Information for parents and parents-to-be

Baby Buddy App

Baby Buddy is a free mobile phone app for parents and parents-to-be with personalised content approved by doctors and midwives that spans from pregnancy right through to the first six months after birth.

It's produced by Best Beginnings (see below).

If you use the app when you're pregnant, then it will be 'Bump Buddy' - helping you with pregnancy developments. When your baby is born, it changes to 'Baby Buddy', which will support you and your family through the first six months of your baby's life.

You can download Baby Buddy on Google Play and in the App Store.

There's also a web version - please see:

Baby Friendly Initiative

The UK Baby Friendly Initiative is based on a global accreditation programme of UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

It is designed to support breastfeeding and parent infant relationships by working with public services to improve standards of care he UK Baby Friendly Initiative is based on a global accreditation programme of UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is accredited by the Baby Friendly Initiative (please see below).

This website also includes some foreign language resources.

Basis (Baby Sleep Info Source)

Basis aims to "provide online access to up-to-date research based evidence about infant sleep, in forms which are accessible to parents and health professionals, supported by references to research relevant to families in the UK".

Their website includes lots of information on how and where babies sleep, and it offers advice on how to cope with sleeping problems.

There's also an Infant Sleep App, which provides similar information for mobile devices.

Best Beginnings

Best Beginnings is a charity dedicated to ending child health inequalities in the UK - to giving every baby the healthiest possible start in life.

Their vision is "a future in which all children in the UK enjoy excellent care from the very beginning".

They use innovative approaches to ensure families have the information and support they need to protect their children's health.

One of their newest innovations is the Baby Buddy App (see above).

Best Beginnings focuses on the time period between preconception and two years of age because "this is where the foundations for a healthy life are built".

Breastfeeding Network - Helplines

This registered charity provides breastfeeding support via a phone helpline.

Services are also provided for speakers of Welsh, Polish, Bengali and Sylheti.

Breastfeeding support groups in the Swindon area

A Google Map showing locations of Breastmates and Mum2Mum groups in Swindon and Wiltshire.

Click on the map for details about meeting days and times, and contact information.

Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme

Breastfeeding Welcome encourages cafes, restaurants and other venues to welcome breastfeeding mothers by signing up to the scheme, and displaying a pink and white sticker (pictured below, right).

If you're out and about with your baby, and you need to stop and breastfeed, then it's not always easy to find somewhere convenient.

To make it even easier to plan your day, you can look up breastfeeding welcome venues in your area, or somewhere you're just visiting, by postcode or place.

The sticker is a clear message: 'You are welcome to breastfeed your baby here'.

Building a Happy Baby

A UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative booklet containing useful advice for new parents.

DadPad

An online resource designed by new fathers and health professionals to better equip them through the transition to parenthood.

It includes practical information, in bite size chunks, on things like feeding, communicating and bonding with their baby, how babies like to be held and help to cope with less sleep.

Dads can dip in and out when they need to and get the information they need quickly and easily.

Essential Guide to Feeding & Caring For Your Baby in Wiltshire

A Wiltshire Council/NHS Wiltshire booklet produced as part of the Real Baby Milk project.

This contains general advice for new parents, detailed information about breastfeeding, and a directory of support groups in Wiltshire.

First Steps Nutrition Trust

The First Steps Nutrition Trust aims to provide "better information and support for good nutrition - and good food - from pre-conception to five years".

The website is divided into three main sections:

• Eating well in pregnancy
• Infant feeding
• Eating well - birth to five

Each of these sections includes useful general information, and more specific guides on things like vegan diets and nutritional information for pregnant teenagers.

Getting to know your baby

Getting to Know Your Baby is a website and an app to help parents and health professionals learn about how the emotional wellbeing of babies develops within close relationships.

It aims to update professionals with the latest research about infant mental health, so that the best possible support can be offered to families during the perinatal period.

It's the creation of the Warwick Infant and Family Wellbeing Unit (WIFWU), which is part of Warwick Medical School, at the University of Warwick.

Going home from the Maternity Unit (video)

If you are new parents, are expecting a baby or gave birth in the last six months, this video will teach you all you need to know about your newborn.

Guide to Formula Feeding

If you've chosen to bottle-feed your baby, then please take a few minutes to watch our short video containing useful advice on making up the bottle and then feeding your baby.

Health Visitor Services

Health visiting services work alongside midwives, nurses, general practioners, obstetricians and pediatricians, caring for families from conception until the age of five.

Children have a health review at specifica points in their development:

• At birth
• At age six weeks
• Between two and two and a half years

Healthy Start

If you are pregnant or have a child under four years old you could get Healthy Start vouchers to help buy some basic foods.

This important means-tested scheme provides vouchers to spend with local retailers.

Pregnant women and children over one and under four years old can get one £3.10 voucher per week.

Children under one year old can get two £3.10 vouchers (£6.20) per week.

Infant Feeding Padlet BSW MVP

Support and resources for infant feeding in Bath & NE Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire area - compiled by the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group).

Lullaby Trust

The Lullaby Trust provides specialist support for bereaved families, promotes expert advice on safer baby sleep and raises awareness on sudden infant death (also referred to as 'cot death'.

Working with the NHS, it runs a national health-visitor led service for bereaved parents, Care of Next Infant (CONI) programme, which supports families before and after the birth of their new baby.

They also support research into understanding why 600 babies a year die suddenly and unexpectedly in the UK and to find out more about how to prevent these tragic deaths.

Mum2Mum scheme (Wiltshire)

This is a free local advice and support service. 

It's run by volunteers - all of them mums themselves - who are able to pass on their experience to new mums.

Details of the venue where the service is available in Wiltshire are contained in the website.

My Mental Health Matters

Pregnancy and the period after childbirth are significant times of change in a woman's life.

It's common for women and their partners to experience many different emotions during this time.

Some women have mental health problems in pregnancy or after birth.

Perinatal mental illnesses are a range of conditions which affect up to 1 in 5 new mothers, including anxiety disorders and depression.  

A number of services and professionals offer help and support during pregnancy.

Your GP can provide information, advice and treatment, and can refer you to  psychological therapies or mental health services if needed.

At the booking visit ,your midwife will ask questions about your physical and mental health and social situation, and can help you to access any care and support you need.

NHS website: Why breastfeed?

As with all other health and medical advice, the NHS website provides plenty of useful information on breastfeeding.

Start4Life: off to the best start

A UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative/Start 4 Life booklet containing useful advice for new parents.

Pregnancy in Mind

Pregnancy in Mind is a new, preventative mental health service for parents-to-be that has been developed based on the latest evidence.

The service, which is provided by the NSPCC, is designed to support parents who are at risk of, or experiencing mild to moderate anxiety and depression during pregnancy and the first year after birth

Parents-to-be are able to attend between 12 and 28 weeks gestation (the middle trimester of pregnancy).

This links well with the Baby Steps programme, which begins at or after 28 weeks gestation, so that parents can get high quality support with their mental health as well as preparing for parenthood.

South West Neonatal Network

One of 12 clinically managed operational delivery networks for neonatal services in the UK.

It provides information, advice and support for parents and health professionals.

Start4Life: guide to bottle feeding

This is a government/NHS initiative built on the latest research by the World Health Organization.

It is fully aligned with NICE guidelines and UNICEF's Baby Friendly Initiative (see above).It provides "healthy tips and advice for pregnant women, new mums, dads-to-be, friends and family".

Swindon Breastmates

Swindon Breastmates is a network of free local breastfeeding support groups.

They are informal drop-in groups, run by mums who are not only trained in breastfeeding support, but who have breastfed, or in most cases who still are breastfeeding, their own children.

You and Your Baby

A useful booklet produced by UNICEF through its Baby Friendly Initiative.