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Maternal and child health services
Our maternal and child health service is a free, confidential service for families who have children from newborn to school age.
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Contact us
For more information, email mch@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or call 9404 8888.
MCH and the COVID-19 situation
Maternal and Child Health service continues to see all babies up to 12 months of age and any other child deemed clinically necessary in a face to face consultation.
Face-to-face consultations will recommence at the City of Whittlesea from the following dates:
- 25 May for 2,4 and 8 week appointments
- 22 June for 4,8 and 12 month appointment
To ensure the safety of families and our staff we will be conducting health risk assessments before your appointment.
If you have experienced any of the following symptoms in the past 24 hours - headache, fever, dry cough, shortness of breath - or if you have had close contact with anyone who has been diagnosed or is being tested for COVID-19, your appointment will be by telephone.
Conditions of entry to the MCH centre apply:
- Only one carer and the child booked is to attend the appointment
- Please be on time. If late, call 9404 8888 to reschedule
- Appointments are strictly 15 minutes or less
- Bring a blanket to cover the scales
- All nappies etc are to be taken home with the client.
Home Visits and all other age groups, centre visits will be replaced by a phone call from your MCH nurse at the booked appointment time.
Where deemed clinically essential by your MCH nurse, short face to face consultations (of no more than 15 minutes) may go ahead for ages other than mentioned above.
Parents should be reassured that the evidence so far is babies and children under 5 years old are at a reduced risk of serious illness from coronavirus.
If you are concerned please call the 24-hour MCH line on 13 22 29.
All of our nurses are registered nurses, with additional qualifications in midwifery and maternal and child health.
The service includes advice on health, where to find information, support services and an opportunity to discuss your child's development.
Key ages and stages
Health and development assessments are performed around the following key ages and stages:
- 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks
- 4 months, 8 months
- 12 months
- 18 months
- 2 years
- 3.5 years
Book an appointment
To make an appointment, or to change an existing one, please call our Maternal and Child Health team on 9404 8888 between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Drop In Sessions
Please note: These sessions are currently by appointment only. You can call 9404 8888 and we'll arrange an appointment for the Open Session (face to face) or Breastfeeding Support (phone call only).
These sessions don’t replace your child’s scheduled Key Ages and Stages assessments, and are suitable for follow ups and review.
Breastfeeding support:
Chat with a Lactation/MCH nurse about:
- Breastfeeding
- Anything to do with feeding your baby
Open consultation sessions
These sessions offer an opportunity to visit a MCH nurse in between your child’s Key Ages and Stages assessments.
Parenting Programs
We provide a range of programs that are facilitated by professionals and aimed to assist parents.
Our programs include First Time Parent Groups, Sleep and Settling and The Infant Program.
Our First Time Parent Groups are restarting from 9 July in various locations.
We will be prioritising parents of babies born from January to March 2020 and will be in touch with parents via SMS and email in coming weeks.
Session times are available on the flyer.
Call us on 9404 8888 to book into a session or email mchprograms@whittlesea.vic.gov.au as places are strictly limited for now.
Enhanced Maternal and Child Health service
This service is offered to families who are experiencing significant early parenting difficulties. This is a specialised program and you’ll need to be referred. You can download a referral form below. For more details please chat to your MCH nurse.
Our enhanced service can refer families to join our relationship-based parenting programs. To find out more call 9408 9058 and download the current brochure.