If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under the age of 4 and meet the qualifying conditions, you can get help to buy basic foods and milk.
You can also get free Healthy Start vitamins.
The scheme is available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you live in Scotland you can get help from Best Start Foods instead.
You’ll get money added onto your NHS Healthy Start card every 4 weeks from the date your claim was successful.
You’ll get:
- £4.25 each week of your pregnancy after the10th week of your pregnancy
- £8.50 each week for children from birth to 1 year old
- £4.25 each week for children between 1 and 4 years old
We’ll send you an email on the day of your payment to confirm that this has been added to your card if you gave us an email address.
Your payments are not affected by weekends and bank holidays.
Your payments will stop when either:
- your child reaches their fourth birthday
- you no longer receive your qualifying benefit
- you no longer have parental responsibility for the child