A new and different style of Birth Preparation for pregnant women and partners has come to the Bath area, offering valuable support and information on topics as varied as birth preparation, breastfeeding, mixed feeding, introducing solids, holistic sleep sessions, first aid, free pregnancy relaxation sessions, hypnobirthing, soothing your baby and much more.
Blossom Antenatal has been launched in Bath by Noreen Hart and Harriet Symon, two highly experienced and qualified experts who have between them previously worked in a number of related roles, including as an NCT trained Antenatal Teacher, Doula, Hypnobirthing practitioner, and Pregnancy and Postnatal yoga teacher.
“Blossom Antenatal was born back in March 2020 in response to the COVID19 pandemic when our founder, Clare Castell, realised that the overwhelmed NHS could no longer offer women and partners the antenatal classes and information that they needed,” explained Harriet.
“With an initial focus on support for breastfeeding, Blossom Antenatal quickly grew in response to demand, and now offers a wide range of accessible online and in person antenatal courses for new and expectant parents, reaching over 75,000 families since it began.”
Noreen and Harriet met over 12 years ago when Harriet was having her first child, and with their complementary professional backgrounds, it seemed like a natural step to collaborate together and with Blossom Antenatal. “We believe that through our joint experience we can truly give families unique and comprehensive support,” said Harriet. We both ran Early Mothering Sessions in Bath for a couple of years and loved being part of holding space, nurturing and supporting parents in those early days, weeks and months.
“Blossom in Bath is the perfect way for us both to collaborate and share our joint love and years of experience of working with parents-to-be and families in and around Bath in what we hope will be accessible and affordable.
“Parents often find themselves searching in multiple places for hypnobirthing, pregnancy yoga, birth preparation, breastfeeding and paediatric first-aid. The uniqueness of our Blossom in Bath courses means that parents can get all of these in one place and with the same two people. There is overwhelming evidence that continuity of care results in better outcomes for families, mothers and babies.”
Noreen explained that the most common concerns that they hear from pregnant women is around wondering what is ok and typical, and what isn’t.
“Navigating all of the new normals – morning sickness, hormones, changing body, expectations of birth, changing relationships – and often experiencing all of these without a community or ‘tribe’ around them, can of course be extremely challenging.
“Sometimes family support is spread far and wide and that could feel daunting. Our courses and workshops offer a perfect opportunity for social connection, community and peer support.
“For us, it is an incredible honour and privilege to play even a small part in this transformational time in people’s lives. We love supporting parents to connect with their bodies and their babies, to trust their innate wisdom and instincts, no matter what kind of journey their pregnancy, birth and parenting experience might take them on.
“Every family’s experience is so individual and unique, and we pride ourselves in being warm, welcoming and inclusive in our courses and in our support.”
The courses and workshops offered by Blossom in Bath take place at the beautiful Life Works Communities Co-working space at Hartley Farm in Bradford on Avon, with a range of different options available, from free pregnancy workshops, to full evidence-based weekend Birth Preparation Courses, birth support and access to some of the popular online Blossom sessions as well.
Upcoming courses include
- A free Early Pregnancy workshop on Saturday 24 June
- Two Birth and Parenting Preparation courses on 22/23 April (suitable for babies due May/June/early July).
- Another weekend course on the 9/10 September (suitable for babies due Oct/Nov/early Dec).
The Early Pregnancy sessions are completely free and accessible to all. A special introductory offer for the April antenatal courses of £195 all inclusive.
Additional options such as mother blessings, birth/doula support and private one to one hypnosis and yoga can also be arranged.
For more information, go to www.blossomantenatal.com/bath-hubs