Well Child / Tamariki Ora Services for under fives

What are Well Child /Tamariki Ora services?

Who provides Well Child /Tamariki Ora services?

Well Child /Tamariki Ora checks

B4School check

Your Well Child/ Tamariki Ora Health Book

Where to go for more information and support

What are Well Child / Tamariki Ora services?

Well Child / Tamariki Ora services are offered free to all New Zealand children from birth to five years

They

·         provide you with the knowledge and skills to respond to your child’s needs at the different stages of their development

·         provide reassurance that your child is developing normally, through growth and development assessments

·         inform you about, and provide immunisation

·         support and help you to identify your needs as a parent, and link you with community and other services

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Who provides Well Child / Tamariki Ora services?

From birth to four-to-six weeks
You and your child will receive your Well Child / Tamariki Ora service from your LMC (lead maternity carer). Your LMC is your midwife or your GP (general practitioner), or in the case of a shared care arrangement, both.

 From four-to-six weeks to four-to-five years of age
You and your child will receive your Well Child / Tamariki Ora service from a Well Child provider. Your LMC will give you a list of Well Child providers in your area.

You can choose who will carry out Well Child / Tamariki Ora care. Well Child providers will include some of the following:

• Plunket
• Maori health provider
• Pacific Island health provider
• Public Health Service – for example, public health nurse, community nurse, community health worker, social worker, home visitor
• a general practice team (doctor and practice nurse)
• vision hearing technicians

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Well Child / Tamariki Ora checks

Your child is entitled to 11 free health visits under the Government’s Well Child / Tamariki Ora service. These visits, along with other Well Child / Tamariki Ora services, aim to give your child the best start in life by protecting against illness, detecting problems early and providing support to you. 

The checks are for your child from birth to four-to-five years of age.

 From birth to four-to-six weeks, there are three Well Child health checks provided by your midwife or GP (general practitioner):

• birth (newborn examination)
• during the first week
• 2 - 4 weeks

From four-to-six weeks to three years, there are a further seven core Well Child health checks available from your Well Child Provider at important stages in your child's life:

• 4 - 6 weeks
• 8-10 weeks
• 3-4 months
• 5-7  months
• 9-12  months
• 15-18  months
• 2-3 years

B4 School Check is the final Well Child health check.

See the section below:

·         B4 School Check

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Where to go for more information and support

Telephone advice - Healthline and PlunketLine

• ring PlunketLine on 0800 933 922 if you have child health and parenting questions or queries. For example, if you have questions about such issues as parenting, crying, sleeping, your child's growth, development, behaviour, immunisation, breastfeeding, nutrition, oral health, safety or want to know more about the Well Child / Tamariki Ora programme
• call Healthline on 0800 611 116 if you need advice about a child of any age who is unwell or hurt, or has any symptoms of sickness. Healthline provides a full range of telephone triage and health advice for children (and adults)
• both services are available 24 hours and are free to callers throughout New Zealand, including from a mobile phone

Website advice: