A Bradford GP practice is helping refugees, the homeless, and asylum seekers with family planning. 

Bevan Healthcare plans to expand its ‘Starting Well’ preconception programme to help more people living across the district.

It empowers women and their families to improve their physical, psychological, and social wellbeing before becoming pregnant.

The practice supports over 5,500 people from ethnically diverse and highly deprived communities, including those experiencing homelessness, refugees, and people seeking asylum, who experience inequalities in maternal, perinatal and child health outcomes.

Dr Anne Connolly MBE, Bevan GP and leading women’s health expert, said: "There are many inequalities all women experience in society but there are inequalities within inequalities for the women we serve at Bevan."

Bevan has focused on preconception care since 2016 and supports over 700 women a year in Bradford.

The programme aims to ensure successful and healthy pregnancies and improve  lifelong health of future generations.

Families are provided with support and are encouraged to take control of their health needs. Practice staff – including GPs, nurse practitioners, social prescribers, and care coordinators – are trained to respond to complex needs, experiences, and life circumstances to ensure people get the right type of care. 

Community champions with lived experience and strong connections in their communities are also educated to share information about preconception health.