Planning ahead

• Contraception (external)
  
• Health and wellbeing (external)
  Advice on nutrition, dental care substance abuse and disease during pregnancy
  
• Fertility (external)
• Pre-conception(external)
  Tips on diet and health in preparation for your pregnancy
  
  

Pregnancy and the birth

• A to Z glossary (external)
• Pregnancy (external)
  find out what to expect from experiencing the first signs, to having scans and tests. Also information about and your rights as a pregnant woman at work
  
• Finding out you are pregnant (external)
  The symptoms and signs of pregnancy and organisations offering information and support.
• Pregnancy calculator (external)
  enter your details and you will be provided with your own personalised pregnancy calendar
• Your choices for the birth (external)
  find out your options for birth, get information on pain relief and read about what will happen once your baby is born. Information for dads about the birth and baby's first days.
  
• Before the birth (external)
  Information on health-related issues and antenatal care.
  
• Labour and birth(external)
  Answers to questions you might have about the birth of your child.
  
• Midwives and hospitals (external)

After the birth

• Feeding (external)
  
• Registering a child's birth in Kirklees
  information and application form from the Kirklees Registrar's Office

Money and Benefits

• Benefits (external) including Statutory Maternity pay, Maternity allowance, Maternity Leave, Incapacity Benefits and SureStart Maternity Grants.
• Child benefit (external)
  Information about Child benefit. Claim as soon as your child is born or comes to live with you. If you delay, you may lose benefit.
• Claim child benefit online and notify of change of circumstance (external)
• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
  Please inform the Council of your change in circumstance
• New Deal for Lone Parents (external)
  New Deal for Lone Parents is a voluntary programme designed specifically to help lone parents who want to work. It is available to lone parents in receipt of Income Support and is operated through Employment Service Jobcentres.

• Child Support Agency (external)
  This agency assesses, collects and pays child support maintenance and ensures that parents who live apart meet their financial responsibilities to their children.

Childcare

• Childcare in Kirklees
  Information about childcare provision, both local and national, is also available via the ChildcareLink website (external)
• Kirklees Libraries
  PCs with Internet access have been made available in Kirklees libraries. This will enable carers and parents to access the Childcare Link website.

Housing

• Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing information

Health

• NHS information on Pregnancy and Childbirth (external)
• The Association for Post Natal Illness (external)

Care and Support

• Parent Support
  Parenting Support in Kirklees aims to help parents to meet the challenge of bringing up children