hotukdeals: Tips on how to save money during pregnancy and early parenthood

London, Wednesday 22nd February, 2017: With Valentine’s Day over and done with and to celebrate the launch of HUKDParents, the new social media page for deal-savvy parents from hotukdeals, the deal sharing community has provided this guide on what expectant parents can sign up to and ways to save money during this expensive time.

Boots parenting club: Expectant parents can sign up to the Boots parenting club, which is available for advantage card members. The scheme offers members 10 x advantage card points for every £1 spent on baby products until the baby reaches the age of three. Boots also send tailored offers during each stage of pregnancy and baby age to help along the way such as free gifts, money off clothing and 25% off expectant mum products.

Emma’s Diary: Emma’s Diary is one of the UK's leading baby clubs for mums-to-be. By signing up you get over £100 of Argos money off vouchers, gift packs and vouchers tailored to each stage of your pregnancy and photo book offers. Some members of hotukdeals suggest setting up a different email address for this and other freebies to avoid junk emails in your main email account.

Mothercare club: Joining the Mothercare club gives you access to discounts such as 20% off maternity clothes; £10 off a £100 spend; £5 off a £50 spend on footwear, toys and clothing; 20% off toys for your child’s birthday along with tips and personalised emails to help during the different stages of pregnancy.

Free prescriptions and NHS dental treatment: Expectant mothers are entitled to free prescriptions and NHS dental treatment from when a pregnancy is confirmed until the baby is one. Ask your midwife for form FW8 (for prescription exemption) and MATB for free dental treatment.

Nappies: As parents you will go through mountains of nappies, whether reusable or disposable. Whichever method you decide on you can get free samples of Aldi nappies, as well as baby wipes, to try via NetMums, which helps towards those never-ending costs.

Grants and vouchers: Some women may be eligible for a Sure Start maternity grant to the value of £500 to help with the cost of a new baby. This is only available if it is your first baby or if you are expecting a multiple pregnancy and if you are on certain benefits and the payment will not affect these benefits. Expectant parents could also qualify for Healthy Start vouchers. If you are on child tax credit or income support you could qualify for free vouchers in pregnancy towards milk, fruit, vegetables and infant milk. You can also get free vitamins. Find out more here.

Childcare vouchers, an employee benefit for eligible working parents, are government approved and a tax efficient way of helping to cover the expensive costs of childcare. By joining the scheme either parent or both parents can pay up to £55 a week via their wages, of which they will not pay tax or NI, to exchange for childcare vouchers, making savings of up to £933 per parent, per year. The vouchers are deducted through salary sacrifice through your employer and can be used for any registered childcare provider or holiday club up until a child reaches the age of 16. Find out more here.

Check your maternity rights: When pregnant, you are entitled to paid time off for antenatal appointments and when you are on maternity leave you also accrue holidays and are eligible for pay rises that other employees are getting. You can check your maternity rights and look at your statutory maternity pay projections by putting your dates and wages in the calculator here.

Don’t forget the Dads! Check out what fathers are entitled to in terms of paternity pay. Dads are also entitled to time off to attend two antenatal appointments as well. Find out more here.

To find more deals and tips on saving money during pregnancy and early parenthood as spotted by the members of hotukdeals, please visit http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/pregnancy-baby-megathread-things-need-do-know-2605599