The National Teenage Pregnancy Midwifery Network

Best Beginnings is committed to improving outcomes for young parents and their children by supporting midwives to develop and deliver maternity services to meet their needs.

What is the National Teenage Pregnancy Midwifery Network?

Founded by two teenage pregnancy specialist midwives in 2001, the online network aims to improve maternity services for young parents and their children by:

Collecting evidence on what works to improve outcomes
Enabling midwives (and others) to share good practice and innovative work ideas
Increasing support for midwives working with young parents
Producing an e-newsletter twice a year covering policy, practice, research and resources

Read the National Teenage Pregnancy Midwifery Network Newsletters

Who is the network for?

The network is primarily aimed at midwives working with young parents or with an interest in teenage pregnancy. It includes family nurses, health visitors, young parent workers, infant feeding advisers, peer supporters, commissioners and anyone else interested in the contribution maternity care can make to improving outcomes for teenage parents and their children. It is a free service with over 600 members who receive the e-newsletter 3 times a year and are invited to contribute their own practice or research experience and ideas.

The newsletter is featured on CHIMAT’s website and in guidance from the Department of Health, Public Health England and the Royal College of Midwives.

Getting maternity services right for pregnant teenagers and young fathers. A practical guide for midwives, doctors, maternity support workers and receptionists (3rd edition, 2015)

To contact or join the network please email [email protected] with your name, position and work address.

NOTE: Apologies but we are not able to help students with essays or work experience

Resources for young parents-to-be and young parents

App for young parents-to-be and new parents
Baby Buddy free phone app for parents-to-be and new parents from parent and child charity Best Beginnings.

Publications for young parents
Young mum to be (Kids Premiership)

My pregnancy my choice, You and your baby (CHANGE)
Your pelvic floor (leaflet designed by teenagers)

Websites for young parents
littlelullaby.org.uk - Little Lullaby - 'The place for young parents'. Information, chatrooms for young parents, buddying scheme
www.beastar.org.uk/ - breastfeeding website for young mums
Young dads TV - Youtube channel with videos for young dads

Resources for practitioners

Healthy eating
Pregnant teenagers and diet  (Tommy’s)
A short guide for professionals who work with pregnant teenagers but don't have specialist training in nutrition.
Eating well in pregnancy: A practical guide to support teenagers (First Steps Nutrition Trust)
A detailed and practical guide including affordable recipes.

Smoking cessation
Talking about smoking in pregnancy (Tommys)
A short guide for professionals who work with pregnant teenagers, focusing on evidence and practical strategies.
Smoking cessation for teenagers workshop  (18.10.06 conference)

Young fathers
Working with young fathers workshop (18.10.06 conference)
Fatherhood Institute research briefing: Young FathersPreventing unplanned second pregnancies
Preventing unplanned second pregnancies - models of service delivery (Network paper)
Antentatal/postnatal sexual health care pathway (Nottingham)
Antenatal contraception care pathway (Hull)
Postnatal contraception care pathway (Hull)

Resources developed by network members

Teenage pregnancy guideline (with needs assessment and care pathway) (Morecombe Bay)

Care pathway for pregnant teenagers (Durham and Darlington)
Care pathway for pregnant teenagers (Liverpool)
Care pathway for pregnant teenagers (Gloucester)
Care pathway for pregnant teenagers (Nottingham)

Care pathway for pregnant teenagers (Mid Essex)
Social History form (Liverpool)
Needs assessment form (Dudley)
Postnatal phone consultation (Liverpool)
Assessment criteria matrix (Isle of Wight)
Referral criteria to teenage pregnancy midwives (Nottingham)
Hierarchy of specialist support ( Burnley)
Data collection form (Burnley )
Referral flow chart (Wakefield)
Audit tool (Gloucester)
Assessing Gillick competency (Bristol)

Publications for practitioners and commissioners

A framework for supporting teenage mothers and young fathers (Public Health England 2016)

Getting maternity services right for pregnant teenagers and young fathers. A practical guide for midwives, doctors, maternity support workers and receptionists (3rd edition, 2015)

Teenage parents: who cares? A guide to commissioning and delivering maternity services for young parents (2008)
Multi-agency working to support pregnant teenagers: a midwifery guide to working with Connexions and other agencies (2007)

Teenage pregnancy statistics

Referenced_statistics_on_teenage_pregnancy_2016.docx

Office for National Statistics conceptions for 2015 (published 2017). Under 18 conceptions in Table 6

Young parents' experiences

Herbert_2016_Exploring_teenage_mothers_experiences_of_support_services.pdf

Job descriptions for teenage pregnancy midwives

Anon area Strategic TP midwife job description
Brighton TP midwife job description
Buckinghamshire TP liaison midwife job description
Gloucestershire TP liaison midwife job description

Latest

Pregnancy and Baby Charities Network Manifesto
Small Wonders Change Programme - now an e-learning tool for health professionals

It has been almost three years since we first approached Health Education England about the possibility of adapting the Small Wonders Change Programme for the purpose of professional development, as an e-learning programme. We are happy to announce that it's finally happening
Sophie's fundraising page

I am fundraising for Best Beginnings because I am in awe of the work that they do and would love to raise funds for my birthday.
Parent Leaders Project

The Parent Leaders Project aims to create opportunities for the seldom heard voices of marginalised women most likely to experience not only maternal mental health issues but also significant barriers to access local services.

Baby Buddy app

The free multi-award winning app for parents and parents-to-be endorsed by the Department of Health and other leading health organisations in the UK.
Breastfeeding Videos

On this page you can watch the From Bump to Breastfeeding DVD videos. From Bump to Breastfeeding guides you through all the questions, and talks to young mums about what it’s really like. The videos follow four mums who decide to breastfeed their babies - it will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about breastfeeding and how to do it successfully.
From Bump to Breastfeeding

From Bump to Breastfeeding is a project to support women with breastfeeding. It includes a set of films following the journey of mums who decide to breastfeed their babies to provide support and information for parents. Learn more here.
Parents with learning disabilities
5. Graphic of a baby attaching on the breast
Parents who use drugs
Out of the Blue

Mental health resources to support parents who may experience a wide range of emotional problems: from generalised low mood and anxiety to severe depression and postpartum psychosis. Best Beginnings' participation in the Heads Together campaign, spearheaded by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The National Teenage Pregnancy Midwifery Network

Working to improve outcomes for teenage parents and their children by developing maternity services to meet their needs. Learn more about the National Teenage Pregnancy Midwifery Network here.
4. The early days and weeks
Our Vision

Our vision at Best Beginnings is that parents of all backgrounds have the knowledge and confidence to look after their own physical and mental health and to maximise their children's potential.

We are recruiting more Parent Panelists!

At Best Beginnings we believe in the power of collaboration to create and provide quality-assured and evidence based information for families. All of our content is co-created with parents and healthcare professionals and vetted by external Healthcare bodies and parents. Read more