Pregnancy care (also called antenatal care) is the care you have while you're pregnant to help keep you and your baby as healthy as possible.
You do not usually need to see a GP. If you're registered with a GP, they'll be told about your pregnancy after your first midwife appointment.
If you have a long-term health condition or are taking medicine, you can refer yourself for NHS pregnancy care but you also need to see a GP or your specialist. This is to discuss any changes to your care or medicine.
How to refer yourself for NHS pregnancy care
When you use this service, you'll need to enter a postcode, town or city in England to find local NHS trusts with maternity services. You can choose which NHS trust to refer yourself to. You can change your choice at any time during pregnancy.
Most NHS trusts use an online form to refer yourself. If you cannot refer yourself online, the NHS trust's maternity website will tell you other ways to contact them.
After you refer yourself, the maternity service will contact you to book your first midwife appointment. This appointment should happen by the time you're 10 weeks pregnant where possible.
If you're more than 10 weeks pregnant you should still refer yourself to start your pregnancy care as soon as possible.
You can cancel your referral at any time by contacting the NHS trust.
Start nowHealth in pregnancy
Find out about health things you should know in pregnancy to keep you and your baby healthy, including taking folic acid every day, stopping smoking and avoiding alcohol.
Find out about common symptoms in pregnancy.