Birth of a class

LEARING about labour, pain-relief options and how to cope with a crying baby may not be everyone's idea of a perfect weekend.

But add in the prospect of a visit to a spa, a trip to the beauty salon or a round of golf for the dad-to-be, and it starts to sound more appealing.

This is what a B4Baby weekend has to offer. Set up by North Yorkshire midwife Jacky Robson, the weekend features antenatal classes held in the comfort of a luxurious hotel.

The programme launches, appropriately enough, on Mother's Day weekend, March 1 to 2, at the Cave Castle Hotel and Country Club, near Beverley. Jacky is looking to run courses at hotels in York and Harrogate, too.

Each course is for a maximum of six couples - women are encouraged to bring their birth partners along.

Jacky, who has been a qualified midwife for 26 years and has two grown-up children, will run the course with another midwife. Besides sessions on the signs and stages of labour, choices of pain relief, and what to expect in the early days with a new baby, there will be classes on hypnotherapy and aqua-natal.

Jacky, who now works with pregnant teenagers, said the idea behind setting up B4Baby was to offer pregnant women more choice.

She said: "Thirty-six per cent of women in the UK receive no antenatal care, according to an article in the Nursing and Midwifery Council magazine. Some are just not offered any classes."

Jacky, who is based in Scarborough, said: "Midwifery has changed. The services offered to women are very much more diluted than they used to be.

"Here in Scarborough, we ran our antenatal classes on a Saturday with 18 to 20 couples in one room where we all sat on hard-back chairs all day. That's not what everybody wants."

In contrast, the antenatal classes offered by Jacky and the B4Baby team focus on learning in the lap of luxury.

"We intend to meet every need of the mother and cater for her partner too," she said.

Between finding out about birth positions and how to bath a newborn, couples can enjoy a weekend of rest and relaxation. At the Cave Castle Hotel, there is a fitness suite, a swimming pool and spa and a range of beauty and body treatments available, as well as an 18-hole golf course.

Couples can also dine in the hotel's restaurant, and enjoy a full English breakfast on the Sunday morning. They can work up an appetite - or burn off those extra calories - with a stroll around the hotel grounds, set in 150 acres of meadow and landscaped parkland.

Such luxury comes at a cost: £645 per couple (or £505 if you don't stay overnight), but Jacky believes that many parents-to-be will think it's worth it.

"I do think it's going to be popular," she said. "As women get busier and are working longer, I think they will seize the opportunity for a weekend away with their birth partner and two midwives."

All the information taught over the ten hours of classes is provided in a resource pack which the couples can take away with them, along with a B4Baby goodie bag.

The best time for women to attend the sessions is between 24 and 36 weeks into their pregnancy. Besides having a break, the weekend gives couples a chance to meet other people at a similar stage in their lives.

"One of the things women want from antenatal groups is to make friends and this is an opportunity to meet people with a similar mind-set.

"As well as being well rested, I hope the weekend will take away a lot of their fears and make them involved in the problem solving that comes with having a baby.

"People expect mums to know automatically what they are doing, and they don't. A course like this, run by well-trained professionals, allows them to put their worries to one side."

Find out more about B4Baby weekends at www.b4baby.org.uk

Other antenatal options...

NHS

WOmEn in York are invited to a series of antenatal classes for free through the NHS.

Organised through community midwives, the courses are run in the daytime, during the week, and amount to about six hours of tuition. They are for women - and their partners - who are at least 28 weeks into their pregnancy.

"There are three sessions," says Margaret Jackson, head of midwifery at York Hospital. "One of them will be with a physio and talk about exercise and breathing in labour. The other two are run by midwives and cover pregnancy issues and what to expect at the birth."

There is also a breastfeeding workshop, and on-going breastfeeding support for new mums, provided by local charity Treasure Chest, in Haxby, added Margaret.

In Selby, NHS midwives also run aqua-natal classes - exercise in water - for pregnant women.

NCT

The National Childbirth Trust runs antenatal classes throughout the UK.

Megan Remmer organises the classes in the York area. The NCT offers between 16-18 hours of tuition, mostly run over three or four weekend sessions.

Alternatively, evening classes are sometimes available, running in two-hour sessions over an eight-week period. Classes are limited to eight couples and are popular, so early booking is recommended.

Megan says women should aim to finish the course around four weeks before their baby is due.

The course costs £135, and a further £39 if women want to join the NCT, although this is not compulsory. Reduced rates are available for people on low incomes.

Megan said the NCT classes, run by qualified antenatal tutors, offer more in-depth information than those held by the NHS.

She said they also provided a ready-made social network for new mums. "People hear about the NCT classes through word of mouth. People like them because there is more depth and emphasis on people getting to know each other. The NCT also offers aftercare through its breastfeeding counsellers and post-natal groups, where new mums can meet up afterwards for coffee mornings."

Find out more at www.nct.org.uk or phone Megan on 0870 423 9257