Healthy Start vitamins and card: who qualifies and what you get

What the scheme gives you

Healthy Start is an NHS scheme for families on low incomes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has two parts. The first is a prepaid card for basic foods and milk, topped up every 4 weeks. The second is free vitamins: tablets for pregnancy and breastfeeding, and drops for babies and young children.

The card pays for plain liquid cow's milk, fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried and tinned pulses, and infant formula based on cow's milk.

Who qualifies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

You must be at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4. You also need one of the benefits listed on the Healthy Start application page:

• Universal Credit, with family take-home pay from employment of £408 a month or less
• Pension Credit, including the child addition
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Child Tax Credit, with family income of £16,190 a year or less

Three more cases qualify. A pregnant woman under 18 needs no benefit at all. Someone claiming income-related Employment and Support Allowance qualifies once more than 10 weeks pregnant. A family where you or your partner get Working Tax Credit run-on only also qualifies.

The Universal Credit test reads one line on your monthly award notice, labelled take-home pay for this period. The nidirect page for Northern Ireland gives the same £408 limit and also lists Pension Credit with the child addition.

What the card is worth over a year

At £9.30 a week, a full year for a baby under 1 comes to £483.60. A year at £4.65 a week comes to £241.80, whether for pregnancy or for a child aged 1 to 4. A family with a baby under 1 and a 2-year-old receives £13.95 a week, which is £55.80 at each top-up.

The vitamins add to the total. Chemist4U (GPhC 9012464) sells Healthy Start Children's Vitamin Drops at £3.49 for a 10 ml bottle, listed as a 30-day supply. Twelve bottles cost £41.88 at that price. On the scheme the drops are free.

How to apply

1. Check the pregnancy or age rule and your benefit. For Universal Credit, find take-home pay for this period on your latest award notice.
2. Apply online through the Healthy Start website. People who get HMRC Child Tax Credits and hold an invitation letter from the NHS are pointed to a newer online service.
3. For a paper claim, download the application form, fill it in and post it to Healthy Start Issuing Unit, PO Box 1067, WA55 1EG. The helpline on 0345 607 6823 posts a form out, and midwives and health visitors hold copies.
4. Once the card arrives, money goes on every 4 weeks. Spend it in shops on the foods listed above.
5. Ask your midwife or health visitor where to collect free vitamins in England or Wales. In Northern Ireland, wait for the letter explaining how to request them.

Collecting the free vitamins

The pregnancy and breastfeeding tablets contain folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin D. A pack holds 56 tablets, an 8-week supply at one a day. You can collect them while pregnant and until your baby's first birthday.

Children's drops come in a 280-drop bottle, an 8-week supply at 5 drops a day. They are for children under 4 who drink less than 500 ml (about a pint) of infant formula a day, because formula already has vitamins added.

In England and Wales you show your NHS Healthy Start card when you collect. In Northern Ireland an eligible family gets a letter on how to request vitamins. The request goes to the Business Services Organisation, which posts the vitamins out.

The NHS vitamin D advice for babies follows the same formula rule. A breastfed baby under 1 should have 8.5 to 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day. So should a formula-fed baby drinking less than 500 ml of formula a day.

Scotland: Best Start Foods and free vitamins for all

Healthy Start does not run in Scotland. Social Security Scotland pays Best Start Foods instead, every 4 weeks, onto a prepaid card you can use in shops and online.

The pregnancy rate stays the same for twins or more. If a baby arrives early, the higher rate runs until one year after the due date.

You must live in Scotland, be pregnant or have a child of the right age, be the main carer and get one of these: Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance. Child Benefit on its own does not count. Under 18s need no benefit. You can apply from the day you know you are pregnant until the child turns 3. Social Security Scotland answers on 0800 182 2222 from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Vitamins in Scotland carry no income test. NHS inform says Healthy Start vitamins, which contain vitamin D, are free to all pregnant women in Scotland. Free vitamin D is also available to breastfeeding mothers and to children up to 3 years old. Your midwife or health visitor has the details.

Families with no recourse to public funds

A temporary extension covers British children under 4 whose parent or guardian has no recourse to public funds or no immigration status, where family take-home pay is £408 a month or less. GOV.UK guidance, last updated on 24 September 2026, sets the rate at £9.30 a week for each child under 1 and £4.65 a week for each child aged 1 to 4. The money goes into a bank account every 4 weeks. Pregnant women are not covered by the extension. Payments are backdated to the date you first email the team, provided all documents arrive within 16 weeks.

Mistakes that cost money

Putting off the claim. The pregnancy rate of £4.65 a week starts at week 10, so apply as soon as you reach it.

Paying for drops your child can get free. A 30-day bottle of the same Healthy Start drops costs £3.49 at Chemist4U.

Reading the wrong pay figure. The £408 limit applies to take-home pay from employment on the Universal Credit award notice, not to a payslip.

Applying for Healthy Start from Scotland. The Healthy Start site sends Scottish residents to Best Start Foods, which pays more per week at every age.

Where the figures come from

The weekly amounts are from NHSBSA knowledge base article KA-30133. The benefit list, the £408 and £16,190 limits, the under-18 rule, the postal address and the 0345 607 6823 helpline are from the Healthy Start how to apply page. The foods the card buys and the 4-weekly top-up are from the Healthy Start home page. Pack sizes and collection rules are from the Healthy Start getting vitamins page. Northern Ireland rules are from nidirect. Best Start Foods amounts, conditions and the 0800 182 2222 number are from mygov.scot. Free vitamins in Scotland are from NHS inform. The extension for families with no recourse to public funds is from GOV.UK. Vitamin D advice for babies is from the NHS vitamin D page. The £3.49 drops price is from Chemist4U, read on 22 October 2026.