NHS Forth Valley Maternity Services has introduced a new email service to make it easier for pregnant women to make their first appointment with a midwife.

The new email address pregnantfv@nhs.net , which will be available from Monday 6^th October 2014, allows women to book an appointment to see a midwife at the earliest opportunity in their pregnancy to ensure they receive appropriate care and advice with support from other health professionals, as required.

The new email service will run in conjunction with the existing telephone booking line (01324 567146) which is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am until 1200 noon.

Gail Bell, NHS Forth Valley’s Deputy Head of Midwifery, explained: “We want to get the message out to women across Forth Valley that as soon as they have a positive pregnancy test they should book their first appointment with a midwife, so that their individual support plan is put in place and a strong relationship can be built up. Many women use email these days and we hope that by introducing the new email service, in addition to the telephone line, will make it easier and more convenient for woman to contact the service to arrange their first appointment.”

Posters promoting the new email address will be displayed in GP surgeries, pharmacies, community centre’s, nurseries, libraries and family centre’s to advise women to email or call for an appointment with their midwife as soon as they know they are pregnant .

While women are being offered the option of a midwife as first professional contact, they also have the option of seeing a GP at any point in their pregnancy.