This session focusses on how you can stay well during your pregnancy and optimise the health of you and your baby, whilst preparing for labour, birth and the postnatal period.  Topics covered in this informal Q&A session include information on physical and emotional wellbeing and top tips for getting your body and mind ready for the changes that occur during pregnancy and in early parenthood. This session focusses on how you can stay well during your pregnancy and optimise the health of you and your baby, whilst preparing for labour, birth and the postnatal period.  Topics covered in this informal Q&A session include information on physical and emotional wellbeing and top tips for getting your body and mind ready for the changes that occur during pregnancy and in early parenthood. 

This session helps you to understand why you may be offered induction of labour and the choices you have surrounding this, as well as an overview of what happens during the different induction of labour methods.  We discuss information surrounding outpatient induction of labour, induction of labour on the antenatal ward and induction of labour when you have previously had a caesarean.  This session is led by experienced midwives who will be able to answer any questions you may have to support your decision-making and help you to prepare for the process if you have been offered induction.

 Taking a holistic approach to your options for pain relief and comfort measures during labour, this session helps to inform you and your support partner(s) about the pain relief options available to you during the early and later stages of labour and helps you to understand what is happening in your body when you are in labour.  Information on relaxation, massage and hydrotherapy will be covered, as well as the pharmacological options such as gas & air, opiate injection, PCA and epidural, which will help you to optimise your birth planning appointment with your community midwife at 36 weeks.

Not sure if homebirth is an option for you, but want to know more? Come and join our established homebirth information meeting which takes place every month and meet other parents who have chosen to, or are thinking about choosing to birth their baby at home. This evening is an informal and friendly session, and is an opportunity for you to consider another option for place of birth.

There is more than one way to have a baby, and this session covers all the different modes of birth that you may have heard of, but still have some questions about.  Our experienced midwives will discuss vaginal birth and instrumental vaginal birth, as well as what happens during urgent and elective caesarean sections. 

For both first-time parents and anyone who has had a baby before its useful to be armed with the knowledge about how to care for yourself and your new baby in the early days so that you can optimise the health of you and your baby.  This session will cover essential self-care and what to expect physically and emotionally as a new parent, as well as the basics of how to care for a new baby, including changing a nappy, bathing your baby and safe sleep.  This session complements our infant feeding team’s Infant Feeding workshops (click here for more information).