It can be helpful to review events around pregnancy and birth. Many maternity units have a birth reflection/listening service that can be accessed at any time after giving birth or when you return for subsequent pregnancies. To find out about how to access this service, speak to your community midwife.

Go to your local council’s website to find out where you can register your baby’s birth in your area.

You can find your local Children’s Centre via your local authority website.

Maternity units may offer a choice of home, midwife-led unit or obstetric-led unit for birth, however if you are planning a homebirth, you will need to be booked with your closest maternity unit.

If your area is not shown in the app, you can visit the website of your local maternity unit to find the core services it offers.

Charitable Trusts

Your local maternity unit may be linked to its hospital trust’s charity. Hospital charities raise money via fundraising activities for patients and staff and by coordinating and receiving charitable donations. Money raised is re-invested into service improvement projects. Find out more about your local NHS hospital charity by visiting your hospital’s website.

If your NHS area is already represented in this app select it in Find my NHS area to access your choice of maternity unit and to gain local contacts and local information. If your area is not shown, you can search NHS Find maternity services to find your nearest units; you will still be able to use all the advice and guidance within the app.

Find your local PALS:

PALS location finder

Health visitor in your area

A health visitor will usually visit you at home for the first time around 10 days after your baby is born.

Your health visitor can visit you at home, or you can see them at your child health clinic, GP surgery or health centre, depending on where they’re based. They’ll make sure you have their phone number.

your area

The Maternal and Neonatal Health Safety Collaborative

This programme aims to improve the safety and outcomes of maternal and neonatal care by reducing variation in practice and providing a high quality healthcare experience for all women, babies and their families across England.

PReCePT (Prevention of Cerebral Palsy in Preterm Labour)

The PReCePT programme aims to reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy in babies born prematurely by giving women a medication called magnesium sulphate during labour. This programme is being rolled out across your area and other activities include improving care, strengthening staff capability across maternal and neonatal units and supporting mothers to become more involved with their care to improve quality of life of preterm babies and their families.

Private maternity care

Private maternity care may be available in your area. Search here to find out:

www.which.co.uk/birth-choice

Check your chosen maternity unit’s website to see if there are trials available.

Talking therapy services or IAPT services are offered throughout your area, providing support to those experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression. Priority is given to pregnant women and new parents. You can either self-refer over the phone or online, or ask your midwife or GP to do it for you. The service is free and aims to be flexible around your needs.

Find Talking therapies/IAPT services

Volunteers help to improve and enhance the patient and service user experience, complementing the work of employed maternity staff in your area.

Maternity units have a local neonatal unit/special care baby unit caring for sick or preterm babies, however not every unit has a neonatal intensive care unit.

Midwife

You will meet several midwives throughout your pregnancy, birth and beyond. Midwives are the main caregiver when your pregnancy and birth are straight forward. Throughout the NHS, we are working hard to ensure each woman has a named midwife who is responsible for coordinating your maternity care.

Obstetrician

These are doctors who specialise in caring for women during pregnancy, birth and in the period immediately after birth (whilst in the maternity unit). You may see an obstetrician during pregnancy if you have any issues which require review or more specialised management and they will be involved if you have a caesarean or assisted birth.

Paediatrician/Neonatalogist (baby doctor)

Paediatricians or neonatologists are doctors specialising in the care of newborn babies and children. They will be involved in your care if early (premature) delivery is anticipated or if there are likely to be concerns about the health of your baby during or after the birth.

Sonographer

These are professionals who undertake your ultrasound scans. They are specially trained to undertake scans during pregnancy.

Maternity support worker

You may meet maternity support workers during pregnancy, birth or beyond. They support the maternity team and provide some of your care throughout the journey.

Student midwife

Maternity units work closely with local universities to support midwives and doctors in training. These students will work alongside their midwife ‘mentor’ and will ask for your consent before providing you with any care.

Health Visitor

Health visitors work in teams. They work closely with the other professionals listed above, including GPs and organisations that support families where you live. Most families in England will be offered several review contacts and additional support depending on the individual needs of your family.The health promoting visit at 28 weeks of pregnancy, is the first time that the health visitor meets parents. A health needs assessment will be agreed, covering physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing. The health visitor will also discuss a number of issues, including transition to parenthood, how to enhance the parent-child bonding experience and how parents can help their baby’s early development.