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Planning your pregnancy

When you’re thinking about getting pregnant it’s vitally important to work out with your partner whether this is the right time. It’s a commitment that will radically change both your lives. Discuss your dreams and ambitions and make sure that plans for a baby will fit with your plans for yourselves as a couple, and for you both as individuals.

Work out your finances

It’s important to consider your finances. Will you be able to afford to give your new baby everything it needs in terms of food, clothing and care? And will you be able to do this for at least the first 18 years of your child’s life?

Perhaps you’ll find you need some advice about benefits that are available for parents, or you may need to take some debt advice to help you manage your financial situation.

The Financial Regulator provides free, independent consumer information on financial products.

Consumer Information Centre – Tel: 1890 77 77 77

Think through your expectations

A new child demands a lifetime commitment to provide love, nurturing, nourishment, shelter, education and attention. So before you decide to have a baby, it's important that you and your partner look and see what is ahead. This is, after all, a decision that will change your lives forever. Some of the important questions to consider include:

• Are you both equally committed to becoming new parents?
• Have you thought through how you'll handle childcare responsibilities and the balance between work and your family life?
• Have you thought through the possibility that your child may be born with special needs or a disability? How would you cope?
• Are you ready to give up sleeping in on Sundays and arranging a babysitter every single time you want to go out without your baby?

Talk to your partner about stopping using contraception

If you and your partner have decided to try for a baby, it goes without saying that you will need to stop using your usual contraception methods such as a condom, diaphragm or the Pill.

If you've been using the Pill, some GP’s think that you should wait a few months after you've stopped taking it before trying to get pregnant, because your cycle may need some time to return to normal. If you do get pregnant while you're still on the Pill, stop taking it immediately and talk to your GP – there's a very small chance that it could harm the foetus.

Protection from STI’s

If you’ve been using condoms as your contraception method up to this point, remember they’ve also been protecting you from sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes, chlamydia, or HIV/AIDS. If you are suffering with any of these diseases they could also affect your unborn child, so if you think you’re at risk, have tests before you try and conceive.

It’s also worth making sure that you and your partner feel confident about having unprotected sex, and even having the appropriate medical tests to put both your minds at rest. If you or your partner believe you are at risk, it's extremely important to speak to your GP. Being screened and treated before you conceive can significantly increase your odds of a successful pregnancy.