Well-Baby Clinics
Enabling WBCs to provide parents with support, knowledge and tools that measurably improve their children’s development
About the Initiative
The Well-Baby Clinics (WBCs) initiative was launched in 2019 to enhance caregivers’ capacity to support parents. A joint project with the Bernard van Leer Foundation, Ministry of Health, Goshen and Lotem Strategies Group, it forms an integral part of Israel’s national strategy for early childhood. The goal is to strengthen WBC staff’s ability to support parents and serve as a trusted source of guidance on all aspects of childcare, in order to promote optimal development.
WBCs are the only service that engages with all infants and their parents on a regular basis nationwide. A new approach to working with parents was therefore developed and implemented, known as the PBP Programme – Partnership for Beneficial Parenting. It positions nurses as a professional source of guidance, builds trust with parents and equips them with practical tools to support children’s development in language, play and self-regulation.
A comprehensive professional development framework was created for WBC teams, led by head nurses who participated in a leadership training programme dedicated to children’s health. The framework supports nurses, clinic managers, supervisors and physicians, and includes practical models and tools for working with parents.
Well-Baby Clinics nationwide are participating, implemented in partnership with clinic operators and refined through ongoing collaboration with head nurses across the system. It is operating in all WBCs run by the Ministry of Health, HMOs and local authorities, and includes 75 supervisors, 92 head nurses, 380 clinic managers and 1,570 nurses.
