Healthy Start Scheme
The Healthy Start Scheme enables eligible pregnant women and families with children under the age of four who meet the qualifying criteria to claim pre-loaded Healthy Start cards that can be used to purchase milk, fruit and vegetables or infant formula milk. In addition to the pre-paid card, those entitled to the Scheme may also avail of free vitamins.
What is Healthy Start?
If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk.
If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. We’ll add your benefit onto this card every 4 weeks.
You can use your card to buy:
- plain liquid cow’s milk
- fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables
- fresh, dried, and tinned pulses
- infant formula milk based on cow’s milk
You can also use your card to collect:
- Healthy Start vitamins – these support you during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- vitamin drops for babies and young children – these are suitable from birth to 4 years old
How much you’ll get
You’ll get money added onto your Healthy Start card every 4 weeks.
You’ll get:
- £4.25 each week of your pregnancy from the 10th week
- £8.50 each week for children from birth to 1 year old
- £4.25 each week for children between 1 and 4 years old
Details are here:
Healthy Start scheme | Department of Health (health-ni.gov.uk)
Last Updated: 12/02/2025
