NowBaby is here for expectant parents who want antenatal classes without the hassle of travel. We bring the expertise of NHS midwives right to you, offering convenient online antenatal courses that fit your life.
All our weekend online antenatal courses include the following topics:
Journey to Motherhood
Your first class focuses on antenatal care and choices during pregnancy, helping you to prepare for labour and birth
Preparing Mind & Body
Looks at labour & birth from a physiological and emotional perspective. Helping you to put together a practical and emotional toolkit
Labour & Birth Process
An in depth look at what happens during the first, second & third stage of labour
Birth Management
We delve into all the different types of birth you may experience, leaving you well prepared to cope with all eventualities
Your New Baby
Our first postnatal class looks at what to expect from the very first moment when you meet your new baby
The New Mum
This class concentrates on you … at both the emotional and physiological changes affecting you in the hours, weeks and days following delivery
Breastfeeding
We explore common breastfeeding issues, looking at both the health benefits for you and your baby & offer practical advice to help you get started
Baby First Aid
An essential class for all new parents where you will learn what warning signs to look out for, how to tell if your baby is unwell and what to do in case of emergency
Incredibly informative and easily digestible information. Amina was knowledgeable and really helpful and patient. Great to have extra notes and the recordings made available as…
Jodie & Mo
It was a really good class. Very informative and good to hear. You cover multiple points and explained the pain relief clearly.
Katrina
Wonderfully informative and well presented. You clearly love your job and have such a passion for it. Thank you.
32 video lessons.
A helpful and practical course full of top tips for keeping you calm and relaxed throughout your pregnancy and labour. 32 lessons, 5 x hypnobirthing audio (MP3’s) & Practice Manual
Live Online Antenatal Courses
Our courses cover pregnancy, preparing for labour & birth and the postnatal period.
During the course you will explore what happens in your pregnancy, how to prepare for labour, what to expect in the birth process and adapting to life as a new parent.
Each session is fully interactive with discussion points and your questions covered. Every session will be recorded and sent to you, along with additional resources the following morning. Ensuring you can sit back, engage, and enjoy the class, knowing that you can watch again at your leisure.
Our course has been developed by NowBaby’s team of midwives and based on their many years of experience providing antenatal education and supporting parents and families.
Online Antenatal Classes: What you’ll learn
All our live classes cover the same material – simply pick the dates that best fit your schedule.
Journey to Motherhood is the first class for pregnant women in our 8-session antenatal courses, focusing upon antenatal care and choices and preparing for your pregnancy labour birth. During the antenatal classes we guide you through:
The role of your midwife and maternity care team
Your antenatal appointment schedule
Self-care in pregnancy
Pregnancy health & complications
Diet, exercise and things to avoid
Birth options – where to have your baby
What to pack in your hospital bags
Creating a birth plan – where to start
Preparing Mind and Body is based on what labour and birth is from a physiological and emotional perspective. Amina, our midwife and course leader believes “that reframing how we view birth and understanding how your birth hormones can affect your birth is key in having a positive and empowered birth experience – however that may be. We can’t predict or plan birth, but we can prepare positively for it.” This class involves:
Third stage of childbirth and how it can be managed
Current practices such as delayed cord clamping
This class takes an alternative pathway to birth because we know that birth comes in different forms.
The induction and augmentation of childbirth
Pain management / Pain relief – from TENS machines to Epidurals
What is birth variation and why it may happen
Addressing the myths and facts about assisted and alternative births
Assisted birth
Birth by caesarean operation
This postnatal class is all about your new baby, aiming to help clear up some of the myths and facts and support you in feeling confident in making the right choices for a great life with a new baby
Starting from the first moments where you meet your baby we explore:
Skin-to-Skin contact and the golden hour
New-born checks after birth. The umbilical cord and healing
Vitamin K – what it is and your options
Ways your baby may behave in the first few days and weeks
Baby hygiene – from nappy changes to bathing your newborn
What your baby may look like – from newborn skin to birthmarks
Jaundice in the early weeks after your baby is born
Common concerns of parenting a newborn
The New Mum. We know that the changes that occur with your body and emotions after the birth of your baby are often overshadowed and overlooked by the focus on baby. In this class no subject or questions are taboo and in our group we are free to talk about:
Bleeding after birth and what it means
Perineal tears and care
Abdominal and pelvic floor exercises
Breast care information and changes that occur
Your emotional and mental health after your baby is due
Adjusting to life with a baby and how to prepare
This evidence based class aims to help you feel confident about feeding your baby. We know how keen parents are to understand and discuss breastfeeding and there is no time better than the antenatal period to get started. During the antenatal class we explore common issues related to breastfeeding. Find out more about our breastfeeding class here.
The physiology of breastfeeding and the changes that happen
Benefits of breastfeeding for mum and baby
Understanding breastmilk – how it changes and why
The supply and demand cycle of breastmilk
Information on what a good latch and attachment is
Different breastfeeding positions
The feeding cues your baby expresses
Your baby’s appetite and how it changes over time.
Join the final in our series of antenatal classes, in this course you learn about what to do in an emergency from our professionals. Find out more about our baby first aid class here.
Support parents in trusting their instincts
Tips on where to find free help
Common childhood illnesses
Recognise early signs of illness and infections
What to do when your baby is unwell
Learn how Meningitis affects a child and signs to look out for
Choking & how to manage cuts & burns
Essential advice on SIDS and keeping your baby safe
CPR information and when you may need to use it
Our support continues after the course too – Our midwifes love hearing from you and are always happy to advise and provide support when needed.
All our classes are designed to be taken in the comfort of your own home, to minimise time needed and expense of travelling.
Anyone is welcome to join in with you, not just limited to your partner.
classes are held in small groups where interaction is encouraged.
The classes are all held over Zoom. You will be sent a link and all the class details upon registration and again a few days before the first class. All participants can interact, but you may keep your cameras and microphones turned off if you prefer. they are interactive sessions so the midwives will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Your birthing partner is encouraged to attend, or family support members whether parent, grandparent or just good friend! pets are often in attendance too!
All our courses cover the same content .. nothing will be missed out on the shorter course formats, just the information is gone through a little quicker. Just choose the format where the timings and date suits you.
You will be sent a recording of each class the morning after, together with notes and links to useful websites for further advice. the recordings will be yours to keep and re watch at your leisure.
If you are unwell or have technical difficulties a refund will be issued.
Alternatively we will endeavour to help you find an alternative course/date that might suit you better.
Additional Antenatal Education
NowBaby provides expert advice outside of our antenatal classes to help you along your journey.
Antenatal classes are an ideal opportunity to learn, understand and prepare for your pregnancy, labour and birth, life after birth and with a new baby. Whilst reading books and articles online can be a really helpful starting point, an antenatal class run by experts such as our midwives, help you navigate and understand what to expect of your care in pregnancy, your choices and options during labour and birth of your baby and prepare for life with a new baby such as learning about breastfeeding and new-born care.
Our courses are online, so from the comfort of your own home, live and fully interactive – so you’ll also get to know others on the course who are at a similar stage in pregnancy as you and share experiences with them too.
You can never prepare too early for labour and birth, and you’ve probably been reading up on your pregnancy already. Whilst it is a personal choice and we don’t limit what stage in pregnancy you join our courses, if you like to be prepared well in advance, or you are feeling unsure about your care, experience anxiety or need some one-to-one advice, booking in at around 26 weeks is ideal. This provides plenty of time to prepare and help you feel more positive and ready for life with a new baby.
However, many also book later on in their pregnancy – anytime up to 38 weeks. Our weekend and 2-week courses are ideal for those that wish to have a more intensive class or want to have the information fresh in their mind just before their baby arrives.
Absolutely! – Antenatal classes are for anyone who needs them, and our live online classes have a range of people attend, from couples, to people who prefer to join on their own, with other family members and often pets too. As online classes allow people to join from anywhere, we often have birth partners join in from work and watch the class together. All the live classes are also recorded and sent to you to watch back whenever you need to – offering a great chance to revisit the information whenever you need to.
As our classes are online, there is no limit or restrictions on who you bring to the classes. If you have a birth partner who you know will be with you during labour and birth, then it’s great if they can attend. We hear back from so many people that their partner/birth partner found the class so useful in knowing what to expect, how to offer support and what to prepare for.
Your birth partner can be whoever you choose – for some it’s their partner, for others it may be a close friend, mum, sister or a doula.
All of our classes are run by expert midwives, who have a wealth of experience and love running antenatal classes because they know how important being prepared beforehand can be. Our team of Now Baby midwives all work in NHS hospitals as clinical midwives as well as sharing their knowledge and expertise in our classes too. You will also see the participants of the class who may be on their own, a couple, or with friends and family – however, don’t worry it’s not compulsory to have your camera, only if you choose to.
To ensure that the classes run smoothly, our IT experts will also be in the class making sure that the audio and video quality is perfect and helping to sort out quickly any issues that may arise.
