You may be entitled to help during pregnancy through a range of entitlements, including:

Sure Start Maternity Grant

This is a one-off payment of £500 to meet the needs of a new-born baby if you are on a low income. If you live in Scotland you cannot get a Sure Start Maternity Grant. You can apply for a Pregnancy and Baby Payment instead.

You can only get the Sure Start Maternity Grant for your first child that is born on or after 11 April 2011. If you already have a child you will only qualify for the Maternity Grant if you are expecting a multiple birth eg twins. You also need to be receiving certain benefits. Read more in our Sure Start Maternity Grant guide.

Help with health costs

You are entitled to free prescriptions and dental treatment if you are pregnant or have had a baby in the past twelve months and have a valid maternity exemption certificate. You may also be entitled to Healthy Start vouchers (Best Start in Scotland) to buy cow's milk, infant formula or fresh fruit and vegetables. This is for pregnant women and families on certain means-tested benefits who have children under the age of 4. Read more in our Healthy Start guide.

Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) may be paid by your employer.  You may be entitled to SMP if you have recently had a baby or are pregnant and you have had earnings to a certain level. 

If you are not entitled to SMP you may qualify for Maternity Allowance (MA) this is paid by the DWP.  To qualify you have to have been employed or self employed and MA is paid for a maximum of 39 weeks.

If you are not entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance

If you don't qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, you may be able to get Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) instead. If you have made a claim for Maternity Allowance you do not have to make a separate claim for ESA. Jobcentre Plus will automatically check to see if you can get ESA.

You should continue through the calculator to find out your entitlement to Child Benefit and Universal Credit. More information on other entitlements is on the results page.