To show how the NHS Number is used in practice, Jas, a member of staff at NHS Connecting for Health, agreed to let us follow her through her pregnancy to see how her (and her baby's) NHS Number is used.

Read Jas's story as she went through the various stages of her pregnancy.

For more information on the NHS Number and babies download a copy of the NHS Number and babies leaflet (PDF, 1.3Mb).

Meet Jas

Jas Panesar

Hi I'm Jas and I worked for NHS Connecting for Health's NHS Number programme whilst I was pregnant with my second child.

When I was pregnant with my first son, I must admit that I was completely unaware of the NHS Number and how it is used within the NHS.

I had no idea that my NHS Number was unique to me and that my son was also allocated an NHS Number when he was born and that this would be his number from birth for the rest of this life.

I agreed to write this diary as I wanted to find out how my own NHS Number would be used during my second pregnancy and how my baby would be allocated an NHS Number after he was born.

Hopefully other mums-to-be will read this diary and realise the advantages of using their NHS Number and how important it is.