with children’s centres, children’s services and other healthcare professionals as well as your general practitioner (GP).

In Enfield there are four health visiting teams: Bowes, Highlands, Forest Green, Moorfields. They are based geographically, and so depending on where you live, will decide which health visiting team will be supporting you and your family.

What do we do

Our role is to assess your health needs in partnership with you. We will plan and provide services which support you and your wider family as required. We can offer you and your family support before your baby arrives, in the early weeks following birth and as your child grows. We will work alongside you and your family with any parenting issues and guide you to find local services and groups that can also support you as a parent

The following contacts are offered to all families routinely as part of the national healthy child programme (DoH 2009):

  • During your pregnancy at 28-32 weeks 
  • Between 10-14 day after baby’s birth
  • Six-eight weeks after your baby's birth
  • When your child is between 8-12 months. This will be a developmental review by a member of the health visiting team.
  • When your child is between 2-2.5 years. This will be a developmental review by a member of the health visiting team.

Healthy child clinics

You can attend any well healthy child clinic in the borough – they are held in community spaces such as Children’s Centre and local libraries. Please remember to bring your red book.

Clinic dates

Healthy Child Clinic

ADDRESS

DAY

TIME (Drop In)

Carterhatch Children’s Centre

Carterhatch Children’s Centre, Autumn Close, Enfield EN1 4JY

Friday

9:30am – 11:30am

Christ Church Hall

Christ Church United Reformed Church, Chase Side, Enfield EN2 6NJ

Wednesday

9:30am - 12pm

Eldon Children’s Centre

Children's Centre, St Peter's Road, N9 8JP. 

Monday

1.15 pm – 3.15pm

Ponders End Youth Centre

Ponders End Youth Centre, 129 South Street, EN3 5PA 

 

 Tuesday   Drop in from 09:30 am - 11:30 am 

 

Bowes Road Clinic

Bowes Road Clinic, 269 Bowes Road, N11 1BD 

 

Thursday

Drop in from 9:30am – 11:30am

Southgate Library

Southgate Library ,High Street, Southgate, London, N14 6BP

Tuesday

9:30am – 11:30am

Ridge Avenue Library

Ridge Avenue Library, Ridge Avenue, London N21 2RH

Monday

9:30am - 12:00pm

Craig Park Family Hub

2 Lawrence Road (Baxter Road), Edmonton, N18 2HN 

Wednesday

Drop in from 09:30 am- 11:30 am

 

 
 

You can also contact your health visiting team any time if you wish to discuss or obtain information relating to:

  • your health – before and after the birth of your baby
  • your baby/child's health
  • your family's health
  • Emotional wellbeing and postnatal depression
  • and all the usual things that you might want help and advice on with a new baby, including feeding, sleeping, crying, minor ailments, and when to see a doctor.

All health visiting team can be contacted via the single point of access on the following phone number: 0203 988 7300

Antenatal

Your health visiting antenatal contact is your first introduction to the support, advice and services you can access from the Health Visiting team. You can find more information about a healthy pregnancy on the NHS Start4life website.

In pregnancy and the early years of life your baby’s brain is growing very quickly and there are many things you can do to help them to grow and make them feel safe and secure. Please see The Baby Friendly Initiative Guide to Building a Happy Baby.

Emotional wellbeing and perinatal mental illness

Up to 1 in 5 women develop mental health problems during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth (RCOG, 2017). Health Visitors are ideally placed to support mothers during this transition. Through delivery of their universal service, they can provide anticipatory guidance, assess for risk and signs of mental health problems, manage mild to moderate perinatal mental illness and refer on to more specialist care. You can also talk to your GP or midwife.

 Perinatal mental illness (PMI) encompasses a range of mental health conditions that can affect women during the perinatal period. While depression and anxiety disorders are the most common perinatal mental illnesses, other conditions exist including eating disorders, drug and alcohol use disorders, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder and severe mental illness such as psychosis, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Postnatal depression is a type of depression that many parents experience after having a baby. It can also affect fathers and partners. It’s important to seek help as soon as possible if you think you might be depressed, as your symptoms could last months or get worse and have a significant impact on you, your baby and your family. With the right support, which can include self-help strategies and therapy, a full recovery can be achieved. 

Read more on the NHS website

Crying babies

Infant crying is normal and it will stop! Babies start to cry more frequently from around 2 weeks of age. Babies cry for many reasons.

They are hardwired to cry whenever they need a parent to help them out because their brains have yet to develop the circuits that allow for self-control or understanding. Crying is meant to be upsetting for a parent, that is Nature’s way of making sure they pay attention fairly promptly.

A cry might signal many things, discomfort and startle are common examples. Sometimes, though babies cry for no reason at all and sometimes they cry and just cannot be settled. The latter may be upsetting for both baby and parent, but it causes no harm and will eventually cease. After about 5 months the experts say that crying becomes more ‘purposeful’. That means after 5 months of age, your baby is more likely to be crying for a reason

It’s okay to walk away if you have checked the baby is safe and the crying is getting to you. After a few minutes when you are feeling cal , go back and check on your baby.

Never, ever shake or hurt a baby. It can cause long lasting brain damage and death

For more information about why babies, comfort techniques and how to cope click on the following link: https://iconcope.org/parentsadvice/

Cry-sis - Support for families with excessively crying, sleepless and demanding babies 

Infant feeding

All of our staff are committed to supporting parents with feeding and caring for their babies.

Breast feeding or first infant formula is recommended for the first 6 months. https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/baby/feeding-your-baby/breastfeeding/

https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/baby-friendly-resources/breastfeeding-resources/off-to-the-best-start/

We are currently running breast feeding support Cafes in collaboration with our maternity services. Find out more in the tab below. 

  • Haringey Breastfeeding Drop-in group
    Tuesdays 11.00-13.00
    T on the Green Café, Bruce Castle Park, Lordship Lane , Haringey N17
    Run by midwife / peer supporter. Partners / family / friend welcome
     
  • Enfield Breastfeeding drop in group

    Dugdale Centre, 39 London Road EN2 6DS : Wednesdays 1:00pm to 3:00pm :  Run by midwife/health visitor.

    Salvation Army 399 Fore Street N9 0NU : Monday 12:30pm to 2:30pm :  Run by the ABC Breast Feeding Group,

    Ponders End Youth and Family Hub EN3 5PA  Health Child Clinic :  Tuesday 9:30am to 11:30am Peer Support Breast Feeding,

For more information contact : Adele 07929 744 696 or Jane 07816 364 361

You can also contact your health visitor for further support on 020 3988 7300 and select option for your health visiting team.

For more support with complex breast feeding issues please ask your health visitor for a referral for 1-1 support.

Out of hours support:

National Breastfeeding Helpline: 0300 100 0212 (09:30am to 09:30pm)

NCT Helpline 0300 330 0700 (8am-midnight)

La Leche League GB Helpline 0345 120 2918 (8am-11pm)

Useful links

Introduction to solid food

Introducing solid foods to your baby can be an exciting but also daunting time. Your health visiting team is available to help you with advice and discuss any concerns you may have. 

For health reasons, we recommend that babies are fed solely on breastmilk or infant formula for the first six months.

Here are some helpful resources to support you and your baby with introduction to solid foods:

Your baby's growth

After the first two weeks, your baby should be weighed:

  • no more than once a month up to 6 months of age
  • no more than once every 2 months from 6 to 12 months of age
  • no more than once every 3 months over the age of 1

Your baby will only be usually weighed more often than this if there are concerns about their health or growth.

For more information about your baby’s growth visit the NHS website.

Immunisations

The child immunisation programme for your baby and child on the NHS website explains what immunisations your baby/child needs, and when they need it.