East Surrey Antenatal Education Providers
Whether you’re looking to educate yourself on your birth choices or make some new friends, antenatal education is vital.
When we feel we’re not in control of a situation or don’t understand what is happening around us it creates fear.
There is no place for fear in birth. Fear makes us tense and produce adrenaline, the antidote to oxytocin! If I asked you to touch a kitchen hob but you didn’t know whether it was hot and going to hurt you your whole body would tense in anticipation of pain. You might tap it tentatively a few times before relaxing and realising it’s not what you were expecting, that’s the feeling you need for birth. For years we’ve been conditioned to believe child birth is painful, that we need epidurals and pethidine, that it’s the worst pain imaginable. Child birth when you’re tense is painful which perpetuates the cycle: fear>tension>pain>fear. It really is time to change the narrative around birth and you can be a part of that (but that’s probably a-whole-nother blog post!)
When exploring the birth world you are likely to come across the phrase “informed decision making”. It’s useful to know that everything in maternity care is an offering; inductions, c-sections, scans, vaccinations, membrane sweeps, blood tests, vaginal examinations. It’s essential to understand those offerings to know whether you want to accept or decline them. Most antental educators will tell you to consider your options using BRAIN
Benefits- what are the benefits of having this done/not done?
Get the data behind the facts: “you’re twice as likely….” is useless information, if something has a really low risk it might be that 0.03 of people are affected, but being twice as likely is only 0.06. Ask questions! Get answers.
Risks-what risks are involved? always consider your personal circumstances, if you’ve been marked as high-risk what factors are the reason you’re in this category; age, weight, BMI, ethnicity, what are the risks of choosing to decline?
Alternatives- what else can be done? If you’re being pushed for an induction, perhaps a membrane sweep could be done instead, or constant monitoring of the baby
Intuition - what feels right? Trust your instincts ( I can’t emphasise this enough)
Nothing- sometimes no action is needed, and just a little time and space to breathe.
Now you know why antenatal education is important, how do you choose the one that’s right for you? A few factors to consider when making your deicions:
In person or virtual
Location
Session dates/times
Course content
Cost
What you want to get out of it
We’re so lucky that locally there are so many options in the East Surrey area, below is a few of the popular ones, please note that at the time of writing this article the days/times were correct but these are obviously subject to change.
Happy Parents Happy Baby (Reigate)
Held at Reigate Manor Hotel (on Reigate Hill near the Esso garage)
5 in person sessions on Tuesdays 7-9pm
4 online sessions on Thursdays 7.30pm
Includes hypnobirthing
£199 for two people. We also offer a single-parent discount
Bump and Baby Club (Reigate)
Held at YMCA Sovereign Centre
5 in persion sessions on Mondays 7-9pm
£210
Hypnobirthing
If you’d rather a more personalised education, or smaller groups with a focus on building confidence to birth your baby. Hypnobirthing is a great toolkit of resources that help you and your birth partner become prepared, positive and relaxed for the life defining experience of birth. Hypnobirthing provides you with the information and tools in order to make informed decisions and choose the right birth choices for you.
The following are local providers and would be happy to discuss your needs.
Be Your Own Birth (Redhill)
Becca, lives in East Surrey with her husband and two children, a fully qualified KGHypnobirthing Accredited Teacher with recognition from the Royal College of Midwives. Becca discovered her passion for hypnobirthing during the pregnancy of her second child. Inspired by the calm and empowered experience, she founded "Be Your Own Birth" to share this positive approach with expectant mothers. Her goal is to help as many pregnant women as possible achieve a positive, calm, and confident birthing experience.
Becca is also co-host of East Surrey Bump to Baby Podcast. She hosts local pregnancy gatherings and social events for mums to be and relaxation evenings to help you prepare for birth and postpartum.
Website: Be your own Birth
£100 per couple
Birth & More (Dorking)
Rose has been helping parents to feel informed and empowered about their birth journeys since early 2019. Rose wants expectant parents to get the most from their antenatal experience; the comfort of a caring community, the confidence of mindful birth education and the reassurance of personalised longterm support. Rose also teaches Pregnancy Yoga and gentle, mum-centered Baby Classes suitable from birth to six months old.
Website: Birth & More
Packages from £100
The Reigate Doula
My doula training course with Developing Doulas taught me the skills to be a birth doula as well as a postnatal doula. Whilst I predominately market myself as a postnatal doula to fit around my family circumstances, I’m constantly tempted to step in to the birth world and would love to support families with birth. I don’t offer Birth Education I can attend your antenatal classes and we can work together to create your birth plan. I’ll be your advocate; speaking up for you, reminding the medical team of your decisions, creating space and time for you and your partner to make decisions or process changes to your birth plan should it take a different course. I’ll be your cheerleader, birth partner, protect your space and most importantly; listen to you and trust you. If you want to explore more about having a doula at your birth please get in touch, even if you don’t feel I’m the doula for you I can point you in the direction of finding the one who is.
NCT (Redhill, Reigate & Horley)
Held at various venues, including; St Matthews, Christ Central, St John the Evangelist & Redhill Methodist, Quaker Meeting House, Reigate
£299 for 2 people
5 in person sessions. 1 focused just on breastfeeding
All sessions are held on various days of the week and session times. Including weekends.
Bump to Birth
Provided by SASH Maternity, an in-person group sessions for couples to consider the birth options available at East Surrey Hospital. these sessions offer an opportunity to explore your thoughts around birthing at home, on a midwifery-led birth centre or the obstetric-led delivery suite.
Held at East Surrey Hospital & when possible, include a tour of the birth centre and delivery suite.
Details & Booking can be found on Eventbrite
Free
If you’re a local provider of antenatal education in the Redhill/Reigate area and would like to be added to this page, please get in touch to arrange a coffee and chat so I can understand your unique offering and confidently share this information with expectant parents.
Did you know?
I offer a 2 hour postnatal planning & preparation session?
If you want help exploring what life with your baby might look like get in touch to arrange. Together we can explore:
Your rest, recovery & sleep
Infant feeding; breastfeeding & formula feeding preparations
Relationships & Older children
Visitors & Support network
Meals & snacks
Household management
Contingency plans
Drop me a message to say hello thereigatedoula@gmail.com
