Support For All: Getting Advice

Leeds Maternity Care Antenatal care isn’t just about your health—it’s also about helping you build a strong bond with your baby before they’re even born. During pregnancy, you’ll get support to understand your baby’s needs, connect emotionally, and start forming a loving relationship that sets the foundation for their development and well-being.

Preparation for Birth and Beyond Groups. Group sessions run by the 0–19 Public Health Nursing Service, alongside Children’s Centres and Midwives. You can join in person at a local Children’s Centre or online. The sessions help you learn how your baby’s brain develops. You’ll learn about the importance of looking at your baby, cuddling, talking, and being close. These help build a strong, healthy bond right from the start.

Baby Steps is a group for families who may need a bit of extra support. It helps parents and carers build their confidence in supporting their child’s communication. Ask about Baby Steps at your local Children’s Centre.

Baby Bubble Leeds is a closed Facebook support group for mums to be that begins at around 16 to 20 weeks pregnant and is there for you up to six months after your baby is born.

Infant Mental Health Service Having a baby, toddler, or pre-school child can be a special and joyous time, but we know that for many people it can also be a challenging time. We support parents and carers in tackling these challenges and developing ways to strengthen the unique relationship between you and your baby or child. Having a close relationship with your baby helps them to get off to the best possible start in life and grow up feeling safe and secure and able to explore their world as curious and confident children.

HENRY is an 8-week group aimed at families with children under 5 years old who live in Leeds. Each week will help you develop a healthy, happy and supportive home for your whole family.

Public Health Nursing  offers comprehensive support for families from pregnancy through to adolescence. This service, encompassing health visiting and school nursing, provides guidance on child development, health, and wellbeing at various stages.

Key Services Include:

• Antenatal Support: Expectant mothers receive a Personal Child Health Record (‘red book’) detailing available support and useful information before the baby’s birth.
• Postnatal Visits: Shortly after birth, health visitors conduct home visits to discuss feeding, safe sleeping, and baby care, while also reviewing the baby’s development and addressing parental wellbeing.
• Developmental Reviews: Scheduled assessments at 6–10 weeks, 8–12 months, and 2–2½ years to monitor the child’s growth and development, typically conducted at home or community settings.
• School-Age Health Checks: At ages 4–5 and 10–11, children undergo height, weight, and vision screenings in school, with results communicated to parents.
• Additional Support: Assistance with breastfeeding, bedwetting, emotional challenges, oral health, bereavement, and bullying is available. Families can also access advice on behaviour, sleep, and toilet training through daily telephone consultations.

Hearing Checks

Your baby will have a new-born hearing assessment at birth. It is important to identify a problem hearing early in life so that the condition can be managed as well as possible. ICAN Audiology Service will arrange a follow up assessment if the assessment was not carried out at birth.

Speech and Language Therapy Service

We’ve put together some helpful tips to get you started with supporting your child’s speech, language, and communication needs. These ideas are easy to try at home and can make a real difference in your child’s progress and confidence.

Visit the Supporting You While You Wait page and pick the section that best matches your child’s needs and

• My Child Communicates in Different Ways
• Get Going with Speech Sounds
• Speech Sound Awareness Activities
• Get Going with Language
• Early Language Activities