Free expert advice on how to stay healthy throughout your pregnancy, from stopping smoking to eating healthily
None of us are angels and falling pregnant simply won’t change that. Whether your vices are cigarettes, alcohol or simply a love of biscuits, certain habits are hard to quit but you can guarantee that your health will directly affect that of your unborn baby.
According to figures from NICE, 17% of women smoke during pregnancy and more and more women now enter pregnancy in an obese state. Not only does this put a strain on the health of mum-to-be, but babies of those who are less healthy are more likely to be born smaller, premature or, most tragically, still born.
Britain has the highest rate of premature birth in Western Europe and sadly this and other pregnancy complications such as miscarriage and stillbirth are more common than people think - every day in England and Wales alone 240 women experience a miscarriage, 112 babies are born prematurely and eight babies are stillborn.
From today, however, pregnancy charity Tommy’s will offer its PregnancyLine service free of charge, providing some welcome good news for mums-to-be or those struggling to cope following the loss of a baby.
Thanks to a grant from the Asda Foundation, Tommy’s has now been able to convert its existing helpline into a free phone number, to provide expert advice on healthy pregnancies to even more women.
The PregnancyLine is manned by qualified midwives who are available to give advice to women wanting to know how to have a healthy pregnancy, and those who need help with issues such as what to eat in pregnancy and quitting smoking.
The phone line will now also act as a bereavement counselling support service for women following a pregnancy loss and provide advice on how to plan for another pregnancy.
In our following podcast, Jacqui Clinton from Tommy’s and Tommy’s midwife, Emma Laing, explain how the helpline can work for you...
