Baby's first year

Your baby's first year is packed with milestones, both exciting and challenging.

At Baby – NHS Start for Life, find advice and guidance to help you have a healthy and happy baby.

Registering your baby's birth

You must legally register the birth within 42 days of your baby being born.

You need to make an appointment to register a birth at Croydon Register Office - we do not have walk-in appointments.

Follow our step-by-step guide on registering a birth.

You’ll need your baby’s birth certificate if you apply for any benefits related to the birth of a newborn.

A health visitor is a registered nurse or midwife who is also trained in public health nursing.

You’ll be offered regular health and development reviews (health visitor checks) for your baby until they are around 2.

You can also get support until your child is 5 with:

Find out about:

Your midwife will usually hand over to your health visitor around 2 weeks after the birth.

Having a baby brings a lot of changes to your life, which may affect your relationships with your partner, family and friends.

It's possible to become pregnant again 3 weeks after the birth of your baby.

You can:

find out more about sex and contraception after birth
access free and confidential sexual health advice from the NHS Croydon Sexual Health service