Support for a healthy pregnancy
Eating well, being active and having regular check-ups and scans – during and after pregnancy – are all essential for your and your baby’s health and wellbeing.
We fund the Pregnancy, Birth and Baby website, which supports parents to:
- plan for pregnancy
- understand fertility
- understand how to have a healthy pregnancy
- get check-ups, screens and scans
- understand the stages of pregnancy, discomforts and potential complications.
Our work to support parents to have a healthy pregnancy also includes:
- the Your Healthy Pregnancy campaign site, which provides information about nutrition, physical activity and wellbeing
- physical activity guidelines to help you be active safely during and after pregnancy
- advice on ways to avoid bladder and bowel problems caused by pregnancy.
Support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Culturally safe maternity and midwifery care is essential for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers and babies.
We fund programs that improve access to this care to help give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies the best start to life:
- The Australian Nurse–Family Partnership Program (ANFPP) – supports women who are pregnant with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander baby until their baby is 2 years old.
- Birthing on Country models of care – provide culturally safe midwifery care to women who are pregnant with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander baby.
Vaccination and pregnancy
Some infectious diseases can cause serious harm to pregnant women or their unborn babies. It’s important to be up to date with vaccinations before you get pregnant, if possible. You can get some vaccines during pregnancy, too.
Read more about:
- immunisation before and during pregnancy
- protecting yourself against the Zika virus, which is a potential cause of microcephaly.
COVID-19 and pregnancy
COVID-19 is more dangerous for women who are pregnant. The best way to reduce your risk is to get vaccinated.
Read about:
Preventing harm from drinking and smoking during pregnancy
The safest option when pregnant is to not drink alcohol and not smoke at all.
Even a small amount of tobacco smoke and alcohol can harm an unborn baby's development and have lifelong negative impacts.
Drinking alcohol can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), which results in physical, mental, developmental and emotional impairments.
To support expectant parents and health professionals, we fund:
- Pregnant Pause, which encourages Australians to go alcohol-free during their pregnancy or the pregnancy of loved ones
- NOFASD Australia, which provides a free national hotline (1800 860 613) for enquiries about FASD and connection to support services
- FASD Hub Australia, which provides evidence-based resources about FASD for parents and carers, researchers, health professionals and healthcare providers
- a national campaign to raise awareness of the risks of drinking alcohol while pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.
- a 10-year national action plan to reduce the incidence and impact of FASD in Australia.
Mental health during pregnancy
We fund programs to ensure expectant parents can get mental health support. This includes the Pregnancy, Birth and Baby website, which supports parents to:
Clinical care during pregnancy
An important part of having a healthy pregnancy is getting the health care you need when you need it.
We support expectant parents to access health care through:
- the pregnancy care guidelines for maternity care providers, which cover physical examinations, screening tests and lifestyle advice
- Medicare-subsidised pregnancy care, including ultrasounds and blood tests
- Medicare-subsidised fertility and IVF treatments
- Medicare-subsidised pregnancy support counselling services, which can be about any concerns you have about your pregnancy.
Read more about what Medicare covers during your pregnancy.