Badger Notes

Badger Notes are going paperless - top banner

You'll be able to self-refer, track and update your ongoing pregnancy in real-time all from your smartphone.

Badger Notes is a paperless, electronic system that will give mothers more access and control of their own pregnancy records and care notes in real-time.

Found out you’re pregnant?

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

North Tees and Hartlepool is an NHS service providing a single point of access for all maternity referrals in the Peterlee, Hartlepool, Stockton and surrounding areas. The aim is to make sure you have access to the right care from day one. The Trust will triage your referral based on the information you provide and the hospital will contact you to start your antenatal care. In the meantime if you are worried about your pregnancy, please tell your GP straight away.

Please tell us about your pregnancy by completing the online referral form and a member of our team will be contact. If in any doubt, please contact our advice line 01642 624239.

Self-refer your pregnancy on Badger Notes

What is Badger Notes?

Badger Notes is an online system and app that allows you to access your maternity records from wherever you are. All you need is a PC, tablet device or mobile phone with access to an internet connection.

Your records are generated in real-time, with any updates from yourself or your healthcare professional updating immediately. Allowing you to access the information you need quickly and easily, and keeping your health professionals updated with any care updates.

Badger Notes allows you timely and convenient access to key information on your and your baby’s care, ensuring that any choices you make at each stage of your pregnancy is clearly recorded for professionals caring for you to see.

Benefits of using the system

Care plan – A week-by-week timeline of your pregnancy

Learn about your baby’s development
Access information recommended by your midwife
Learn about events likely to happen each week
View your booked appointments
Write a personal diary entry and add a photo
Enter your blood pressure or pulse oximetry readings if asked to do so by your midwife

Maternity record

View extracts of information direct from your medical record
View members of your care team
Watch the ‘antenatal care summary’ report grow into a record of some of your key pregnancy events

Conversations

Submit your thoughts and questions about your antenatal care, birth plan and postnatal care to your midwife – they will review this with you at your next scheduled visit

Leaflets

A full library of the Hospital’s Pregnancy Patient Information leaflets

Free digital data

Working with the Good Things Foundation and the National Databank we can provide free mobile data to women who meet the eligibility criteria access in order to access BadgerNotes.

Eligibility criteria:

Booked for pregnancy at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust or South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, over 18 years of age and:
- Have no or insufficient access to internet at home
- Have no or insufficient access to internet away from the home
- Are homeless with no access to internet
- Are unable to afford their existing contract or top up

To find out more, please discuss with your community midwife

BadgerNet Neonatal

We also use BadgerNet on our special care baby unit at the University Hospital of North Tees. The BadgerNet Neonatal system allows for seamless transfer of care should baby need additional support from our special care baby unit

Parents can login via smartphone or PC, to access a ‘Baby Diary’ – where they can receive diary entry updates and photos of baby while they’re staying with us. It also has a library of both local and national resources available to support baby and family.

The ‘One Baby One Record’ function also means patients notes are readily available for viewing across our departments and other hospitals if baby needs to be moved out of our North Tees unit for further care.

Frequently asked questions

How secure is it?

All information stored on Badger Notes is held securely and your notes cannot be accessed without the correct login details – similar to internet banking.

Badger Notes is powered by BadgerNet, the same secure platform used by healthcare professionals involved in your maternity care.

How do I create an account?

Once you have downloaded the application and accessed it on your mobile phone click ‘Create Account’

At your first (booking) appointment a passphrase will be given to you by your midwife to enable you to create an account. You will then be sent a verification text to your mobile.

Then follow the on-screen instructions to set a password and log in for the first time.

What is Badgernotes and how to register

Hello, my name is Gayl and I’m a digital midwife within the North East and North Cumbria.
Our maternity services have introduced a digital way for you to access and manage your maternity care.
This system is called Badgernet and it works alongside the app and website known as Badger Notes. Once registered, Badger Notes gives you real time access to your maternity records, which are updated by your maternity team.
Let’s take a closer look at how to register and use the Badger Notes app to support your pregnancy journey.
How do I register on Badger Notes?
Before you can see your maternity notes on Badger Notes, you’ll need to download and register for the app. Registering on the app is easy and will only take a few minutes.
Once you have been contacted by your community midwife, they will provide you with an activation passphrase. You’ll need this passphrase to register on the app, so keep it safe. If you don’t receive one, just ask your midwife.
If you’ve used Badger Notes in a previous pregnancy, you don’t need to start from scratch. You just log in using the same method and password you used last time. If you’ve forgotten your password, follow the forgotten password prompt to reset it. Once you’re in, tap the menu at the top and select “Add a care record.” Enter the new activation passphrase your midwife has given you. Your pregnancies will all be linked, but your current one will be the most visible.
If you’ve not used Badger Notes before, you’ll need to download the app. It’s free on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. If you prefer, you can register on the website at www.badgernotes.net
Once you’ve got the app, open it and tap “Create account.” Enter your email address and the activation passphrase your midwife has given you. Remember to wait at least 15 minutes after receiving your passphrase before using it so it’s fully active.
Once the activation passphrase has been accepted, you can choose how to complete registration. You can use the standard registration method or the NHS app link. The NHS app option can only be used if you have previously registered for an NHS app account. Whichever method you choose, make a note of it because you’ll need to use the same one to log in throughout your pregnancy.
Once you’ve created your account, the app will ask if you want to receive notifications. These are really useful as they’ll keep you updated about appointments and important information, so it’s worth switching them on.
If this is your first time using the app and you have not yet been for your booking appointment with your midwifery team, you will have the opportunity to complete the pre‑booking questions. This is a great opportunity to share important details about yourself, your partner, and your family’s health. That way, when you do have your booking appointment, your team will already have a good idea of your needs and can focus on what’s most important to you.
Once you’ve completed the questions, the app will take you to your care plan page, where you can see a timeline of your pregnancy week by week.
If you’d rather not use Badger Notes or can’t access it, your midwife can offer you paper notes instead. These contain all the same information, and we fully support whichever option works best for you.
That’s everything you need to know about getting started with Badger Notes. If you have any questions, just ask your midwife—we’re here to help.

What do I do if I can’t or don’t want to use Badger Notes?

We understand that not everyone may want to or have access to this digital service.

Badger Notes is an opt-in service and if you decline to use it you will still have access to your paper notes on request and will be able to keep track of your pregnancy journey in the traditional analogue way. You will not be disadvantaged by not using the service.

Need support?

If you are having any problems, please visit the Badger Notes FAQ for common issues and how to solve them.

If you have forgotten your password there is a ‘forgotten password’ link on the login page.

If you are struggling to resolve your issue, you can contact the Trust support team on [email protected]

How do I use the app?

Using the Badgernotes App through your pregnancy

Hello, my name is Gayle and I’m a digital midwife within the Northeast and North Cumbria. I’m going to talk to you about how to use Badger Notes throughout your pregnancy.
My care plan: In the care plan page, you will see a timeline of your pregnancy. Each week, your timeline will share important and interesting information about that week of your pregnancy. Just click on the week to open up the information. You can also add photographs or diary entries, and these are completely private and will not be seen by your midwife or doctor. Only you can see these in the app. It’s a wonderful way to look back on the progress of your pregnancy as well as to keep a diary about your thoughts and feelings during this time.
Your timeline also displays your planned events for each week, including booked appointments and routine checks such as scans and blood tests. Most importantly, this is where you’ll find all the patient information shared by your maternity team. This can help you make informed decisions about your care, and it’s important that you read any information that we share with you and ask your midwife or obstetrician any questions you have.
The maternity record: In the maternity record section, you’ll find a welcome letter from your chosen maternity provider. It offers congratulations and some information about what Badger Notes may contain. It also suggests help and advice for any serious concerns that you may have during your pregnancy.
Key details: Here, you’ll find essential pregnancy information, including your estimated due date and any personalized management plans that you have created with your midwife.
Ultrasound scans: This section records details of your scans, including your baby’s growth chart.
Antenatal care summary: This is where you’ll find a summary of most of the care you’ve received from your antenatal team.
Blood and microbiology results: If your care provider has reviewed your test results and entered them into the system, they will appear here. Abnormal results would never be included without contacting you to discuss them first. If your results aren’t visible, speak to your midwife about updating them.
View my care team: In this section, you can find a list of healthcare professionals supporting you throughout your pregnancy.
Conversations: The conversation section provides space to write your personalized care plan. These include prompts to help you with what to include, such as your preferences for pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period, religious beliefs, information requests, or questions you may have. Your maternity team can review these before your next appointment, and they will help to form discussions about your personalized care and support plans. If you have any immediate concerns, contact your maternity unit and do not use this feature.
Library: In the library section, you’ll find a collection of informative leaflets to support you in making decisions throughout your pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care. You can open them as many times as you need. You can also find a glossary or word bank of common terms used during your pregnancy and postnatal journey, which may help you understand the terminology used during your appointments.
The pull-down menu: The menu at the top allows you to edit your app settings. Here, you can update your contact details, add a new pregnancy, or set up notifications. You can also request a translation of some information into one of the top 10 spoken languages in the UK. Not all content is currently translatable, but the team is working on expanding this feature. If you need help with the app or any information leaflets, speak to your midwife for support.
Hospital contacts: Here, you’ll find important phone numbers for maternity advice and support.
Share my notes with my GP: If needed, you can choose to share your maternity record with your GP to help them provide the best possible care.
Feedback: Your feedback can help improve maternity services. The feedback option allows you to share your experiences, and with your consent, your feedback may be used to improve services or highlight excellent care.
Notifications: If you have enabled push notifications, you may receive information shared by your chosen care provider. Notifications appear under the bell icon in the top right corner.
That’s a quick guide to your Badger Notes app. If you have any questions or concerns about the app, it’s important to share these with your community midwife. We want you to have access to your maternity records and information at all times. Your midwife can help troubleshoot minor issues, but if needed, they can contact your digital midwife for further support. The digital midwife may contact you directly for additional help with the app. Your maternity team is here to support you every step of the way.

Video tour

Badger Notes app tour

Hello and welcome to this whistle-stop tour of the Badger Notes app!
If you’re new to Badger Notes the first step will be to create your account. All you need, is your email address and the secure passphrase that your midwifery team have provided.

You will use the secure passphrase as the ‘account activation phrase’.

You’ll be prompted to set up a password for your account and a quick access pin code, so your information remains secure while you are logged into the app.

If you have used Badger Notes before, for a previous pregnancy or baby diary, you’ll want to add your new pregnancy to your existing account. Simply log in to your existing account using the password you set and select ‘add a care record’ from the main menu.

You will be asked for the secure passphrase or ‘account activation phrase’ that the midwifery team provided for this new pregnancy. All your care records are then visible and accessible in the main menu.

Once your account is set up you will be introduced with a quick welcome tour. You can revisit this at any time in the main menu, which is where you can also find help and frequently asked questions.

If you need to change your email address or phone number on your account, you can do this in the app.

Your care provider might provide a pre-booking questionnaire to fill out on the app. You can continue to fill this in up until the date of your booking appointment.

After your booking is complete, you will have access to the week by week pregnancy summary view.

Your maternity care provider might want to send you push notifications or emails to remind you of appointments or provide information throughout your pregnancy – you can enable or disable these here. Your notifications are stored in your app here. Please check with your midwife what notifications your provider uses as not all organisations provide these.

In the Care Plan, you can follow the week-by-week development of your baby as well as any appointments you might have. Here you might see icons, telling you to take a blood pressure recording that week, for example. You can also access resources, provided by your care provider.

The reading icon lets you know that your midwife has set you some recommended reading for the week.

Some hospitals use the app to remind you of your appointments. Click on ‘appointments’ to filter the week view, to show you the weeks when you have an appointment. Just click on the appointment to view the details that the hospital has provided. Not all departments will place an appointment reminder on your app so you might want to add a diary entry for a specific week as a personal reminder of an upcoming appointment. You can also filter the timeline to view these diary entries.

Why not use the photo upload feature to upload a digital copy of your ultrasound scan photo, provided by your hospital, or even to track your bump?

Here you can view a summary of key events on your personal pregnancy journey that your midwife has chosen to publish to the app, from your medical record. Check out the antenatal care summary report to see a chronological summary of your journey.
Click a row to open an event up and view in more detail. The blood and microbiology test report places all your blood test results at your fingertips.

Your grow chart is also available here. If you encounter something that is ‘not published’ let your midwife know so she can get that published for you. Don’t be afraid to ask!

Contribute to your antenatal, birth and postnatal care plans by compiling your thoughts, feelings and preferences to share with your midwife at your next appointment via the conversations feature. If you have immediate pregnancy concerns or worries, don’t wait – just pick up the phone and call your midwife.

You can find contacts for your hospital team and named midwife in the main menu.
The library feature gives you access to the entire library of leaflets and resources provided by your hospital as well as a glossary, to help you understand any new medical terms you might encounter.

No phone? No problem. You can also access your Badger Notes account on our website: www.BadgerNotes.net

With the increase of remote appointments, you might want to share a view of the ‘maternity record’ section with your GP. To do this, access the main menu and set up secure access details for your GP. This access will last for one hour.

Check out the main menu to see whether your hospital would like your feedback on the care you’ve received.

We hope this tutorial was helpful, please contact your digital midwife if you have any more questions!

Apple store

To access the service on your iPhone, please search for the BadgerNet Maternity Notes in the app store (or click the below icon) and download
Once downloaded, tap on the icon in your home screen to open
You will need to register

Badger Notes on Apple Store

Android store

To access the service on your smart phone, please search for the BadgerNet Maternity Notes app in the Google Play store (or click the below icon) and download
Once downloaded, tap on the icon in your home screen to open

Badger Notes on Android Store