Parent-ready 101: Our top 5 workshops to attend for new or expectant parents
Are you on the cusp of bringing home your little bundle of joy or doing all of the preparation needed to make sure you have all of the knowledge before the big day? It’s an incredibly exciting time but we also understand that it can also be overwhelming to make the transition into parenthood.
We’ve compiled a quick list of free courses that you can attend with our Women’s Hospital and virtually to help you feel parent-ready before and after your delivery.
1 - Considering Home Birth Workshop
If you’re still weighing up your options of where you can choose to give birth, whether this be at our hospital or in the comfort of your own home, our Home birth and Community teams are on hand to support your decision. At the 2-hour-long Home birth workshops, you can expect to gain a wealth of information about the process, how to self-help during labour before your team arrives, the benefits of home birth, key statistics surrounding home birth and the pain relief options.
If you’re still on the fence about attending, you can also read Anna and Pete’s review of the workshop to see if this would be useful for you and your partner. Anna shared with us that the workshop
“The workshop actually swayed our decision to live in Northfield because we’d be in close range and have home visits throughout my pregnancy.
We feel more prepared now – at the workshop, they walk you through so much useful information like the process of having a home birth, contractions, water births, and self-help tips for when you begin going into labour, they share videos and discuss the experiences. It feels empowering to have made the choice.”
2 - Virtual Breastfeeding – It’s harder than it looks
If you’re a new mum struggling to get your little one to latch to feed, you can attend our educational virtual seminars with our Infant Feeding Team in a 2-hour 30-minute session lending the best advice to optimise your breastfeeding journey. Not only do the team explain breastfeeding but they will also discuss hand expression from 36 weeks of your pregnancy and feeling confident to breastfeed in private and in public.
Some of our mums spoke up about their experience of breastfeeding. Liz from Kings Heath said: “I couldn’t believe how lovely the connection was – but I also couldn’t believe how difficult it was too. I no longer have anxiety about feeding in public, there should be no hostility. I feed Niall everywhere and anywhere. I didn’t think I would be able to breastfeed initially – I knew very little about it. There are support systems that you can access that will help you.”
You can read all about our Brummy Mums’ challenges and triumphs here in our Brummy Mums montage.
3 - Baby care – Stand alone
If you’re between 30 and 35 weeks into your pregnancy, the ‘Baby Care – Stand Alone’ workshop is perfect to support new parents with the essential knowledge after you have given birth. The 2-hour-long sessions cover everything from your baby’s first bath to safer sleep. There is a whole host of topics mentioned such as skin and nail care, core care, nappy changing, dressing your baby, temperature control safety, the role of your support network and so much more.
Not just this but these essential parenting skills will build the excitement ahead of bringing your little one home.
4 - Dad’s only - The transition into fatherhood
Join the Dad’s Only Club where you can openly express your emotions towards approaching fatherhood. You may feel excited, overwhelmed, anxious or a combination of all three which is all to be expected. This is the first sign that you are already a caring parent-to-be.
The 2-hour-long antenatal workshop will be held virtually and will explore labour, birth and postnatal life with your baby. The course will help you to provide useful insights into how you can support your partner through pregnancy and beyond during your transition into parenthood- we’re excited for you to start taking the steps towards raising your little one.
5 - The antenatal 1st-time parents one-day weekend workshop
If you’re expecting your first child and are between 30 and 35 weeks into your pregnancy, our Birthing teams have created a special session to increase your confidence through every stage of your pregnancy and beyond. This includes the process of labour, birth, what to bring when to visit our hospital to deliver your baby, assisted birth, and caesarean birth along with some practical baby care skills once you bring your little one home.
You can attend the workshop by yourself, or you can bring your partner along with you to learn the essential knowledge during your pregnancy. The weekend course is virtual so you can do this from the comfort of your own home.
We wish you a happy and healthy pregnancy journey and look forward to seeing you at our workshops.
If you want to explore our workshop listings further, you can visit our BWH Education Eventbrite page.