Family nurses to keep contact with teenage mums and help them through pregnancy and early parenthood will be established in Nottingham. The City is one of 20 new areas included in a £30 million expansion of the scheme that provides one to one help and advice to the most vulnerable mums and dads announced by Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes.

The teenagers will have regular home visits from their link family nurses who will encourage them to stay healthy, eat well and take proper care of themselves and their babies during their pregnancies to help prevent premature births and give their babies the best possible start.

The family nurses will help the teenage mums and the babies’ fathers prepare for the birth and then help them cope with a new baby and caring for their children until they are two years old. The family nurses will build close, supportive relationships with families and guide inexperienced teenagers to adopt healthier lifestyles, improve their parenting skills and become self-sufficient.

The bid for funding was put in jointly by Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Primary Care Trust and One Nottingham local strategic partnership. The Family Nurses will be working through Sure Start Children’s Centres, in Nottingham linking their work with the services, help and advice that is available through Nottingham’s 16 Children’s Centres. The programme will help all agencies meet their obligations on breastfeeding, obesity prevention, infant mortality and the12-week antenatal assessment. Areas where family nurses are already working have seen more young fathers stay with their partners in the family home and take responsibility for their children.

Councillor Jane Urquhart, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio holder for Children’s Services said:

“We are very pleased that Nottingham’s joint agency bid to join the Family Nurse Partnerships programme has been successful because of the opportunities it brings to focus one to one intensive care and support to those who need it most. It is another opportunity to integrate Health and City Council services, avoid duplication and keep in touch with young mums to prevent them dropping out of the healthcare and children’s services they and their babies desperately need.”

Nottingham City PCT chief executive Andrew Kenworthy added: “This is great news for Nottingham, and I’m proud of the frontline staff from both the PCT and City Council who put together their winning, innovative bid. This funding will help us give really focused health services to young parents and their babies exactly when they are most needed. We will also be linking with other initiatives already in place, such as our contraceptive and sexual health outreach team, to make sure that our services are as accessible as possible.”

The programme aims to

 • provide services tailored to individual needs, risks and choices with a focus on reducing inequalities

• provide greater emphasis on promoting the health and well being of children early, in pregnancy and beginning of life

• encourage partnership working between different agencies on local service development (e.g. general practice and children's centres)

•focus services on changing public health priorities - obesity, breast feeding, social and emotional development.