Early Assistance

A child changes a parent’s life in many ways. Once a child is born, the first few weeks and months after the birth are sometimes not easy. There are many questions and uncertainties, and a crying baby and sleepless nights can be a severe test for you as parents.

To support you in this special phase of life, early assistance is available – reliable information, counselling and support programmes from the beginning of pregnancy up to the third birthday of your child.

Early assistance programmes are available in all 12 Berlin districts. District networks ensure good cooperation between the various specialists. The networks and programmes are funded by the Federal Foundation for Early Assistance and state and district funds.

There is a wide variety of early assistance programmes. Family midwives, family health workers and childcare workers as well as volunteer helpers will provide you with advice and assistance if you wish and will support and counsel you in dealing with your infant or small child.
Through the early assistance programmes, families are strengthened in dealing with their infants and small children, and the development of a stable parent-child bond is supported.

There are contacts in each district who can help you find the right programme for you.

Family midwives and family health and pediatric nurses

Family midwives and family health and pediatric nurses support expectant parents, if needed, from pregnancy onward and during the first months with the baby. They can counsel families and show them how to take good care of a baby. If desired, they can arrange for further support services from the health care system and child and youth welfare services.

Volunteer sponsorships

Volunteer sponsorships provide very practical everyday relief for families at home. The godparents offer a sympathetic ear and a helping hand – and support families in helping themselves.

An overview of all the volunteer projects involved can be found in the campaign “Become a family favorite!”, which is funded by the Berlin Senate.

Outreach parenting support is an outpatient service that supports parents before birth. It is established throughout Berlin as early help within the framework of the Child Protection Network and starts at the interface of youth welfare and health.

Difficult life situations

In particular, it accompanies first-time mothers in difficult life situations. In addition, Outreach Parenting Support can also address mentally ill or addicted pregnant women, unintentionally pregnant women, women with a difficult pregnancy or women with multiple births.

Parenting skills

In close cooperation between socio-educational specialists and midwives and family midwives, who assist parents with all questions concerning the new life situation, the offer promotes parental competence and strengthens the self-help potential of parents. The goal is to achieve an independent lifestyle with the child and to create the best possible starting conditions for the child together with the parents, thus preventing crisis developments.

The outreach program usually ends about five months after the birth of the child. It is not subject to application, voluntary but binding, and free of charge for the families.

Service description for the provision of outreach parenting assistance

The description of the service formulated by the AEH working group (members include implementing agencies and specialized agencies of the youth welfare offices) can be found below:

The employees of the youth welfare office in your district will be happy to advise you on questions about child-raising and applying for economic benefits. In addition to advice, you can also get support here, such as help with child-raising and family recreation offers. You can also contact your youth welfare office if you have problems or are in an emergency situation.

The specialists at the KJGD offer families with infants a personal consultation at the initial contact – usually through a home visit. This early contact in the new phase of life for you, a consultation in your own personal environment, includes holistic family counselling and supports the healthy growth of your child.

As a brand-new parent, you will have a lot of questions and will be looking for competent contacts. “Are we good parents or are we doing something wrong? Is our child crying too much? Is it developing in a way that is age-appropriate?” State-approved social workers from the child and youth health service will answer your questions, be the contact persons in your new life situation and provide targeted assistance and offerings in the immediate vicinity.

Parents in psychosocially stressed situations in particular are easily reached through the health-oriented approach that provides them with low-threshold and tailor-made support programmes. Here the child and youth health service works closely with public and private youth welfare organisations and associations.

During the medical consultation hours, children starting at infancy can be presented and examined and parents can get advice on various issues (e.g., child development, sleeping and eating behaviour, health issues, vaccinations and vaccination counselling, etc.).

There are five Centres for Sexual Health and Family Planning in Berlin that offer medical and social counselling and assistance on the following topics:

• Family planning
• Pregnancy
• Counselling in pregnancy conflict
• Psychological counselling for individuals and couples
• Information and counselling on infections and AIDS
• Social counselling
• Drug, alcohol and addiction counselling
• Counselling on support options, such as parental assistance outreach

You can find the Centres for Sexual Health and Family Planning in

Parenting and family counselling is a free programme for parents and legal guardians, couples as well as children and young people. The counselling can be used directly without an application process and can also be carried out anonymously if desired

One of the building blocks of the Early Assistance networks is the Baby Guide prevention project, which is to be expanded to all maternity clinics in Berlin’s hospitals after a successful model phase. If there are any indications of stress having to do with the birth, the Baby Guides will be your contacts. They will clarify in a personal conversation whether you will need support during your first time together with your newborn and provide specific contact persons and customised assistance. The Baby Guides will help ensure that you can look forward to family life well-informed and well cared for after the birth of your child.

The following contact persons are available to you for a confidential consultation on questions about your child’s development or concerns in everyday family life:

• Gynaecologists
• Midwives and male midwives, Child health care workers
• Social educational specialists for
• pregnancy (conflict) counselling
• Employees of the maternity clinics and birth centres
• Paediatricians
• Surgery staff, medical assistants

Hotline Kinderschutz
Are you worried about a young person? The Child Protection Hotline works in several languages, around the clock and anonymously on request.