Healthy Beginnings

The Healthy Beginnings Program provides support and services to all families with newborns, infants and young children from birth to five years of age.

The goal of this program is to offer support at various stages to assist infants and young children in achieving a healthy start in childhood.

Services provided through the Healthy Beginnings Program are voluntary, free of charge and confidential.  

The program begins with the birth of your baby. A Community Health Nurse will contact you within a few days of your hospital discharge to see how you and your baby are doing and offer support. Home visits are provided based on your needs in adjusting to parenthood and caring for a newborn.

You can receive information and support about:

• Feeding your baby, including breastfeeding which provides the healthiest nutrition for your baby
• Staying physically and emotionally healthy
• Encouraging your baby’s growth and development and the importance of early learning and child development
• Keeping your baby safe through immunization, car seat safety, providing a smoke-free environment, ensuring a safe sleeping environment and following tips for preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Resources 

“You and Your New Baby” Kit  is a provincial postnatal resource package that is available to families of newborns. This package contains a variety of resource materials to support families in promoting healthy child development.

“Your Developing Baby” / “Your Developing Child” is a series of nine pamphlets printed by the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development Health that focus on child development at a variety of stages from three months up to five years.

Partnerships

Labrador-Grenfell Health has many partners within the community (e.g. Family Resource Centers) that increase awareness of and provide support around topics such as infant feeding, childcare and early child development.

For more information, please contact the Community Health Office nearest you.