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Welcome to Sundhedsplejen

Congratulations on your baby! Once you have given birth, Sundhedsplejen will contact you within a few days.

Content

    Sundhedsplejen is a free healthcare service for you and your family provided by the City of Aarhus. 

    The health care nurses are automatically notified of your child's birth and you will be offered visits from the health care nurse during your child's first year. 

    She will follow your child's development and talk to you about the well-being and development of your child, what is important to you, and the services available to you as a new parent.

    Each visit is approximately one hour and will take place on a weekday between 8.00 and 16.00.

    The healthcare nurse will visit you when your child is:

    • no more than 5 days
    • 2-3 weeks
    • 2-3 months, where you will be offered a screening for postpartum depression
    • approximately 6 months if you are a first-time parent. Phone call if you have given birth before.
    • 9-10 months

    In between visits, you are welcome to contact your healthcare nurse by phone and to contact the on-call healthcare nurse. 

    If your family has special needs you can be assigned extra visits. 

    If needed, you can receive visits from the healthcare nurse up to 3 times per year after your child's first year. Read more about special offers. 

     

    Your healthcare nurse is specially trained to work with healthcare in families with children from 0-18 years of age. She is a trained nurse with a higher education focusing on children's health.

    The healthcare nurse guides and advises you in looking after your baby, toddler, or school child.

    Do you and your child need special support? Then read more on the page: "Challenges with a child on the way or a small child”.

    Your healtcare nurse will guide you according to the guidelines of the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen).

    During all visits, the health care nurse will always focus on your child’s well-being and development.

    Food

    • How and how much is your child eating?
    • Breastfeeding/formula feeding
    • Transition to solid food and the food of the family

    Growth

    • How is your child growing?
    • Weight, length and head circumference

    Children grow at different rates and we will compare the child’s growth with its overall well-being.

    Motor skills

    • How is your child moving?

    The health care nurse will check the child’s motor skills development and instruct you as the parent in how to stimulate and play with your child.

    Language development

    • How is your child developing their language?
    • How you can help make your child express himself/herself through sounds


    Social development

    • How is your child developing socially?
    • How your child is forming social relationships with you as the parent and with strangers

    The health visitor will use a screening method (ADBB) for this examination taking into consideration children's different personalities and temperaments.

    Parents’ wellbeing

    • How is your well-being as a parent?

    The health visitor will talk to you about how you feel about being a parent and experience your life as a new parent. At the visit when the child is 2-3 months old, the health visitor will focus specifically on your mental well-being and the mother is offered a postpartum depression screening.

    Last updated: 24 January 2024