Child health services and support

This section provides information for child health service providers to help support their care of children/tamariki.

On this page

• Well Child Tamariki Ora visits
• B4 School Check
• KidsHealth

Well Child Tamariki Ora visits

The Well Child Tamariki Ora programme is a series of health visits and support that are free to all families for children from around 6 weeks up to 5 years of age.

It’s important that you join up with Plunket or another Well Child Tamariki Ora service as soon as your baby is born so they can see your baby when your midwife finishes visiting you.

Your midwife can help you choose the Well Child Tamariki Ora service that’s right for you. Visit the Find a Well Child Tamariki Ora service page to find services in your area.

Well Child Tamariki Ora visits cover:

• child growth and development
• family health and wellbeing
• immunisation information
• oral health (teeth and gum) checks. For information about Bay of Plenty services please refer to our Oral health and dental care page.
• early childhood education
• vision (sight) and hearing
• health and development checks for learning well at school.

Well Child Tamariki Ora nurses are experts in child health and growth, and will help you to protect and improve your child’s health.

Your midwife will give you a free Well Child Tamariki Ora My Health Book telling you all the things you can do to keep your child healthy and safe.

Learn more about Well Child Tamariki Ora visits

B4 School Check

The B4 School Check is FREE for every 4 year old child in New Zealand, and is the last Well Child check.

Why should your four year old have a B4 School Check?

• It is a good time to have your child's health and development checked before they start school.
• You and your child get to spend time with a trained B4 school nurse for about 45 minutes. 
• You can fill in a questionnaire about your child's health and development which you and the nurse will discuss - especially anything you are concerned about. The questionnaire helps start the conversation 
• A vision and hearing test will be arranged if this has not already occurred
• You can request a copy of the B4 school check results
• Your child's pre-school/kindergarten/kōhanga reo will also have an opportunity to provide information through a questionnaire about your child's learning and development
• The check also covers your child's:
  • health and development
  • teeth
  • height
  • weight
  • social and emotional wellbeing
  • immunisations.
• If you or the nurse believe your child would benefit from further assessment, the nurse will discuss this with you and offer a referral to other services that may help. The nurse can also help you arrange catch-up immunisations for your child.

What to bring with you to the B4 School Check

Your child's Well Child Tamariki Ora Health Book, so the nurse can record your child's growth and development. 

Got any questions or want to book an appointment?

Please find the contact details for your area below. Or to learn more about this service please visit health.govt.nz

KidsHealth

The aim of this website is to provide New Zealand parents, caregivers, family/whānau with accurate and reliable information about their children's health.

kidshealth.org.nz 

KidsHealth has been created by the Paediatric Society of New Zealand  (PSNZ) and the Starship Foundation , supported and funded by the Ministry of Health.