Number of midwives registered to issue digital maternity exemption certificates reaches new milestone

Midwives, practice nurses and health visitors can register to issue digital maternity exemption certificates on the NHS Business Services Authority website.

Pregnant women and mothers with a baby under a year old need a maternity exemption certificate to claim free prescriptions. They can also use their certificate to prove their entitlement to free dental treatment.

There are some great benefits to using digital certificates instead of paper:

• It’s quicker – digital certificates are emailed instantly directly to mothers
• It’s easier – midwives don’t have to fill in paper forms
• It’s more convenient – mothers can show their digital certificate on their phone in the pharmacy, so they don’t have to remember their paper certificate

Around 65% of maternity exemption applications are currently digital, and this is increasing every month. More than 180,000 digital maternity certificates were issued digitally in the last 12 months*.

It is hoped that even more pregnant women and new mums can take advantage of the service being digital, if more midwives and healthcare professionals register to issue digital certificates. 

Register and find more information at www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/digitalmatex.