National Healthy Start Scheme
Healthy Start is a national scheme to improve the health of low-income pregnant people and families with children under 4 on benefits and tax credits. The Healthy Start Scheme provides vitamins and a prepaid card. The current uptake for Birmingham is 68% in 2024.
Are you eligible for the National Healthy scheme?
If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. You can use your card to buy cow’s milk, plain, fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, and tinned pulses and infant formula. The money will be added onto the card every 4 weeks.
You’ll get:
- £4.25 each week of your pregnancy (from the 10th week of your pregnancy)
- £8.50 each week for children from birth to 1 year old
- 4.25 each week for children between 1 and 4 years old
Your money will stop after your child’s 4th Birthday, or if you no longer receive benefits
If you are pregnant or have children under the age of 4 you could qualify if you are on benefits or under 18 and pregnant. Applying for Healthy Start is really easy. For more information and to see who qualifies, check out http://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/
Alternatively speak to your midwife, Health Visitor, GP or local Children’s Centre.
Birmingham Healthy Start Vitamins
Birmingham Healthy Start Vitamins
The Healthy Start Vitamins are FREE in Birmingham*. The Vitamins are for:
- Children under 4 years old
- Pregnant people from the start of their pregnancy up until their child is 12 months old
* They are FREE for all registered with a Birmingham GP
Settings working on Startwell are required to promote the Vitamins.
They are available from midwives, Health Visiting teams, some Health Centres, Children’s Centres, some pharmacies and some nurseries. To see a list of distributing sites click here:- Healthy Start vitamin distribution sites | Birmingham City Council.
Why should I take Healthy Start Vitamins?
The Healthy Start Vitamins are FREE for Birmingham families and provide important nutrients for growth and development. The vitamins for children contain vitamins A, C and D. The vitamins for those pregnant and breastfeeding contain folic acid and vitamins C and D.
Vitamin D is important for the development of healthy bones and teeth. As infants grow at a rapid rate it is important that both the pregnant person and baby get the required amount.
What happens if we don’t get enough vitamin D?
Vitamin D provides protection against rickets. This is a condition that causes bone pain, poor growth and soft, weak bones that can lead to bone deformities such as ‘bow legs’. Growing children can develop rickets which can slow their walking and development. If pregnant people don’t have enough in their bodies their babies are born with low levels of this important vitamin and this can, in severe cases, cause fits/seizures.
Please use these posters to promoted Healthy Start and the maternal and child vitaminds with your families
Can’t I get enough vitamin D through diet?
Very few foods contain vitamin D. Most vitamin D is formed in the body by sunlight acting on exposed skin. We don’t get much sunshine in the UK and tend to cover up because of the cold. The best way to be sure we are getting enough Vitamin D is to take Healthy Start vitamins.
Avoid rickets by:
- Taking Healthy Start vitamins during pregnancy and until your child is 1 year old
- Giving children Healthy Start vitamin drops until they reach 4 years old
- Getting some sunlight exposure on skin whilst taking care not to get sunburnt
- Eating foods with vitamin D in them such as oily fish, eggs (choose lion stamped eggs or ensure they are well-cooked if not), margarine and fortified breakfast cereals.
Sunshine and Vitamin D
Sunshine is very important for food to grow and it is important for our bodies. Vitamin D is important for our bodies to help it absorb calcium for healthy, strong bones. The best way for our bodies to get vitamin D is from the sun, however this does not mean you should not wear sun cream, your body will still absorb the vitamin D whilst you are wearing it. Suzy Startwell is being a good role model and has been putting on her sun cream before going outside in the sun.
Unlike other vitamins, vitamin D is in very few foods. It is added to some breakfast cereals and fat spreads (check the label) and occurs naturally in eggs and oily fish e.g. salmon, trout, herring, mackerel and sardines. It is a good idea to eat these foods regularly. However, we cannot rely on them alone to provide the amount of vitamin D we need and therefore vitamins are needed to boost vitamins D intake.
We have created a Sunshine and Vitamin D factsheet for parents and we have gathered lots of ideas for settings and families to try at home to encourage food growing, water play and outside play to get your vitamin D.
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