Planning a Pregnancy

Top tips…

• Start taking folic acid 💊

  • Keep taking it while you are trying to get pregnant and until at least 12 weeks of pregnancy.

  • Talk to your GP or specialist if you have any medical conditions. Don’t stop taking any medication until you have spoken to them.

• If you smoke / vape, get help to stop 🚭

  • Get support to quit at NHS Stop Smoking services. People who get support are more likely to quit.

    • Healthy Lifestyles Herefordshire

    • Healthy Lifestyles Worcestershire

• Avoid alcohol once you stop contraception 🍷

  • There is no ‘safe’ level of alcohol to drink when you are pregnant, and you may get pregnant quicker than you think.
  • Watch our top tips for drinking alcohol sensibly video.

• Aim for a healthy weight ⚖️

  • Aim for a healthy weight and diet. Be active. Try to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day. 

  • Calculate your Body Mass Index

• Take a daily vitamin D tablet 💊

  • Everyone is recommended to take a 10mcg vitamin D tablet every day for healthy bones, teeth and muscles.

Diabetes and pregnancy:

If you are pregnant and you have diabetes, you should go on to have a healthy baby. But, there are some possible complications you should know about. For more information;

• Visit the NHS webpage on Diabetes and pregnancy
• Preparing for pregnancy if you have diabetes video

Had a positive pregnancy test? 

There is no need to visit your GP.

You can tell us you are pregnant using the online form (self-referral portal), if you are more than six weeks let us know and we can book you in for an ultrasound scan.

• Worcestershire self-referral form
• Herefordshire self-referral form

Useful information and resources

For expectant parents and families with babies and children up to the age of 5:

• Best Start in Life – Worcestershire
• Best Start in Life – Herefordshire

If you are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food, milk and vitamins:

• Healthy Start - Worcestershire
• Herefordshire Food Alliance

Further resources:

• Healthy eating in pregnancy - Start for Life - NHS
• Vitamins, minerals and supplements in pregnancy - NHS
• Planning your pregnancy - NHS

If you work with people who may want to access support, or know of a public facing or voluntary, community, faith or social enterprise organisation that could help promote the campaign, then there are a range of assets and materials available.

Please use the links below to download the assets:

• A3 poster
• A5 flyer
• Contact card

There are also a range of translated flyers available as links below to download:

• Arabic
• Gujarati
• Punjabi
• Polish
• Pashto
• Romanian
• Urdu

If you would like to speak to a member of our Local Maternity and Neonatal System team about other ways you can support the campaign, please email hwicb.lmns@nhs.net.