How many couples on each course- will we meet a group of friends?




We aim to have up to 8 couples on each refresher course.

We have couples with all different age gaps on our courses, although we find the most common gap is somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 ears. During the course there will be an opportunity to meet other local second-time parents as well as spend valuable, protected time with your partner to plan for the birth and for the new dynamic of your family.

Can we bring our older child along to the course?

The timing of the course is designed to help you to be able to arrange for family or friends to care for your older child, so that you and your partner can concentrate on the content and have time and space to discuss and make plans together. However, if you cannot make any other arrangements for your older child then please contact us in advance to discuss. 

Does the course include a discussion around our previous birth?

The group nature of the course does not allow for detailed discussion around your previous birth experience.

If you would like to discuss your previous birth with Rachel in advance of the course, she offers private one-to-one birth discussion consultations in the privacy of your own home, at a mutually convenient time, at a cost of £55. Please contact us to enquire.

We’re planning a caesarean section- is the course suitable for us?

If you are planning a caesarean section, please let us know when you book. You are very welcome on the course, and much of the content (aside from the section on labour) will be just as relevant for you. We have specific planning tools for you to use to plan for the day of your caesarean and hospital stay, as well as for your recovery at home. However, if we have sufficient demand we may be able to run a separate course for couples planning a caesarean to attend together, to ensure that all of the course content is entirely relevant for you and to focus more specifically on areas in which you may have concerns.

Why choose to do an antenatal course the second-time around?











Of course, peoples reasons for choosing to do a refresher class are many and varied. However some reasons to consider together may be:

You know that second labours and births are different. If you gave birth vaginally last time, your second labour may be quicker, less complicated and the advice on where is safest to give birth will differ. Or perhaps your last birth was complex, and you're not sure what the implications are for this time, or how likely it is complications will happen again. 

- Your previous experience of birth. Whether it went well, or not quite as planned, the way you approach the birth of your second may well be impacted by how it went last time. You may want to fill in the gaps in your knowledge, go into the birth with greater confidence this time, or make different choices completely.

-You would like to meet like-minded parents locally who are also having their second child, and may have a similar age gap to your own. We also arrange postnatal events where you can meet other local parents once your baby arrives.

- You need to protect some time as a couple to make plans together. Life with a young child is busy already, and you have less alone time than before they arrived! It's so valuable to have protected, guided, time to discuss how you would like the birth and first few weeks to go. Attending the course gives you that 'time out' together to ensure things go smoothly and that you approach this big transition in your family dynamic together as a team.

- You have the extra challenge of your older child to think about! How will you prepare them for being a sibling? How will you cope with two, particularly at bath time, bed time, or out and about? Who will care for them during your labour, and what if things don't go as planned?

-You would like reminding about feeding and newborn care. The last time you breast or bottle fed a baby, they were likely a robust, sitting, smiling infant! It can be a shock to go back to handling a delicate newborn. This time you really understand that the postnatal period can present many more challenges than the labour itself and may want to be prepared for this.