Sexual health services offer advice on a range of issues, including contraception and emergency contraception, sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. Many offer free contraceptives as well as pregnancy and STI tests. You can find your nearest centre at NHS Inform.

If you think you might be pregnant and would like to speak to someone you can contact your local sexual health service or you can speak to your GP. You can find your local sexual health clinic at NHS Inform.

For further information and advice about sexual health and pregnancy visit the Sexual Health Scotland website.

Remember, you can still get free emergency contraception at most local pharmacies.

When life is difficult, Samaritans are here to listen – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find more information and support.

Relationship counselling helps people with their relationships. This can help you to work through problems in current relationships, explore the effects of past relationships or look at how to improve and enrich relationships for the future.

Relationships Scotland also supports parents, children, young people and the wider family through family change and disruption, particularly where this has occurred as a result of separation, divorce, civil partnership dissolution or family restructuring. The aim of family mediation is to improve communication, reduce conflict and to agree on practical, workable arrangements for the future, taking into account children’s views, needs and feelings.

Child Contact Centres can play an essential role in helping children affected by family breakdown to maintain relationships with the parent they no longer live with, or with other family members.

You can call Relationships Scotland's Info-Line on 0345 119 2020 for more information or visit their website at www.relationships-scotland.org.uk

Spark can offer you help to better understand your relationship, the changes that can happen when you become parents and how you can work through any issues. They offer couple counselling, marriage counselling, individual counselling, youth counselling and family counselling. Visit the Spark's website to find out more.

Rape Crisis Scotland provide support to survivors of sexual violence as well as their families. You can contact their helpline on 08088 01 03 02 everyday from 6pm - midnight. They can arrange for free language interpreters, including British Sign Language, to access support if your first language is not English.

They also have a number of Rape Crisis centres that offer free and confidential support.

The Parenting Plan is a guide for parents who live apart or who are going through a separation. It gives you the help you need to plan out visits and care, to make sure your wee one is happy and taken care of. There is also the Charter for Grandchildren which gives grandparents helpful tips on how they can support you and your kids.

Children in Scotland have practical advice to help parents who don’t live with their kids to be involved in their education.

Shared Parenting Scotland is here to help parents stay in touch with their children after divorce or separation. They have a useful FAQ section and practical advice to help parents who don’t live with their kids to be involved in their education. You can also contact them by email on info@sharedparenting.scot or call them on 0131 557 2440.

Family life is full of ups and downs and decisions to make. But there's a lot of good, support and information available for parents and carers. At the Parenting across Scotland website you can access free parent resources, support networks and parent helplines on a range of topics. 

Parent Network Scotland is a national charity that offers a range of support, training and family wellbeing programmes. Through their online Parent Academy, families can benefit from accredited programmes, certificated courses, learning new tools and techniques that enhance family life.

Amongst PNS's Parent Academy free courses is the initial Wellbeing Toolkit course, which includes 4 x 1.5 hour sessions over 4 weeks, a certificate of completion, a thank you voucher at the end of the course, and an opportunity to continue your learning through their Parenting Matters course, which leads to an SCQF- level 5 accredited qualification in Supporting Family Relationships. If you’re interested, please fill in the form here.

You can find out more about all Parent Network Scotland’s free parenting classes and courses here.

You can contact PNS at: 

• www.parentnetworkscotland.com
• Johannaq@pns.org.uk
• jenm@pns.org.uk

One Parent Families Scotland aims to enable single parent families to achieve their potential, to reach a decent standard of living and contribute to Scottish society. They offer expert advice and support for single parents about anything from dealing with a break-up, sorting out child maintenance, understanding benefits, getting benefit calculations, finances when expecting a baby, paying for study and training, to moving into work and much more. Our direct services tailored to the needs of single parent families cover: 

• tailored advice and information
• welfare rights and money advice
• family support
• support into training, education and employment programmes
• training for practitioners
• services to reduce the digital exclusion facing single parents.

Contact them through their freephone helpline on 0808 801 0323 or via their online chat.

We all know that being a parent can cost a lot of money. The Money Talk Team can help you find out about benefits and grants you’re entitled to, and offer advice to make your money go further, as well as advice about any debt you may have. If you have money worries, the team can chat through your options and help you find the best way forward. Call them on 0800 028 1456 or visit your local Citizens Advice Bureau or the Money Talk Team website.