What is an Active Birth Workshop?
So many birth partners have told us that they are worried that they won’t know what to do during labour, or how to support their partner. Our Active Birth Workshop aims to show both pregnant women and their birth companions useful and practical ways that can help with labour and birth.
The workshop provides time to explore how the labouring woman might want to move, position herself and breathe, and how her birth partner can make that easier and more comfortable for her. Women and their birth partners are shown practical ‘tools’ for working with pain in labour including touch, movement and massage.
The facilitators draw upon well respected research and knowledge about birth and discuss a range of approaches to meet the intensity of labour, using simple equipment available to all, such as birth balls, pillows and chairs.
How will the workshop benefit me and my birth partner?
The Active Birth Workshop is particularly valuable for women and partners planning or considering as straight forward a birth as possible. Many women are worried that they might not be able to cope with the intensity of labour and many partners are worried that they will find this very difficult. The aim of the day is to help everyone feel more positive about birth and confident in their abilities to cope with labour.
Our facilitator is a highly experienced and knowledgeable birth educator/Active Birth Teacher, having worked with women and their birth partners for many years.
What to Expect
The workshop, which is designed for women and their birth partners, takes place over a whole day, from 10am until 4.30pm either on a Saturday or Sunday. This includes a break for lunch (which is not provided). Tea, coffee, water and biscuits will be available throughout the workshop.
Groups are kept to a maximum of five couples, and have a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. The day is loosely structured, but is kept flexible to ensure there is plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.
All are welcome. Women come with male or female partners and/or mothers, sisters, friends and birth companions.
Women and their birth partners are welcome at any stage in their pregnancy but often come between 30-37 weeks of their pregnancies so they have time to think about what they have learned during the day.
More Information
Next Courses:
~ 14th June 2020
For dates after June, please contact us to register interest and we will advise you of dates/courses as they are agreed.
Payment
We operate our Active Birth Workshops on a donation system because the Pregnancy and Parents Centre is a not-for-profit charity. The suggested donation is £85 per couple. However, all our classes have concessionary rates and this is the same for the donation system. Please contact us about this if you need to know more. We also welcome women with 2 birth partners and the suggested donation for 3 people is £100
To book a space, please email us or call us on 0131 229 3667.
What participants thought of the workshop
” The workshop was really helpful in making me feel ready for labour. The tip about asking for no drugs to be offered unless I requested them was great, and went into my birth plan. I’m delighted to say that I was lucky enough that everything went to plan. I got the delivery I wanted, and Lee’s advice helped to make that possible. I found Lee’s techniques for managing pain very useful. I wanted to say thanks – the workshop was a really valuable experience.”
Mother expecting first baby
“The workshops and the support of the PPC helped take the fear out of birth, and changed it into something we could own as an experience.”
Father expecting second baby
My husband and I really enjoyed the Workshop we attended in January. Our midwife recommended the workshop as I had a bad experience with the birth of my first child and was very nervous (ok, terrified!) of the upcoming birth of my second child. Lee was so knowledgeable and really helped me understand and feel more in control of the whole birth process. She gave me lots of strategies to help cope with labour and my husband had a much better understanding of how to support me during my labour. In light of everything we learnt we did some more research and decided to completely re-write our birth plan. I am delighted to say things went according to plan. I had the amazing experience of delivering our daughter myself with no pain relief whatsoever. I am so proud of myself, thank you PPC. I would thoroughly recommend the workshop to any other nervous parents to be!”
Mother expecting second baby
“We had such a great, bonding, positive day. We loved the facilitator’s manner, the information was absolutely useful and the new massage tips brilliant. We also laughed a lot which was wonderful. It was an important and special day for us.”
Mother expecting first baby