Maternity patient information
Find out what to expect when you come to hospital for your appointment.
Patient information leaflets
- Coronavirus: Looking After Yourself and your baby in pregnancy
- Coronavirus: Planning Your Birth
- Eating well for mothers who are expressing
- Ferinject
- Follow up care for contraceptive intrauterine device IUD fitted post-birth PPIUC
- Having a maternity scan
- How to start breastfeeding
- Hiring hospital-grade breast pumps
- HIV and breastfeeding your baby
- Induction of labour for pregnancy lasting longer than 41 weeks
- Parent information for newborn babies
- Planning your birth
- Preventing and treating anaemia during pregnancy
- Safe sleeping for your baby at home
- Self monitoring of blood pressure during pregnancy
- Staying with your partner overnight
- Suspected or confirmed COVID 19 in pregnancy
- Visiting our maternity wards
- What do I need to bring in for my baby/babies while they are in the neonatal unit
Mum and Baby App
We recommend the free Mum and Baby App which you can download from the Apple or Google App store. The app provides information about your pregnancy journey.
Join our Instagram community
Follow @imperialmaternity on Instagram for regular updates, and information on the different areas of care which we provide.
Other sources of information
Click on the links below to view trusted online sources of information to support you during your pregnancy journey
- Antenatal advice (information to support you during your pregnancy)
- Physical health during pregnancy
- Antenatal problems during pregnancy
- Preterm
- Labour and delivery
- Breastfeeding resources
- Mental health and wellbeing in pregnancy
- Medical disorders in pregnancy
- Postnatal Recovery (information to support you after birth)
Antenatal advice (information to support you during your pregnancy)
The guideline includes recommendations on:
- organisation and delivery of antenatal care
- routine antenatal clinical care
- information and support for pregnant women and their partners
- interventions for common problems during pregnancy
- Antenatal care information supplied by the maternity charity Tommys
- Vaccinations in pregnancy: Information supplied by the maternity charity Tommys
- Information supplied by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- Information if you are having more than one baby
- Reducing blood clots in pregnancy
- Smoking in pregnancy
- Baby’s movements in pregnancy
- Medicines in pregnancy
- Cervical smears in pregnancy
- Improving bowel function, and information on consitpation
- Antenatal perineal massage topreventing tearing during birth
- Options on where to give birth
Physical health during pregnancy
Pelvic floor exercises
Vitamins in pregnancy
- healthy eating and vitamin supplements in pregnancy patient information leaflet
- Get help to buy food, milk and vitamins
- Being overweight in pregnancy and after birth
- Musculoskeletal problems in pregnancy including carpal tunnel and thoracic pain
Exercise videos in pregnancy – Yoga and Pilates in pregnancy
Breastfeeding resources
Antenatal problems during pregnancy
- Having a small baby
- Obstetric Cholestasis
- Pelvic girdle pain
- Placenta praeviaACENTA PRAEVIA
- Pre-eclampsia and raised blood pressure
Group B streptococcus
- Group B streptococcus gbs in pregnancy and newborn babies
- Group B strep, Strep B and pregnancy
- Group B strep support
Information about preterm birth
- Cervical suture in pregnancy
- Antenatal steroids and prematurity
- Preterm birth
- Waters breaking in preterm birth
- Preterm birth risk
Labour and delivery
- Instrumental delivery -ventouse and forceps
- Birth after a caesarean
- Blood transfusion
- Baby in the breech position BABY (head up)
- Considering a caesarean birth
- Cord banking in pregnancy
This guideline includes new and updated recommendations on
i. information and decision making
ii. induction of labour in specific circumstances
iii. methods for induction of labour
iv. methods that are not recommended for induction of labour
v. assessment before induction, monitoring and pain relief
vi. outpatient induction
• prevention and management of complications
- Antenatal perineal massage – preventing tears
- Perineal tears
- Shoulder dystocia
- Third and fourth degree tears after childbirth
- Cord prolapse in late pregnancy
Mental health and wellbeing in pregnancy
- Pandas charity – PND awareness and support
- Mental health wellbeing resources provided by the maternity charity Tommy’s
- Blogs and community support around mental health wellbeing
- Getting help and support with mental health
- Pregnancy and post-birth wellbeing plan
- Wellbeing tips
- Wellbeing workbook provided by Kings College London
Medical disorders during pregnancy
- Pregnancy induced diabetes
- Beta thalassemia in pregnancy
- Chicken Pox in pregnancy
- Epilepsy in pregnancy
- Genital herpes in pregnancy
- HIV in pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease in pregnancy
- Thrombosis in pregnancy
- Malaria in pregnancy
- Pre-eclampsia and raised blood pressure
Postnatal recovery (information to support you after birth)
- Exercise videos for after pregnancy – Yoga
- Exercise after pregnancy
- Pilates in pregnancy
- Fit for the future - essential exercises after childbirth
- Recovery after caesarean section
- Perineal healing after vaginal delivery
- Bladder and bowel incontinence
Pelvic health information -Information provided by the NHS
Pelvic health information provided by the maternity charity Tommys
- Pelvic floor exercises
- The squeezy app – which helps to remind you to do your pelvic floor exercises
Post-birth contraception
The injection:
The coil:
- The hormonal coil (or hormonal intrauterine device, LNG-IUD)
- The copper coil (or copper intrauterine device, Cu-IUD)
- Follow up care for contraceptive intrauterine device (IUD) fitted post-birth (PPIUC)
The hormonal implant:
The progestogen only pill (POP):
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