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Start for Life programme

The Start for Life programme provides support to parents and carers from a child’s conception until their second birthday. 

Services include:  

  • Midwifery services
  • Mental health support during pregnancy  
  • Health visiting services   
  • Parenting support  
  • Infant feeding support

The Start for Life programme is one part of the new Family Hub approach to services for families across Norfolk.  

Start for Life parent and carer panel

We need your help

It is vital we hear from people across Norfolk that have experience of these services. Your opinion is very valuable to us. You might see things from a different perspective and we would like you to help us make change. 

We want to bring together a community of parents and carers to form a Start for Life parent and carer panel. Panel members will have an opportunity to have their say and will help us to shape and further develop services.

What is involved

Panel meetings will be every other month. 

Panel members can also get involved in things like:    

  • Attending and participating in focus groups   
  • Helping to develop and respond to surveys
  • Conducting surveys  
  • Attending other groups and meetings to provide feedback and insight  
  • Taking part in service reviews  

Benefits of joining the panel

  • You can shape services in Norfolk 
  • You will gain experience of being part of different projects. This could give you skills and experience to help in your existing job or a new job 
  • You will be joining a community of parents and carers who are pregnant or have children younger than two. This means you can share your experiences together  

We will ensure there is training and support to help parents and carers engage in the panel.  

We will also work with the panel to develop the Start for Life involvement policy. This will cover things such as the payment of panel members' expenses, roles and responsibilities. It will also cover the wider support that will be put in place to enable as many parents and carers as possible to engage with us.  

Further information sessions  

Find out more about the Start for Life parent and carer panel at one of our online information sessions.

You can have your say about how the panel should work and tell us what support you would need to be part of the panel.