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Maternity Parent Education

Maternity Parent Education

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Parent Education sessions currently on offer

At Airedale NHS Foundation Trust we believe that every woman and family booked to receive maternity care through our Trust should expect a high standard of antenatal education as it is an important and valued element of our maternity services.

Pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period are huge periods of change for yourself and your partner. Accessing parent education classes can be beneficial as they give you the space to talk about how you are feeling at birth and caring for your baby. We share evidence-based information with you so that you can make your own choices and decisions about labour and beyond.

We now offer a choice between face-to-face or online parent education classes. Spaces for the face-to-face sessions are limited so please book early. We suggest booking the classes following your 20-week ultrasound scan. The face-to-face classes will be held in the Parent Education Room on Ward 21. The core and breastfeeding classes mainly run on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. The breathing and relaxation classes are mostly run on Wednesday mornings, between 11am-12pm.

We encourage your main birth partner to attend these classes with you. If you are attending an online class, we can send a link to both yourself and your partner if necessary so please provide both email addresses at the time of booking.

Core Sessions

There are currently three core sessions on offer, each lasting around 2hrs. We encourage you to book all three as a course, although this is not mandatory. We have also introduced a Weekend Workshop where all three sessions are delivered in one day. This runs from 10.30 to 16.00 with breaks built in. Please see below for a brief overview of what they cover. If you would like to book any sessions, or to enquire about availability, please contact Single Point of Access team on 01535 292411 or 292412.

We encourage your main birth partner to attend any virtual sessions with you. An additional link can be sent for them if they are unable to be with you physically. Please provide both email addresses at time of booking.

Session 1. Labour and Birth
The aim of the session is to enable participants to learn about the labour process and to find out about a variety of coping techniques to enable you to have a calm, confident and positive approach to labour and the birth of your baby. Unfortunately we are currently unable to offer the ‘stork walk’ tour of our unit but we will discuss where you come when you attend hospital in labour.

Session 2. Comfort Options and When Nature Needs a Hand
The first half of this session will provide you with information about the pain relief options available to you both for home births and hospital births at Airedale General Hospital. This session includes information on water birth. The second half of the session covers induction of labour, what happens if your birth needs assistance and caesarean section birth. You are welcome to log off half way if you feel the second half of the session may worry you, but we encourage you to complete it so if any interventions are recommended, you are fully informed. As one of our recent participants said…
“This session provided a good insight to many possible outcomes in a way that eased my mind and helped me know that I’d be okay if my labour required any of them.”

Session 3. Caring for your baby: building a positive relationship
This session gives you information about how you can meet your baby’s needs and the importance of a close and loving relationship. It includes information about how a baby’s brain develops and practical information about meeting the needs of a newborn and safe sleeping.

Breastfeeding Workshop

In this session, we will discuss getting breastfeeding off to a good start and give lots of practical advice and tips to assist you on your breastfeeding journey.

One to one sessions

We offer one to one sessions should you require specific support during your pregnancy.
Please contact anhsft.parenteducation@nhs.net to discuss or ask your community midwife to refer you.

Breathing and relaxation for birth

We offer an hour long face-to-face class which discusses the benefits of breathing and relaxation and includes practical breathing exercises which are practiced together in the class.

Safe sleep for babies: advice for parents and carers

Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership have been working with parent education teams at Airedale Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary to produce this video parents and carers offering safer sleep advice:

Bookings

Bookings can be made via the Single Point of Access team on 01535 292411 or 292412.

Please book once you have had your 20 week Ultrasound scan.If you have any specific enquiries please email anhsft.parenteducation@nhs.net Ifyou are unable to attend a class please let us know as soon as possible so your place can be offered to another person and we can organise an alternative date for you to attend.

If you would like any information about our services in different languages or formats, please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on 01535 294019 or email anhsft.patientadvice@nhs.net

Feedback on the sessions

“I came out of the Breathing and relaxation session feeling much more at ease about birth. The class was relaxing and reassuring and Clare’s tone was really calming.” 

“Clare was so reassuring, knowledgeable and she really created a lovely environment (which can be tricky virtually). She’s filled me and my husband with confidence and has been able to really educate us on every aspect of a new baby. it’s been lovely listening to her first-hand experience and her knowledge of Airedale.”

“I would highly recommend these classes to anyone. Initially, I was apprehensive as they were virtual classes but they have provided us with a wealth of information and really allowed us to be more calm and informed nearing the birth of our baby. I think Clare made a huge difference to the effectiveness of the class and it has been lovely listening to her during the sessions.”

“The sessions were all informative, not patronising, laid back, could ask questions without judgement. Clare was interactive with the group. Really useful for first time parents especially.”

“Clare was lovely and very knowledgeable during the sessions. We were really happy with the sessions.”

“There was some valuable information on pain management and breastfeeding that will be really useful during the birth of my baby.”

Useful resources