The 5 best free pregnancy apps in the UK

If you got here by searching "baby go app", I should say it straight away: there isn't one. BABYGO® doesn't have an app, and if you've found something with our name on it in an app store, it isn't us.

What we do have is Follow Your Bump, which is the useful part of an app without the download. You give us your due date and we send what to expect, what to do and what to sort, week by week, to your inbox. More on that in a minute.

And if you're here for actual apps, the five below are the free UK ones worth your phone storage, checked against their own store pages, with no star ratings and no download counts, because those tell you nothing about whether you'll still open it in week 23.

Before you download anything:

• All five apps here are free to download. Pregnancy+ and Bounty sell optional extras inside the app; Baby Buddy, BabyCentre and Emma's Diary list no in-app purchases on the App Store.
• Baby Buddy is run by the charity Babyzone, is advert free, and is written for mums, dads and co-parents.
• The NHS has its own free week by week guide online, from week 4 to week 41, with emails for your stage.
• If your maternity unit uses Badger Notes, your notes and appointments live there, and the unit tells you how to sign up.
• Don't use an app, or a home doppler, to check on your baby. The NHS says a home doppler isn't a reliable way to check your baby's health, and movements are the check.

Is there a BABYGO® app?

No, and I'd rather say so than have you hunting.

We're a UK maternity and baby brand: support belts, birthing balls, leggings, the pregnancy book that comes in the box. We haven't built an app, and I won't dress an email up as one.

What we do instead is Follow Your Bump. Tell us your due date and each week you get an email with what's happening, what to do and what to sort, timed to your week rather than a generic day one. No download, no account, and you can stop it any time. There's 10% off your first order in there too, when you're ready for one.

What to look for in a free pregnancy app

Most of these apps do the same core things: a week by week guide, a countdown, a place to log symptoms and appointments, and a name finder you'll use once.

The differences are in who wrote the content, whether it nags you to pay, and whether it does anything for the person who isn't pregnant.

• Who's behind the words. A charity with Royal College endorsements, a brand, or a publisher. It changes how the health advice reads and what it's selling you.
• Free, or free to start. Check the in-app purchases line on the store page before you get attached to a feature that turns out to sit behind a subscription.
• Partner mode. Some let a partner or co-parent follow along on their own phone with their own content. Most don't.
• UK content. NHS terms, UK appointments, your hospital. An app built for another country will talk about things your midwife never will.
• What it doesn't do. None of them can check your baby's health, and the NHS says not to use a home doppler for that either. Movements are the check, and your midwife is the call.

The five free pregnancy apps worth downloading in the UK

Baby Buddy. Made by the charity Babyzone (it started life at Best Beginnings), free, advert free, and endorsed by several Royal Colleges, the midwives and the obstetricians among them. Daily tips from pregnancy to your child's second birthday, written for mums, dads and co-parents, and you can share it with a partner so you both get it.

If you only download one, this is the one.

Pregnancy+. Philips Digital UK's app, free with paid extras. Week by week articles, interactive 3D baby models, a kick counter, a contraction timer and partner sharing. The 3D models are the reason people pick it, and the paid tier is the thing to check before you get attached to a feature.

BabyCentre. The UK edition of the BabyCentre pregnancy tracker, from Everyday Health, free with no in-app purchases listed. Week by week guidance, a big community, and it carries on through the first year once the baby's here. The community is the draw: whatever's happening to you at 3am, someone in there has posted about it.

Emma's Diary. Free, no in-app purchases listed, from Lifecycle Marketing (Mother and Baby). Week by week through pregnancy and on to age two, a name finder, and the reason most people download it: the free sample packs and the discounts. It's a marketing app that's honest about it, and the packs are real.

Bounty. Bounty Joy's app, free to download with a paid Bounty Plus tier. Week by week updates, local hospital information, and the Bounty packs and vouchers people know it for. Bounty's own site also lists midwife chat and expert content, so check which of those sit behind Plus before you count on them.

The app you don't choose, your maternity notes

Many NHS maternity units now keep your notes digitally, and a lot of them use Badger Notes, an app and website where your appointments and care plan sit, with NHS login.

You don't pick it.

Your unit tells you at booking if they use it and how to register, and if they do, it's the one app in this list you'll open at every appointment.

And the free option that isn't an app at all: the NHS's own week by week guide to pregnancy runs from week 4 to week 41 and lets you sign up for emails for your stage. It's the one I'd read alongside any of the apps.

Questions we get asked

Are pregnancy apps free in the UK?

The five here are all free to download. Two of them, Pregnancy+ and Bounty, sell extras inside the app, and Baby Buddy, BabyCentre and Emma's Diary list no in-app purchases on their App Store pages. Read the in-app purchases line before you get attached to a feature.

Which pregnancy app is best for dads and partners?

Baby Buddy, by some way. It's written for mums, dads and co-parents with their own daily content, and it can be shared with a partner. Pregnancy+ has partner sharing too. Follow Your Bump goes to whichever inbox you give us, so a partner can have the weekly email as well.

Which app do UK hospitals use for maternity notes?

It varies by trust. Badger Notes is a common one, and Bounty's app carries local hospital information. Your booking appointment is where you find out what yours uses, and you'll be told how to sign up.

Can an app check my baby's heartbeat?

No. Don't use an app for that, and the NHS says not to use a home doppler to check your baby's health either, because hearing a heartbeat doesn't mean your baby is well. If your baby's movements change, call your midwife or maternity unit straight away. Our heartbeat piece has the NHS wording in full.

Where do the free baby samples and freebies come from?

Emma's Diary and Bounty both list free sample packs and discounts as part of their apps, and that's the deal: your details in exchange for the packs. We don't do samples. We do 10% off your first BABYGO® order through Follow Your Bump.

Whichever app you land on, the pregnancy collection is for the weeks when the notification says your baby is the size of a mango and your back says otherwise.

This is general guidance from the BABYGO® team, not medical advice. Your midwife or GP knows your pregnancy; ask them if anything here doesn't fit your situation.