Parenting and Baby Care

UK sources of information and / or support

 Parents Online

UK web site for parents by parents. Covers all aspects of parenting including education, leisure and health. There are activities, worksheets from Letts and games to download and the chance to join in topical online debates.

 Parentline Plus

Charity which offers help to anyone parenting a child - parents, step-parents, grandparents and foster parents. Parentline Plus runs a freephone helpline, courses for parents, develops innovative projects and provides a range of information for parents.

 Direct Gov

Directgov is the place to turn to for the latest and widest range of public service information. Includes a section for parents dealing with issues such as having a baby, child care, money, employment, adoption, etc.

 Centre for Fun and Families

A national voluntary organisation with charitable status. The Centre has been set up to assist families where parents are experiencing behaviour and communication difficulties with their children and teenagers.

 Parent Lifeline

Parent Lifeline began operating as a registered charity in January 1978. They offer emotional support and understanding to parents under stress of any kind, whatever the ages of their children.

 Cry-sis

Offers supportfor families with excessively crying, sleepless and demanding babies.

 Disability, Pregnancy & Parenthood International

A small UK based registered charity, controlled by disabled parents, which promotes better awareness and support for disabled people considering, during and after pregnancy and as parents. DPPi is a charity for disabled people who are already parents and their families, those who wish to become parents and their families and also for health and social work professionals and other individuals and organizations concerned with disability and/or pregnancy and parenting.

 Disabled Parents Network

Run by disabled parents, their allies and family members, disabled people who would like to be parents in the future and others who are already grandparents. DPN puts disabled parents and would-be parents in touch with each other. You can be linked to disabled parents who have a similar disability to your own, or who have found their own solutions to the challenges you are facing as a parent.

 Home-Start

A leading family support charity in the UK. Home-Start volunteers offer friendship, support and practical help to families with at least one child under five years old. Reasons why parents and families come to Home-Start include bereavement, children's behavioural problems, disability, domestic violence, ill health, isolation, poor housing, post natal depression,poverty, relationship difficulties, single parenthood and twins or triplets.

 Parenting UK

Parenting UK is the national umbrella organisation for people who work with parents. Their aim is to promote best practice in the field through the National Occupational Standards for Work with Parents, supporting good practice, keeping members informed about new developments in the field, providing opportunities for members to network and informing policy makers about best practice and what is needed.

 Single Parents UK

Information, advice and first-hand experiences to help you manage and enjoy life as a single parent.

 Jane's Breastfeeding and Childbirth Resources

Information on breastfeeding, pregnancy & childbirth. It has access to the best and most wide-ranging breastfeeding information on the Internet.

 Positive Parenting Publications UK

PP's aim is to provide information, resources and training to equip parents and those who support them.

 Real Nappy Association

A central source for information and advice on all nappy-related issues. The Real Nappy Hotline provides practical support and tips (including advice on adult incontinence).

 Child Alert

Offers reference and guidance on parenting topics including safety and wellbeing. Site includes topical news stories and products.

 Jellybabys

Useful free baby and parenting advice and a chat forum for all newparents.

 Baby Chaos

Help and advice with all aspects of having a baby.

 Baby Directory (The)

The leading UK-based pregnancy, baby and under fives guide.

 Baby Registry (the)

Pregnancy and parenting information/reference site for new and expectant parents in the UK. 1000 pages of factsheets, advice from mums and dads and hundreds of contacts.

 Babyworld

Parenting website for new and expectant parents to find advice and support. Information on all aspects of parenting, daily updates, competitions, celebrity news, a friendly and thriving community, experts include GP, midwife, health visitor, breastfeeding counsellor, online antenatal classes run by NCT antenatal teacher, babynamer and pregnancy planner.

 Twins And Multiple Births Association

A registered charity in the United Kingdom for all parents with twins, triplets, quads, sextuplets or more. The organisation provides information and mutual support networks for families.

 WATCh? What about the children?

A national charity which promotes parental responsibility with particular emphasis on the emotional needs of children during their crucial first 3 years.

 Care For the Family

Care for the Family aims to promote strong family life and to help those hurting because of family breakdown.

 Monitor My Baby - baby monitor specialists

Specialise in all baby monitor types - at discounted prices. Theseinclude digital and analogue audio baby monitors, audio/visual babymonitors and sensor baby monitors.

 Clever Little Things

Inovative products for babies and children. For example, products to help with feeding, sleeping, safety, etc.

See also the Patient UK Pregnancy and Childbirth page and Children's Health page.

Further sources / more detailed information

Some non-UK sites

The following list popular non-UK health information sites with content aimed at the general public. They are mainly from the US. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included but these large sites are comprehensive.

• Non-UK disease / illness sites
• Non-UK self-help / support group sites

More detailed medical information

The following list online sources of more detailed medical information, mainly from the UK. These sites are mainly aimed at health professionals, but are of interest to all. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included, but information about most medical topics can usually be found.

• PatientPlus - hundreds of medical reference articles provided by Patient UK.
• Evidence Based Medicine - such as from Clinical Evidence, The Cochrane Library, etc.
• Database of UK Clinical Guidelines - from NICE, SIGN, Clinical Knowledge Summaries, etc.
• Medline - abstracts available from thousands of journals.
• Sites listing free online medical textbooks and journals.
• Sites listing free medical images - pictures, atlases, anatomy, skin diseases, etc.