Useful links
- Active Birth Centre
- Aims to provide information so people can be actively in charge of pregnancy, birth and early parenting.
- Association for Postnatal Illness
- Provides support to mothers suffering from, and increases public awareness of, postnatal illness.
- Association of Breastfeeding Mothers
- An organisation for mothers run by mothers, giving support and information to all women.
- Breastfeeding Network
- Aims to be an independent source of support and information for breastfeeding women and others.
- FathersDirect
- The UK's national information centre for fatherhood.
- Gingerbread
- The leading support organisation for lone parent families.
- Home Birth Reference Site
- Information provided by the home birth co-ordinator for the National Childbirth Trust.
- Independent Midwives UK
- Independent Midwives provide full maternity care throughout pregnancy and birth, offering true one-to-one support, particularly at homebirths. Testimonials from clients and analysis of outcomes can be compared on the website.
- La Leche League
- Aims to help mothers to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, information and education.
- Meet A Mum Association [MAMA]
- Created to try and help mothers who feel depressed and isolated when their babies are born.
- Miscarriage Association
- Provides support and information for those suffering the effects of a pregnancy loss
- National Childbirth Trust
- Aims to help all parents enjoy an experience of pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.
- NHS Breastfeeding Site
- Coordinated by the Department of Health to promote support for breastfeeding.
- NHS Direct
- NHS official website providing high quality health information.
- Royal College of Midwives
- Seeks to inform and influence policy that affects midwives and the women for whom they care.
- Student Midwife Support Network
- The Student Midwife Support Network is independently verified to be the busiest website for student midwives in the world.
- Twins and Multiple Births Association
- Nationwide charity providing information and mutual support networks for families of multiple births.
- Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative
- Aims to ensure that all parents are helped to make informed decisions about feeding their babies.
- Women's Health Information
- Information for women and their partners concerning pregnancy choices, complications and investigations.
- YogaBirth
- Information about practising yoga during pregnancy and labour.
More information on maternity unit types
Shared midwife and consultant units: This is the traditional hospital-based maternity unit staffed with doctors and midwives which account for the vast majority of births in the UK. These units have consultant obstetricians on staff and are able to deal with both complex and straightforward pregnancies and deliveries. Many will offer a choice of being under the supervision of a doctor or a midwife, although if there are complications you will almost certainly be put under the care of a doctor. These units are capable of carrying out all medical interventions in childbirth and can offer a full anaesthetic service, including epidurals.
Midwife-led units: These maternity units do not have consultants working in them and offer services for women who show no signs of having any difficulty giving birth naturally. Most of them are staffed entirely by midwives although in a few GPs with training in obstetrics also provide care.
By and large these units offer a very different style of care compared with consultant units. In general there are no anaesthetists to administer epidurals and no surgeons to perform caesarean sections. Interventions are very limited. Midwife-led units can provide an environment in which women are given support to give birth without medical intervention or high levels of drugs for pain relief. However, if you do get into difficulties at one of these units, you would be quickly transferred to a large hospital.