During your pregnancy we will regularly assess your and your baby’s health and wellbeing.

Every woman is cared for by midwives during their pregnancy. Some women will also be offered additional appointments with a doctor (an obstetrician) or other specialist healthcare professionals, depending on their needs.

You can self-refer as soon as you know that you are pregnant using our online self-referral form.

Telling us promptly will ensure you receive maternity care that considers all your health needs and preferences.

Within 2 weeks of your referral, you can expect to receive two appointments. 

  • Your ‘booking assessment’ appointment with a midwife. We aim to complete this by 9 weeks of pregnancy
  • An ultrasound scan appointment 

If your circumstances change before you receive your appointment, please contact the Maternity Admin Office on 0208 934 2290.

We aim to see women for their first appointment by 9 weeks of pregnancy or within 2 weeks of their referral. This appointment is with a midwife.

Depending on where you live, it will take place either at the hospital’s Maternity Unit or in a local clinic such as a Children’s Centre, health centre or at your GP surgery. Please click here for a map of the Hospital.

Your Midwife will discuss an individual plan of care with you. This plan will be based on information that you provide about your previous and current medical history and pregnancy history, as well as any social and mental health needs.

You will be offered several screening tests – these involve blood tests, a urine test, checking your weight and height and measuring your blood pressure. In some cases, the baby’s father may be offered a blood test to check for inherited conditions.

This video explains the different tests that are available during pregnancy and may be offered to you.

You will also be given information on nutrition and diet, antenatal classes, infant feeding workshops, maternity and paternity benefits, planning your labour and birth and where to have your baby.

You may have lots of questions to ask us. It’s important for us to find out what’s important to you. It often helps to write down what you want to say in advance, as it’s easy to forget once you are there.

You can discuss your options about where, when and how you will give birth at any time throughout your pregnancy. For more information about these options click here.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

During your pregnancy you will be offered several screening tests.

This first trimester screening leaflet explains the screening that is offered to all women at Kingston in the first trimester.

This video explains the different tests that are available during pregnancy and may be offered to you.
 

You will be offered two routine scans during your pregnancy. Scans take place either in the Maternity Unit at Kingston Hospital or at Raynes Park Health Centre.

We recognise that attending a scan is an important event for you and your partner, but we would respectfully request that you do not bring children with you for the following reasons:

  • A scan is a clinical examination to check the health of your baby and exclude abnormalities. The sonographer needs full concentration to ensure optimum assessment of your baby.
  • Children often find scans boring or upsetting because 90% of the pictures on the screen are sectional images of the baby’s anatomy and do not make sense to a child’s eyes.
  • If your child is upset or bored, the sonographer’s concentration may be affected and you and your partner will not be able to enjoy the scan.       
  • On the rare occasion that a problem is suspected, the presence of a child is very distressing for all concerned.

We do understand that in exceptional circumstances, lack of childcare may mean that bringing a child is unavoidable.

This scan is to confirm the pregnancy and calculate an accurate due date. It will also establish whether it is a single or multiple pregnancy. A basic anatomy check is performed.

A screening test for chromosomal abnormalities will also be offered, called the combined test.

This video explains what this test is about:

 

This scan is a detailed look at the baby’s anatomy, including major organs, limbs, face and the umbilical cord. The position of the placenta will also be identified. Assessment of the blood flow in the uterine arteries is performed to identify whether the pregnancy would benefit from extra growth scans in the third trimester.

This short video explains the purpose of the scan, and you can find more information about the second trimester scan on the government website:

To assist the sonographer in providing the best quality assessment we ask that you bring only one person with you to a scan to minimise distraction.

We are happy to offer our opinion on the gender of your baby, but this is not the purpose of the scan.

Scan photos are available at a cost of £5 for two to three images.

We may offer extra scans based on your and your baby’s health and wellbeing.

Growth scans
We recommend extra scans for women with diabetes, high blood pressure, some existing medical conditions and those expecting twins. We will also offer extra scans to women over 40 years old or who have a high or low body mass index (BMI).

These scans check the baby’s growth, the fluid around the baby and the blood flow to the baby through the placenta.

Early pregnancy scans
These take place in the Jasmine Unit which provides care before 18 weeks of pregnancy.

Pre-term cervical length clinic
A specialist scan clinic for pregnancies at higher chance of pre-term birth.

Fetal medicine scan clinic
Two Fetal Medicine specialists provide scans and clinical management for pregnancies where a complication may have been identified.

Scans are performed by sonographers, midwife-sonographers and fetal medicine specialists who are trained in fetal ultrasound assessment.

Pregnant employees have 4 main legal rights:

  • paid time off for antenatal care
  • maternity leave
  • maternity pay or maternity allowance
  • protection against unfair treatment, discrimination or dismissal

‘Antenatal care’ is not just medical appointments - it can also include antenatal or parenting classes if they’ve been recommended by a doctor or midwife. More information about pregnant employee rights is on the government website.

Maternity Action is the UK’s maternity rights charity dedicated to promoting, protecting and enhancing the rights of all pregnant women, new mothers and their families to employment, social security and health care.

Your care in each trimester

Please see below information about the care you can expect in each trimester of your pregnancy. 

Women are offered the following appointments:

Booking appointment – with a midwife

First trimester ultrasound scan – with a sonographer at Kingston Maternity Unit or Raynes Park Health Centre. Takes place between 11-14 weeks. A screening test called the combined test. This first trimester screening leaflet has more information about what to expect. 

This video explains what this test is about:

 

Please always bring your handheld records with you to every appointment.

In general, women are offered the following appointments with a midwife. Women may see other health professionals at these appointments (such as an obstetrician) or be recommended to attend additional appointments:

16 weeks midwife appointment 

Discuss results of initial blood tests and screening; blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; further information on a healthy pregnancy provided; infant feeding conversation. It is a national recommendation that you attend this appointment alone.

Second trimester ultrasound scan

This appointment is with a sonographer at Kingston Maternity Unit or Raynes Park Health Centre. It takes place between 18-21 weeks. This short video explains the purpose of the scan and you can find more information on the government website here: 

24 weeks midwife appointment (first-time mothers)

Blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; measure your baby’s growth

28 weeks midwife appointment 

Repeat blood test taken; blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; measure your baby’s growth; further information on a healthy pregnancy given; infant feeding conversation. You may want to have further conversations about planning your labour and birth and where to have your baby.

Please always bring your handheld records with you to every appointment. 

In general, women are offered the following appointments with a midwife. Women may see other health professionals at these appointments (such as an obstetrician) or be recommended to attend additional appointments:

32 weeks appointment (first-time mothers)

Blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; measure your baby’s growth.

34 weeks appointment

Blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; measure your baby’s growth; further information on a healthy pregnancy given; infant feeding conversation. You may want to have further conversations about planning your labour and birth and where to have your baby.

36 weeks appointment

Blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; measure your baby’s growth; further information on a healthy pregnancy given; infant feeding conversation; discuss signs of labour, labour and birth preferences.

38 weeks appointment

Blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; measure your baby’s growth.

40 weeks appointment

Blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; measure your baby’s growth. A membrane sweep may be offered.

41 weeks appointment

Blood pressure and urine sample tested; listen to baby’s heartbeat; measure your baby’s growth. A membrane sweep may be offered. You may be offered an induction of labour.

Our teams and locations for care

During pregnancy, all women are cared for by a team of midwives. The team allocated to each woman depends on where she lives and whether she has any additional risk factors.

If at booking or during your pregnancy any risk factors are identified, you will be referred to a Consultant Obstetrician or other specialist health care teams to further plan your care.

Our community midwives provide pregnancy care to all women whose home address is within our “catchment area” – this includes all of Kingston borough and parts of Richmond, Wandsworth and Elmbridge boroughs.

We aim to provide continuity of care where possible so that women are cared for by no more than 2 midwives throughout their pregnancy.

If you have a non-urgent concern, are calling about blood results, or want to schedule an appointment, please call or text your midwifery team – numbers are listed beneath each team. Calls and messages are monitored daily

If you have an urgent concern, and you are more than 18 weeks pregnant, please call our Maternity Helpline.

If you are less than 18 weeks pregnant, with any concerns, please contact your GP or visit your local Emergency Department.

Hampton and Ember Team

For women who live in East and West Molesey, Thames Ditton, Hampton, Claygate and parts of Esher and Teddington.

Kingston Team

For women who live in KT1 and KT2

New Malden Team

For women who live in parts of KT3 and KT4

Richmond Team

For women who live in Richmond, Ham and Barnes.

Ruby Team

For women who live in SW15.

Surbiton Team

For women who live in Surbiton.

Tolworth and Chessington Team

For women who live in Tolworth and Chessington

Antenatal clinic teams provide pregnancy care to all “out of area” women who choose to have their baby at Kingston Hospital. This includes women whose home address is outside our community “catchment area”.

We aim to provide continuity of care where possible so that women are cared for by no more than 2 midwives throughout their pregnancy.

To change or schedule an appointment, please call: 020 8934 2290

If you have a non-urgent concern please call 020 8934 3045.

If you have an urgent concern, and you are more than 18 weeks pregnant, please call our Maternity Helpline.

If you are less than 18 weeks pregnant, with any concerns, please contact your GP or visit your local Emergency Department.

Clinics are held in the following locations:

Antenatal clinic at Kingston Hospital Maternity Unit

Please click here for a map of the Hospital. Antenatal clinic is located on the Ground floor of the Maternity Unit.

Raynes Park Health Centre

For women who live in SW19 and SW20. For details about getting to Raynes Park Health Centre, including parking and public transport options, please see here.

Teddington Memorial Hospital

For women who live in Teddington and Twickenham

For details about getting to Teddington Memorial Hospital, including parking and public transport options, please see here.

The homebirth team provide pregnancy, labour and postnatal care to women planning a homebirth who live within our “catchment area” – this includes all of Kingston borough and parts of Richmond, Wandsworth, Elmbridge and Merton boroughs.

You can read more about our homebirth team.

The Bridge team works closely with women who need addition support with their mental health during pregnancy. We work very closely with our local perinatal mental health teams.

The Wednesday morning antenatal clinic is a joint perinatal mental health clinic with consultant obstetrician and consultant perinatal psychiatrist. We care for women with moderate or severe mental health issues either that were present prior to pregnancy or that have developed in pregnancy. Women with less severe mental health problems will be referred to local talking therapy services and cared for by midwives.

The perinatal mental health team has specialist mental health nurses and psychologists and can offer a wide range of treatments and support as well as advice on medication. Some women are offered a detailed pre-birth planning appointment at 32-34 weeks to make a comprehensive plan of care with both relevant close family members and health care professionals who are going to be involved around the time of birth.

Speak to your GP, midwife, health visitor or obstetrician if you feel you need our services and they can make a referral.

Mental health support

Wellbeing NHS services offer a range of free and confidential talking therapies and specialist support to help you feel better. They offer video consultation and group therapies, although they can tailor their support according to your personal and psychological needs. Each borough has its own self-referral pathway:

If you do not live in any of these areas, please ask your GP, midwife or health visitor and they can assist. Alternatively, you can use your postcode in the following link to find out which services are around you:

Useful link for resources: 

Support for partners of birthing people 

Information about sleep hygiene and mindfulness:

Support for birthing people postnatally

If you experienced birth trauma:

Support for refugees:

List of additional services:

Useful links

Please see our perineal health page, which explains the different types of tears that can occur during a vaginal birth, how to reduce your risk of deeper tears, and what we can do to help your recovery if you do tear. At Kingston our services include a midwife-led Perineal Health Clinic, Women’s Physiotherapy service and Urogynaecology clinic.

For women with pre-existing diabetes or who develop diabetes in pregnancy.

Diabetes Consultant

Mr Adam Jakes

Diabetes Specialist Midwives

Team leaders : Vicky Freedman and Jo Winterbottom

Midwives: Cath Tanner, Aminatta Dumbuya, Adele Stecconi, Victoria Gregory and Claudia Abrokwa

Diabetes Specialist Nurse and Dietitian

Mary Murray and Alison Kelly

How to contact us

Email: khft.diaban@nhs.net

Mobile (call/text/Whatsapp): 07385 949047

Or request a callback on the app. This is the best way to contact us.

Women who develop high blood pressure or have pre-existing blood pressure issues may be seen by our specialist hypertension consultant, Mr Nick Anim in the Antenatal Clinic.

The maternal medicine team cares for women with certain medical conditions and needs. We have a team of two specialist obstetric consultants – Miss Amanda Ali and Mr Adam Jakes – and three specialist midwives.

For women who are at increased risk of early spontaneous birth (between 24 and 34 weeks of pregnancy) or second trimester miscarriage (between 14 and 23 weeks of pregnancy).  Care is provided by a specialist Fetal Medicine Consultant and a specialist midwife.

If acute concerns regarding your baby are detected, then the Fetal Medicine team will recommend relevant tests and ultrasound scans and provide you with evidence-based care and information. We have two specialist Fetal Medicine Consultants.

For women expecting twins or more, we have a specialist Fetal Medicine Consultant and specialist midwife.

The breech team support women in their choices if their baby is found to be bottom first or feet first from 35 weeks of pregnancy.

We hold a regular clinic where we can discuss all your options with you, including trying to turn the baby (an ECV), planning a vaginal breech birth, or planning a Caesarean birth.

At Kingston we are committed to supporting your birth choices. You may be referred to the Birth Options team for further conversations about your choices. This might be because you have had a previous Caesarean, or you are requesting a Caesarean birth for your first pregnancy.

We have specialist midwives who also run regular workshops about birth options. You can read more about birth options here.

Our Consultant Midwife also sees women with additional complexities in their pregnancy who may benefit from personalised care planning to support their choices – particularly if they are choosing to give birth at home or in our midwife-led birth centre.

Congratulations on becoming a new mum or dad-to-be. Pregnancy can be very exciting but will also bring many new challenges. Please see below links to films about each stage of birth.

Films from Melissa Fox-Blach, our young parents midwife:

  1. Welcome to Kingston Maternity unit
  2. Early labour
  3. When your waters break
  4. Contractions
  5. Coming in to hospital and pain relief
  6. Induction
  7. Having your waters broken
  8. Monitoring baby during labour
  9. Pushing phase
  10. After baby is born