Ministers were struggling last night to keep control of the advice being issued over the swine flu epidemic as different health bodies gave out conflicting guidance.

The Royal College of Midwives said that pregnant women should avoid using public transport at peak hours, and the National Childbirth Trust suggested that women should delay trying for a baby until the pandemic was over.

Ministers distanced themselves from both ideas. One Whitehall official described the midwives’ advice as extreme, and acknowledged that the confusion created by the differing messages was not ideal. Alan Johnson, the former Health Secretary, described the childbirth trust’s intervention as scaremongering. “I think it’s an overreaction to say that women shouldn’t have babies during this period.”

Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the trust, the leading charity for parents, has said that although the risks for expectant mothers were low, women needed information to make an informed decision.

“If you are pregnant, you are slightly more susceptible to all infections. One of them is swine flu. It is important that pregnant women know that,” she said.

Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, will try today to reassert control by urging people not to panic despite the spread of the virus. A source said that he would ask people to make only “commonsense adjustments” to avoid the virus.

The Department of Health posted a new document yesterday containing previously issued advice on swine flu and pregnancy to a prominent position on its website.

Concerns were heightened after a woman with swine flu died last week soon after giving birth prematurely. The 39-year-old woman, who died in Whipps Cross Hospital, East London, was named by her brother as Ruptara Miah. The number of people in Britain to have died after contracting swine flu is 29.

The rapid spread of the virus will be detailed today in the final parliamentary statement on swine flu by Mr Burnham, before the House of Commons rises for its summer break.

Mr Burnham will confirm the launch this week of the National Pandemic Flu Service, which includes a telephone and website diagnosis and medication distribution service, as well as latest figures for hospitalisations and NHS pressure points. The figures show that younger women and very young children are among the highest risk groups, with NHS advice underlining that although the H1N1 virus is mild in the majority of cases, pregnant women are more susceptible to infections.

Health experts say that expectant mothers could suffer possible complications if they contract swine flu, such as pneumonia, breathing difficulties and dehydration, because they have suppressed immune systems.

Government health officials and doctors’ leaders said that it was important for women to plan their pregnancies carefully, but was not advising against trying to conceive.

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