Full Antenatal Course

comprehensive face-to-face Course

Full Antenatal Course

An About Birth and Babies full antenatal course will cover everything you need to know about birth and early parenthood. The courses are comprehensive, face to face and interactive. They allow plenty of time for discussion and questions, include practical tools and strategies for labour, birth and early parenthood and to top it off, we hope you have a lot of fun and make some new friends along the way.

Our aim is to provide you with all the knowledge, confidence and skills needed so you feel in control and have a calm, positive birth and early parenting experience, no matter how your baby is born. We would also like you to feel fully prepared and empowered to ask questions and trust your natural instincts in order to make the best choices for you and your baby.

There are typically six – nine pregnant woman with birth partners on a course which is a tried and tested model. You’ll have the opportunity to socialise and get to know the others and we’ll have the time to devote to you and your individual needs. Courses are sixteen hours long; fourteen of these will be packed with antenatal education and two hours dedicated to meeting up after your baby is born. Our postnatal socials happen every few weeks. We bring together parents from a number of different courses, giving you the opportunity to extend your social network further.

Ann was fantastic from the word go. She asked us what we wanted to get out of the course. This flexible approach meant that each topic had been requested by at least one couple within the group. Ann was accommodating and approachable throughout, showing genuine interest in our pregnancies and excitement for us as we grew closer to parenthood; a well suited tutor for such an important time in our lives. Sarah, Beccles

What’s included in our birth and parenting preparation courses?

What to expect physically and emotionally before, during and after birth and suggestions of what you can do to prepare
Your antenatal and postnatal support team – who’s in and who’s out!
Place of birth; home, midwifery-led birthing unit, delivery suite
Stages of labour and birth
Recognising signs that your labour has started and is becoming established, when to call a midwife to attend at home/make the move to hospital
Understanding the delicate blend of hormones and creating a safe, calm birth environment
Birth partner’s role and toolkit; practical ideas, skills and strategies for pregnancy, birth and early parenthood
Coping strategies for a comfortable, upright birth with an emphasis on keeping active and working with your body; bringing together practised breathing techniques, visualisation, relaxation, positions, movement, distraction and massage
Pain management; self-help and medical options
Induction, assisted birth and caesarean birth; what’s involved and why they might be offered in plain, simple terms
Being aware of choices and options throughout this journey, having the confidence to ask questions, use decision making tools and trust your natural instincts to allow informed (rather than fear-based) decision making
Practical babycare such as bathing, nappy changing, safe sleeping, crying and winding
Feeding; breastfeeding, formula feeding, expressing, mixed feeding
Expectations around the transition to parenthood and life with a newborn baby including perinatal mental health

As specially trained facilitators in adult education as well as antenatal education, we will encourage your participation through activities and discussion. Our pregnancy classes are interactive because we know you will learn better by doing things as well as talking about it!

Hypnobirthing essentials are woven throughout all About Birth and Babies courses to help you manage any anxieties and feel more calm and relaxed. When we say essentials, we’re referring to things like breathing techniques, creating an environment where you feel safe, practising massage and understanding the role of hormones. We also offer a unique combined course. By opting to ‘bolt on’ two dedicated hypnobirthing sessions, we will walk you through the more in-depth practice of hypnobirthing.

You will be invited to join a closed WhatsApp group so you can keep in regular contact with your teacher and others on your course. Your teacher is always (well nearly always!) available to support you throughout your journey to parenthood and during the early weeks if you need help with breastfeeding or general reassurance. We’ve had multiple children between us, so we know only too well what it’s like to be a new parent!

Did we also mention that our antenatal courses are multiple award-winning and we’ve received numerous 5* reviews from some very kind clients?! You can read some of them below!

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back massage for labour, antenatal course norwich

     Excellent  
     Based on 96 reviews 
    
 
 
   
 
 
        
   George Webster 
 2024-05-15
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Fantastic course covering a wide range of birthing topics. Really useful advice connected to baby care and feeding and a great way to meet other couples and share experiences.
  
 
       
   Robert Hawkes 
 2024-04-29
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. If I could give this course more than five stars I would. About birth and babies (and Sian especially) is a complete must for any expecting parents. The course itself fully prepared us for the birth of our first child. It gave us confidence to make informed decisions before the birth and (when things didn’t go to plan) it allowed us to make rapid informed decisions throughout labour. However, what really stands for me is the incredible after care that Sian gave us after the birth. Like (most?) expecting dads I gave little thought to the days and weeks after the birth, with most of my attention focused solely on the birth itself. When my wife ran into some really worrying and painful breast feeding problems Sian was there for us every step of the way to help resolve this issue. Without her interventions (some of which were in unsociable hours) we would have given up on breastfeeding. Can’t recommend highly enough. Rob and Ola
  
 
       
   Jessica Matthews 
 2024-04-11
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We have just finished our private 1:1 antenatal course with Sian, and we would absolutely recommend. She is very thorough, and has a lot of knowledge about each subject. We felt that she covered everything, & we are now prepared for our journey ahead. We loved that the classes were very hands on as it gave us the opportunity to practice.
Sian has since sent us multiple handouts & recommendations for us to look back through, which we are finding useful as the classes were a lot to take in. Going forward if we were to have another baby we would definitely choose About Birth & Babies & will also highly recommend to anyone having a baby. Sian is fantastic! We can’t thank her enough.
  
 
       
   Suzanne Merrylees 
 2024-04-09
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We took Sian's antenatal class and so very pleased we did!  She is extremely knowledgeable about everything babies and we felt so well informed and ready for when baby arrived.  She gave us the confidence and information we needed to have the labour and birth we had hoped for.  She has a huge network of contacts throughout Norfolk which made finding other services stress free.  Excellent value for money and I could not recommend more highly.  Thank you Sian!!
  
 
       
   goneforsix 
 2024-03-11
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Extremely knowledgeable, Sian guides you through the birthing experience, and care of your baby in a friendly and informative way. Plenty of opportunities to discuss things as a group, ask questions and review topics if needed. I particularly enjoyed the practical elements.
  
 
       
   Gemma White 
 2024-03-05
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. My husband and I have just attended this course with Sian. She provided a wealth of practice examples and information and we would definately recommend her.
  
 
       
   Harpreet Mandair 
 2024-01-29
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. 100% recommend for any parents who have plenty of questions and want to be as prepared as possible.

We both learnt a lot about pain management options during labour as well as the important roll your birthing partner plays. My husband definitely felt more confident and prepared about what was to come and so did I.

Met some lovely people who were due around the same time as us. So glad we  made the decision to attend these antenatal classes.
  
 
       
   Catherine Fitchew 
 2024-01-29
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Sian is so knowledgeable. We learnt so much during our antenatal classes and really enjoyed every minute. We would highly recommend About birth and babies antenatal classes. Thank-you Sian! X
  
 
       
   R W 
 2024-01-29
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Just finished the Full Antenatal Class with Sian. Found it so helpful and learnt loads about pregnancy, labour and baby care. Sian is excellent and incredibly knowledgeable. Was a great chance to meet other parents too. Would recommend this class to any new parent as we are feeling so much more prepared and confident now!