Help & Support After Pregnancy

We know that giving birth to your baby is joyous occasion, however we also understand that it can be a scary and difficult time. At Bedford Hospital we have a lot of help and support available for parents.

Children’s Centres

Whether you are a mum, dad, grandparent, family member or carer, your local Children’s Centre provides a range of services from pregnancy to five years in a fun, family friendly and safe environment. You can see where your local Children’s Centre is and what is happening at ECP Bedford.

Listening service

At Bedford we understand that many new parents have a lot of questions about what happened during pregnancy and labour as well as what will happen after birth. Our midwives provide a listening service that offers new parents the chance to talk about and reflect upon their birth experience.

The service is open to both mum and dad and helps new parents make sense of what happened and ask any questions they have, it may also help you to prepare and plan for future pregnancies by talking through your previous birth experiences.

Up to one hour is allocated for each couple to talk about their birth experience, fill gaps and ask questions. Meetings are usually via video and appointments in these regular clinics can be booked via email or phone

If you feel that you could benefit from this service please email: ListeningService@bedfordhospital.nhs.uk or call 01234 792095 and leave a voicemail/email requesting the listening service with your, name, date of birth and date of birth of baby.

Infant Feeding Support

Our midwives will take the time to talk you through your feeding options, explaining about the value of breastfeeding and how to get it off to the best start. We understand that feeding is not just about nutrition but also about nurture and how important it is to develop the relationship between parent and baby in those first few days. We encourage skin to skin contact, not only for initiating feeding but as the perfect way to say ‘hello’ to your new baby. We will support you to recognise that your baby is feeding effectively and provide advice to help you with your feeding journey.

We have a designated infant feeding team who are available to support you should you run into problems in the early days and we work closely with the Community and Health Visiting Teams to ensure you are able to access the support when you need it.

Midwifery Parent Education Team

Our Midwifery Parent Education Team (MPET) provide women and their partners with high quality and up to date evidence based education in relation to pregnancy, labour and birth, infant feeding and transition to parenthood.

MPET also provide specialised classes to under 19s, multiple pregnancy, vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) and 3 hour Saturday antenatal programme.

Women who have used this service have found it very positive, with the majority of women rating the service as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’.

For information about classes that are held at Bedford Hospital and how to book, please view the 2015 link below or telephone 01234 795747.

For classes held within Central Bedford, please use the following telephone numbers:

Ampthill – 01525 631200
Biggleswade – 01767 224161
Flitwick – 01525 714008
Sandy – 01767 699019
Shefford – 01462 615115
Stotfold – 01462 730623

(These classes are run by the 0-19 Team and a Midwife covers the session on labour, birth and pain management.)

It is advisable to book your antenatal classes early and it is ideally suitable to book to attend the classes in the months that you are between 30-37 weeks pregnant. Please note that these classes do not include the tour of the Maternity Unit – this must be booked separately on 01234 795747.

If you should have queries, please contact MPET by e-mail mpet@bedfordhospital.nhs.uk.