What is The Healthy Babies, Healthy Children Program?

 

Healthy Babies, Healthy Children is a free program in Ontario for pregnant women and families with children up to the age of 6 years. The program’s goals are to help build healthier families by encouraging children’s best growth, increasing parent’s confidence and helping to connect families to services in their community.

 

In the prenatal period, the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program will assist parents who want support with getting ready for a new baby. In the postpartum period, a Public Health Nurse will call to see how parents and baby are doing and answer any questions that they may have. The Public Health Nurse will also provide a home visit to weigh the baby, offer feeding support, and inform parents about available community resources.

 

Later on, some families may receive supportive home visiting from a Public Health Nurse and a trained, caring Home Visitor. Together they can assist families with learning how to help their children grow up as healthy as possible developmentally, socially, physically and psychologically.

 

In 2004:

Ø      260 pregnant women accessed public health staff for information about having a healthy pregnancy.

Ø      934 families were contacted by a Public Health Nurse after the birth of their babies.

Ø      Public Health Nurses made 1177 visits to families in the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program, and Home Visitors made 1542 visits to these families.