Conception and pregnancy

Antenatal care

Your first midwife appointment (the booking appointment) should happen before you’re 10 weeks pregnant.  You can choose which maternity service provider you would like to use. In Brent many families use London North West University Health Trust or Imperial College Healthcare.

Antenatal classes are a great way to prepare for the birth of your baby. Your maternity service provider will offer you classes to prepare for birth. Find out more about antenatal classes.

If you have any questions or concerns about your baby’s health in your pregnancy contact the triage team in your maternity service provider:

Hospital	Contact number
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital	020 3315 6000 option 1
West Middlesex University Hospital	020 8321 5839
Hillingdon Hospital	01895 279 054
Northwick Park Hospital	020 8869 2094
Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital	020 3312 6135
St Mary's Hospital	020 3312 6135

Breastfeeding support

While you are pregnant it’s a good time to start thinking about how you will feed your baby when they arrive. NHS and UNICEF provide lots of information on how to get breastfeeding off to a good start.

You can find further information and advice below:

• UNICEF - guide to help you start breastfeeding
• Global health Media project - videos on early initiation of breastfeeding, attaching your baby at the breast and comfortable breastfeeding positions (available in many community languages).

Mental health and wellbeing

1 in 10 women experience mental health problems during pregnancy (antenatal/prenatal) and before and after birth (perinatal). Following organisations can help:

• NHS
• Home Start Brent

Dental health

You are entitled to free NHS dental treatment if you're pregnant when you start your treatment and for 12 months after your baby is born. 

Dental surgeries will not always have the capacity to take on new NHS patients and you may have to join a waiting list. If after contacting several dental surgeries you still cannot find a dentist accepting NHS patients, call NHS England's Customer Contact Centre on 0300 311 2233.

Healthy eating and free vitamins

Eating a varied diet of different foods is the best way for you to stay healthy, and help your baby grow and develop. Find information on healthy eating,

Free vitamins are also available for all pregnant women and children under 4 to collect from Family Wellbeing Centres in Brent.

If you are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may also be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk via the Healthy Start scheme. 

Find out more about the scheme and how to receive free vitamins. 

Alcohol and smoking

Drinking alcohol and smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of health problems for developing babies. Following organisations can help:

• Brent Stop Smoking Services 
• Alcoholics Anonymous

Domestic abuse in pregnancy

Pregnancy can be a trigger for domestic abuse, and existing abuse may get worse during pregnancy or after giving birth. If you are experiencing domestic violence and would like to talk about it, there are several local and national agencies that can offer support. 

• Advance
• Women’s Aid Live Chat
• Domestic Abuse Helpline

If you find out your unborn baby might be born with a medical condition or additional needs that will cause disability, it can be a very difficult time. Your maternity service provider will advise you and support you and your baby's needs.

You can find information about the offer for children with special education needs and disabilities on our local offer pages.

Bringing your baby home

Before your baby arrives, it is a good idea to plan your journey home from the hospital after giving birth. If you are planning on taking the car, NHS has some helpful tips on buying a car seat.

Child safety

You may also need to plan for how to make your home child safe. You can find lots of information about accident prevention from the Child Accident Prevention Trust.

There are a range of services available in Brent that can be useful during pregnancy such as Brent Family Wellbeing Centres, which  offer advice and support for pregnant families including Welcome to Parenthood information sessions.

• NHS has a wide range of information about trying for a baby, pregnancy, labour and birth.
• Baby Buddy is a free multi-award-winning, interactive pregnancy and parenting app with personalised information and advice for every day of pregnancy and up to the child's first birthday.
• Gingerbread offer advice and support for single parent families with children of all ages.
• BBC Tiny Happy People offer parenting advice and guidance on children's language development and how you can support your child’s language and communication skills.