Pregnant women could be missing out on help with the cost of NHS prescriptions and healthy food, milk and vitamins. Midwives and other maternity professionals can help provide support and point them in the right direction. The NHS Business Services Authority shares information about the maternity exemption certificate and NHS Healthy Start scheme.
Pregnant women could be missing out on help with the cost of NHS prescriptions and healthy food, milk and vitamins. Help make sure they are getting the support they are entitled to. Find out more about the maternity exemption certificate and the NHS Healthy Start scheme, and how you can help.
- Pregnant women and new mothers can claim free NHS prescriptions when they have a valid maternity exemption certificate.
- Healthcare professionals can apply quickly and easily for maternity exemption certificates on behalf of patients using the digital maternity exemption service.
- NHS Healthy Start helps pregnant women and families on low incomes with the cost of a healthy diet, and many find out about the scheme from their midwife.
- Promotional resources are available to help you talk to women about support they could be entitled to.
Women who are pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months need a maternity exemption certificate to claim free NHS prescriptions.
The maternity exemption certificate entitles pregnant women and new mums to free NHS prescriptions. A valid maternity exemption certificate, not the pregnancy, entitles women to free NHS prescriptions and must be in place before they start claiming. The certificate can also be used as proof of pregnancy to claim free NHS dental treatment whilst pregnant and until 12 months after the birth.
If you are a midwife, practice nurse or health visitor, you can apply on behalf of patients using the digital maternity exemption service. The online application is secure, quick and easy to use. In 2024/25, over 500,000 applications were submitted through the digital maternity exemption service.
You can apply as soon as possible in their pregnancy and using the digital service also means instant access for patients. Paper FW8 forms can take up to two weeks to process and arrive by post, but if you issue a digital certificate and the patient provides an email address, they will receive their certificate straight away. In 2024/25, there were 574,000 maternity exemption certificates issued, with over 450,000 delivered digitally.
If a patient claims free NHS prescriptions without a valid exemption, they could face a penalty charge of up to £100. It’s their responsibility to check they are entitled before claiming free NHS prescriptions, but by issuing digital certificates promptly and providing clear guidance, you can help them claim correctly and avoid penalty charges.
Find out more and register for the digital maternity exemption service online at: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/digitalmatex
The latest NHS maternity exemption certificate communications toolkit is available on our media centre and contains resources to help you provide information for eligible women. You can download the free promotional resources from the toolkit.
More than 300,000 pregnant women and children benefit from NHS Healthy Start.
NHS Healthy Start is a scheme that helps pregnant women and families on low incomes to cover the cost of a healthy diet.
People on the scheme receive regular payments onto a prepaid card that they can use to buy fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk and infant formula. They can also get free Healthy Start vitamins.
Payments are currently worth £4.25 a week during pregnancy, £8.50 a week for babies up to one year old, and £4.25 a week for children aged one to four years. These amounts are set to increase from April 2026, so families will get even more value from the scheme.
Midwives have played a huge part in helping eligible people access this support – last year 32% of people who joined the scheme said they first found out about it from their midwife or health visitor.
You can help more families get this help. Talk to the women you work with about the scheme and encourage them to find out if they are eligible and apply.
People could be eligible if they live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four years old. They also need to receive certain income-related benefits.
If they are under 18 years old and more than 10 weeks pregnant, they are eligible for the scheme, even if they don’t receive any benefits.
People can find out more about the scheme and apply online at www.healthystart.nhs.uk. Applying takes around five minutes, and they get an instant decision.
Download free promotional resources to support your conversations from the NHS Healthy Start communications toolkit.
Contact details:
communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk
January 2026