Antenatal Classes - Midwife Appointments - Keeping in Touch Days

Antenatal Classes

You are entitled to paid time off work for antenatal classes. In accordance with Agenda for Change terms and conditions, “antenatal care” may include relaxation and parentcraft classes. It is expected that, where there is a choice, appointments will be made outside working hours. You may be asked for verification of the relevant dates after the first appointment.

Midwife Appointments

These are similar to hospital or GP appointments : you have a right to attend as many midwife appointments as is necessary for you. If these are arranged during working hours you should be given time to attend. It is worth trying to ensure your appointments don't fall during on call or nightshifts if at all possible (you often know in advance what "week" of pregnancy they will fall) and it is always best to give your relevant ward team adequate notice.

Keeping in Touch (KIT) Days

KIT days are optional for employees. If you would choose to arrange some days integrating back into the workplace before formally returning to work, these are known as "keeping in touch days"
You are allowed to work ten of these days prior to returning to work and they can be arranged at your convenience with the agreement of your line manager.
These days can be used for workplace activity (Wards, clinics, attending induction), training (including catching up on Mandatory Training / Learnpro) or other Educational events - including study related events such as conferences.

IT IS WORTH REMEMBERING that NHS Lothian currently only allows you to take these days when you are in your ‘Additional Maternity Leave period’. This is when you are either receiving SMP only or no pay (around 6 months post childbirth onwards).
Additionally, you cannot take KIT days whilst on Annual Leave - so keep this in mind if you plan to take accrued annual leave prior to returning to work as you will have to arrange KIT days prior to this. Another consideration is that (usually) you may need to source childcare whilst on a KIT day, so don't feel pressure to arrange or agree to these too far in advance if you are not sure what your circumstances will be with regards to this.

Payment for these days will be at the appropriate hourly rate for your clinical level, similar to staff bank rates for locum pay.