During pregnancy

Your midwife will provide you with the personalised information that you will need during your pregnancy about your health and your baby.

These pages provide information applicable to most people but if you are unsure please ask your midwife.

Immunisations

Immunisations protect your baby from infectious diseases like whooping cough and flu. More information about immunisations is available on the NHS website (opens in new window). 

It is important that you and your family still have routine vaccinations. They protect against serious and potentially deadly illnesses. Contact your GP practice for more information. More information about vaccinations is also available on the NHS website (opens in new window). 

Infant feeding

Visit our page on antenatal infant feeding for more information. 

Healthy Start scheme

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

Find out more: Get help to buy food and milk (Healthy Start)

Stop smoking in pregnancy

Protecting your baby from tobacco smoke is one of the best things you can do to give your child a healthy start in life. It can be difficult to stop smoking, but it's never too late to quit.

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