Maternity and neonatal
On this page
Information and support to prepare you for pregnancy, labour, birth and the early days of parenting.
Maternity and neonatal care at NHS Highland
Our staff are committed to working in partnership with you to provide you and your family with a safe, friendly, and effective service. We aim to deliver high quality maternity and neonatal care for all women and their families during pregnancy, labour and after the birth of your baby.
A named midwife will support you through your pregnancy. She will co-ordinate your care and explain all of your options for care and birth choices to you. Finding a midwife to help you through your pregnancy is easy. If you know you are pregnant, visit your GP practice and ask for an appointment with a midwife or you can refer yourselves directly to our maternity services.
You may find information in these sections useful when talking with your midwife at your booking appointment, which usually takes place around eight weeks into your pregnancy. It can help support any choices and decisions regarding your pregnancy in the beginning.
See also:
- Maternity and neonatal service redesign - within NHS Highland
- The best start: a five-year forward plan for the improvement of maternity and neonatal services in Scotland - from Scottish Government
Deciding where to give birth
Planning your baby’s birth is important. Your midwife will help you with this, and ensure you have all the information you need to make the right decisions for you and your family. We support women to have a choice of birth place, as this has been shown to have a positive effect on the birth experience.
Depending on where you live in the Highlands, you’ll be offered choices and advice as to where you can give birth. You might be offered:
- birth in a community midwifery unit supported by midwives
- a home birth
- birth in a hospital supported by midwives and doctors
Maternity in Moray
If you live in Moray and would like to make an expense claim for mileage or accommodation relating to the birth of your baby in Aberdeen, visit this page at the NHS Grampian maternity services website.
Important: Deciding where to give birth
Planning your baby's birth is important. Your midwife and obstetrician (if you have one) will help you with this, and ensure you have all the information you need to make the right decisions for you and your family. They will tell you what birth choices are available where you live and what you need to consider when deciding where to give birth.
Deciding where to give birth - more information at NHS informGive us your feedback
We are constantly looking to improve what we do and users of our service play a big part in this so please contact us to get involved. We welcome your comments on what you think we did well and where we could do better.
- Your opinions - NHS Highland feedback
- Care Opinion - independent feedback
