NHS have advice on planning ahead for your pregnancy. This includes advice on increasing your chances of becoming pregnant as well as how to sustain a healthy pregnancy.
If you smoke, B&NES Wellness Service offer Stop Smoking Support to enable you to become smoke free before, during and after your pregnancy.
Key terms you may hear when discussing your journey:
- 'Antenatal' or 'pre-natal' meaning 'before birth'
- 'Postnatal' or 'postpartum' meaning 'after birth'
- 'Perinatal' refers to the period of time when you become pregnant and up to a year after giving birth.
Best Start in Life - Pregnancy is an online resource providing a complete guide. From early pregnancy signs and symptoms, to getting ready for labour and birth. Get tips on coping with morning sickness, choosing where to give birth, what to buy for your new-born and plenty more.
Find information about Maternity Allowance to prepare for your income whilst on maternity leave.
Midwifery and Antenatal Care
See a GP or midwife as soon as you find out you're pregnant. It's important to see a midwife or GP as early as possible and preferably before 10 weeks of pregnancy to get the pregnancy (antenatal) care and information you need to have a healthy pregnancy. If you are not already registered with a GP, search for your local one. Alternatively you can contact your local Maternity Unit directly.
The Health in Pregnancy Service supports pregnant women to ensure they have a healthy pregnancy, providing information about lifestyle, diet, vitamins, vaccines and beyond.
The NHS have created a 'what to expect' page dedicated to explaining what to expect after labour. You'll find a video on this page where a Midwife takes you through the stages you may experience.
Health Visitors
The Health Visiting service is available to all families who have children under the age of 5 years. Health visitors play a vital role in supporting and aiding expectant or new mothers and their families with any needs that may impact their health and wellbeing. They provide evidence-based advice, information, and support to empower parents in caring for their children and play a significant role in ensuring that all children have the best possible start in life.
With your Health Visitor, you can share thoughts, feelings and experiences about being a parent. They have the professional experience to support you through any worries you may have, and may be able to support you with:
• Infant feeding and introducing family foods
• Understanding your baby’s behaviour and how they are developing
• Adjusting to becoming a parent
• Family life and difficulties such as postnatal depression
• Healthy choices such as lifestyle, eating or immunisations
• Home safety, discussing housing concerns, domestic abuse or child abuse
Contact the Health Visiting team via the Single Point of Access (SPA) on 0300 247 0055 Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm.
The Family Nurse Partnership is a voluntary programme for young women who are expecting their first baby.
Support for Dads
As a new dad you may be feeling excited, but you may also be feeling left out, unsure or overwhelmed. Dadpad is an app created by the NHS to support new Dads to gain knowledge and practical skills that will help you, your partner and your baby as they develop.
You may hear the following terms:
- Perinatal mental health (PMH) problems are those which occur during pregnancy or in the first year following the birth of a child. Perinatal mental illness affects up to 27% of new and expectant mums and covers a wide range of conditions, including anxiety, depression and other more complex diagnoses,
- Parental Mental Health refers to variety of mental health problems affecting parents of children of any age.
Early Help Perinatal Mental Health Services
There are several organisations working together to offer Early Help Perinatal Mental Health services available to mothers:
Bright Start Children’s Centre services work in partnership with others (HCRG Health Visiting Service, local Creative & Arts organisations) to facilitate provision of:
- ‘Our Time, Our Space’ (for pregnant mums) and;
- ‘My Time, My Space’ (for mums with babies under 1 year).
They also offer:
- 'Trauma Counselling', a service for new & expectant mothers affected by their own Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Support to heal past hurts to develop stronger family relationships.
Details of these courses can be found on BathNES HUB or you can contact the children's centre directly (details below).
Make A Move has been working with mothers in the area since it was founded in 2011. We help mothers by providing them with a personal toolbox of resources to use to help them manage their low mood both now and for the future.
Open Space is an arts-based therapy group delivered by Domini Hooper. Issues covered include pregnancy, birth, early motherhood, family dynamics and how relationships can change after childbirth. The sessions are particularly suitable for mothers who have experienced difficult or traumatic births and want a supportive space to work through their experience.
New Mums Sanctuary is a supportive, creative postnatal group for new mums struggling with their mental health.
The Specialist Perinatal Mental Health service supports people who:
- have previously experienced a serious mental illness and are planning to conceive;
- develop a serious mental illness in the perinatal period;
- have had a serious perinatal illness in a past pregnancy and are now pregnant;
- are already under the care of AWP when we may provide additional support;
- have been previously admitted to a mother and baby unit;
- display significant mental health difficulties during the perinatal period.
Parental Mental Health Services
NHS B&NES Talking Therapies aims to help people access support for a range of common mental health problems. Talking therapies provides a service for people registered with a GP in Bath and North East Somerset. Women can self refer to Talking Therapies and be fast tracked for support if they are in the peri-natal period (pregnant and up to 1 year after the birth). Contact 01225 675150 or email awp.banes-talkingtherapies@nhs.net.
Bright Start Children's Centre Services provide support for families with children under five years old (under 10 years for Theraplay and Parenting Support Groups). They help with parenting support and support you to ensure children are developing well and will be ready to start school.
Children's Centres are located across Bath and North East Somerset. Find your local Children's Centre. You can also follow their Facebook page for up to date information about baby and toddler groups, support services and drop in sessions
B&NES Health Visiting Service offers advice on infant feeding.
BSW Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership have created an Infant Feeding Padlet providing information and advice to support you around feeding your baby or toddler. On the padlet you will also find the 'Essential guide to feeding and caring for your baby'.
Bath La Leche League Collective offers friendly breastfeeding support and chat through weekly group meetings and a Facebook group.
Breastfeeding Network support and information for breastfeeding women and those supporting them.
Breastfeeding Friend is a digital tool from Best Start in Life. Offering practical information and advice. Get answers to questions asked by new mums, and tips on things like sore nipples and what to do if your baby cries during feeds. Think of it like your health visitor but, because it's a digital tool, it's available whenever you need it - all day and all night. Available on Facebook Messenger.
Somer Valley Breastfeeding Network
Venues across the Somer Valley have signed up to the Somer Valley Breastfeeding charter as they welcome breastfeeding parents. The map is coming soon but you can view the view the venues that have signed up to the Somer Valley breastfeeding charter.
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
Further information on how to apply can be found on the Healthy Start website.
Better Health, Healthier Families provides information about children's weight, sugar facts, tips to get your family moving and healthy recipe ideas.
Best Start in Life - Baby moves offers information and simple play activities you can do with your baby, which support their development.
Introducing Family Foods
Introducing your baby to solid foods, also referred to as weaning or complementary feeding, starts when your baby is around 6 months old. Your baby should be introduced to a varied diet, alongside their usual breast milk or first infant formula. You can find guidance on weaning on the Best Start in Life website.
First Steps Nutrition Information and resources to support eating well from preconception to five years. firststepsnutrition.org
Find information and tips to help you take care of your baby or toddler's teeth on the Best Start in Life website.
Dr Ranj and Supertooth video guides offer top tips on looking after your children's teeth including babies.
The Singing Dentist, Dr Milad Shadrooh answers questions about caring for children's teeth.
Best Start in Life - First sounds provides ideas and tips to help with your baby's communication and speech development through play.
Bright Start Children's Centre Services offers a Ready, Steady, Talk group - A 5- to 6-week course promoting communication, speech and language through songs, stories and fun activities.
Explore simple activities and play ideas to help you develop your child's language skills with BBC Tiny Happy People.
Find out what vaccinations and newborn screening tests best protect your baby from diseases.
The Lullaby Trust offers safer sleep advice, including how to set up your babies sleeping area, advice on co-sleeping, advice on sleep aids and more.
ICON - babies cry. You can cope. Lots of information and resources to help and support you
BASIS online offers information on safer sleep.
The RUH Handi App offers access expert advice about common childhood illnesses and how to treat them.
Redcross Baby and Child First Aid App
If you live in B&NES and are a family with children under the age of 5 years, you are likely to be eligible for a free Home Fire Safety Visit.
You can also talk to your Health Visitor if you have any concerns around home safety, housing, domestic abuse or child abuse.
Child Accident Prevention Trust provide information on how to make sure your home is safe for young children.
Book an appointment to register the birth of your baby.
You can find a full list of local support organisations and service in and around Bath & North East Somerset within the Parenting and Family Support pages.
The Nest Project offer clothes and equipment for your child, all free of charge.
Small Stuff Baby Bank can give you free 0-5-year-old clothing and essentials.
Birth to Five provides information on caring for children and yourself and help to find practical support.
BSW Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) is a voice for those who use local maternity service and is made up of volunteers who have recently used maternity services. They collect feedback from women, birthing people and families on the care they received. Using your anonymous feedback as a guide they work together with hospital trusts to review and contribute to the development of maternity services. MVP have also created a number of padlets providing B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire information, advice and signposting around different topics including Dads & Partners, Perinatal Mental Health, Baby & Toddler Groups and much more.
The B&NES HUB includes local and national information to support professionals working with families including presentations from recent training webinars, B&NES Children & Young People’s Plan, B&NES Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Neglect Toolkit, Healthy Start Scheme resources for professionals and national policy relating to the first 1001 critical days.
The Five to Thrive is based on a set of five key activities that are the building blocks of healthy communication and brain development: Respond, Cuddle, Relax, Play, Talk.
Last updated: 5 September 2025