If you are pregnant and need advice, there is a wide range of support available from the Early Help Network. The people who carry out these services for the Early Help Network, are closely connected and the coordination of their networks can help you establish contacts. Even if you are already a mother or father of a baby or toddler, you can get support from the people who belong to this network. If you need help, you will also be put in touch with early help specialists who can give you advice and support over a longer period of time. Support for young parents should start as soon as possible. This is why there is talk of ‘early’ help. The support and advice is free of charge. You can use the offer during the first years of your child's life.
When may or should I use the offer?
The Early Help Network’s services are open to anyone expecting a baby or who has responsibility for a child the baby’s first years of life. The people who work with the Early Help Network want you and your child to do well. Maybe you're in a predicament, for example, because your pregnancy wasn't planned. You may feel abandoned by your partner or money is tight. Even if you no longer feel able to cope with raising your toddler, the staff of Early Help Network are helpful people to be in contact with. For example, they know educational counselling centres to which you can turn. But the network isn't just there for you when things get tough. Even if you are just looking for other mothers and parents with whom you can exchange ideas, the Early Help Network has interesting parenting offers.
If you need help in everyday life
If it all gets to be too much, it will do you good to have someone who can help lift you up. Experts from many fields work together with the Early Help Network (Netzwerk Frühe Hilfen). The Network’s help can be tailored to your situation. For example, family midwives and family health and paediatric nurses with special additional training work with the Early Help Network. These professionals care about you and the baby, but they also have the whole family's well-being in mind.
The first step
You can find the most important information about the Early Help Network on the website www.elternsein.info. If you enter your postal code there, you will be shown contacts that are matched to where you live. You can also find the right contact persons for the network in your area in the HEDI app.
Free and anonymous advice over the phone
If you need help acutely, you can contact the help hotline Pregnant People in Distress (Schwangere in Not). Call 0800 40 40 020 to reach someone who will listen to you and give you advice. They can tell where to find the nearest local counseling centre. The call is free of charge. You do not even have to give your name and address. Your phone number remains anonymous and your call will not appear on any bill. The employees of the help hotline are there for you around the clock and speak a total of 18 languages. You can also find helpful information on the website www.schwanger-und-viele-fragen.de.
