Our Comprehensive Antenatal Course is a six week course of evening antenatal classes plus one daytime class for the mums-to-be, suitable to attend from approximately twenty-six weeks of pregnancy onwards. If possible, it is a good idea to finish your course by week 36, as this ensures you finish the course before your due window (weeks 37-42) starts. However, sometimes I get people whose due date is very close to the last session - some complete the course, whilst others don’t quite make it!

Why attend antenatal classes?

The Comprehensive Course is a great way to get evidence based, accurate, up-to-date information about all aspects of labour, birth and parenting in the early weeks, whilst meeting other parents-to-be due around the same time as you, and making lifelong friends with them.

Preparing for your labour and birth is vitally important to help you feel ready for the big day. Our antenatal course is designed to give you and your partner loads of up-to-date, evidence based information, with which you can make decisions that feel right for you. There is no one “right” way to have a baby, and everybody’s labour and birth story will be different, so knowing what your options are can help you to feel confident and empowered during an event where you may be worried that you will not have much control.

Our birth preparation courses also give you an opportunity to meet other expectant parents due around the same time as you, and to get to know them over a period of several weeks, in order to form friendships and create a support network that will be vital during the first few months of your baby’s life, and will hopefully last for years. So that the sessions retain a personal and friendly feel, courses are limited to a maximum of nine couples each.

Who’s it for?

Anyone who is pregnant is welcome to attend our antenatal courses. You will receive a warm welcome whether this is your first or a subsequent baby. We actively encourage partners to attend (by “partners” we mean whoever you want to have at the birth with you, or anyone who may be helping you in the early weeks with your baby - this could be your husband/wife/partner, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your mum, your sister, your friend - if they are going to be involved in supporting you, we’d love them to be there at the classes), but it is equally fine to come by yourself if that works better for you.

What’s in the antenatal course?

Over the six weeks, we cover:

ways to help yourself have as straightforward and short a labour and birth as possible, including comfort measures for labour, breathing techniques, relaxation skills, massage strokes and active birth positions
considerations around place of birth, and the importance of the birth environment
what happens throughout labour and birth - wherever you plan to have your baby
what are your options if you need some extra help managing the pain
making a birth plan
when and why assistance might be needed, including induced labours, instrumental births and Caesarean births
what to expect in the first few weeks with a new baby - understanding their crying, normal newborn sleep patterns, safe sleep practices, changes to relationships and lifestyles, day to day reality
postnatal recovery: physical, emotional and mental
feeding your baby - breast or bottle
nappy changing and baby bathing

After each class, you are emailed a summary of everything we have covered that night, along with suggestions for further reading and video clips to illustrate what we have discussed, as well as sometimes being set some work to prepare for the following week's class.

Each course also includes a partners only and a mums-to-be only class (see below for more details on these sessions).

Testimonials

Here’s a little taster of what new parents are saying about our classes:

“Sarah was fantastic, incredibly knowledgeable, passionate and professional when presenting the information. Cannot recommend enough!” Jess C

“My partner and I did the Comprehensive Antenatal Course run by Sarah and I have to say it was the best thing we did to prepare ourselves!” Leah G

"Thank you for a fantastic and really comprehensive course! We're currently attending NCT classes too and I feel that BBB covers the important stuff in a lot more depth" Becky P

“We absolutely loved our 2.5 hour weekly sessions with Sarah and the other couples. The course exceeded our needs. It is really clear that Sarah is very experienced and passionate about all topics covered, she welcomed and encouraged questions and the end of course handouts were so detailed and thorough they have provided the perfect refresher materials” Olivia A

“The course was excellent from start to finish – brilliant facilitation; engaging and informative; open and inclusive to different approaches to labour, birth and parenting” Kate C

"Our birth was the most magical positive experience we have both been through. Robin was absolutely amazing and even though nothing... literally nothing went to plan, thanks to your incredible advice, what to expect, the techniques you showed us, all of these made Robin so relaxed knowing we were prepared, that our little Maggy came out so perfectly. Such a positive magical experience that we can’t wait to go through again. We really can’t thank you enough. We had the most magical journey!!!" Neil B

“Thank you for all you taught us in your classes, we refer to your teachings all the time!” Helen and Kurt S

Click here to read more testimonials from previous class attendees.

What sets us apart from other providers?

Sarah's Experience

Having taught over 1,300 couples since she qualified as an antenatal teacher with the NCT in 2005, Sarah has a wealth of experience of delivering courses which are really well designed to meet the needs of everyone in the group. Also, her experiences of supporting more than one hundred women in labour as a doula (birth companion) sets her apart from other antenatal teachers in the area, as she can draw on those experiences in her teaching, and they give her a deep understanding of the wide range of birthing journeys that women undertake, as well as a thorough knowledge of our local maternity services.

Single sex sessions

Each course also incorporates one class just for the mums-to-be, and another just for the partners. Many antenatal courses offer women only sessions, as they can be a great way to cement the friendships that are developing, and give women a chance to discuss sensitive topics amongst themselves that they might feel uncomfortable talking about in front of other people’s partners (such as postnatal bleeding or being stitched, for example).

We believe, though, that partners deserve this chance to bond as a group just as much as the mums-to-be do, and that they might have topics they would like to discuss in their own group - perhaps they are worried about the responsibility of supporting the new family financially themselves for several months, or are unsure how the transition into parenthood will affect them on a practical or emotional level. The partners only session is held at a local pub of the partners’ choosing, giving it a relaxed and social feel.

Audio download of Visualisations for Labour

Each woman receives a free audio download of Sarah Boyd's Visualisations for Labour, to enable her to practice relaxation and breathing techniques at home, in preparation for her labour and birth. The more a mum-to-be can practice these skills in advance of labour, the more likely she is to use them, as she will feel confident she knows what she is doing, and how much it can help her. Strong, empowered, confident women are more likely to have a positive birth experience!

Local Knowledge

We feel it is important for your antenatal teacher to have a good understanding of local policies and practices at the nearby hospitals and birth centres. Sarah has good connections with the JR, which keeps her in the loop of what is going on across the maternity services in Oxfordshire. She also co-founded the Oxfordshire Maternity Voices Partnership (OMVP) - a group committed to feeding back women's birth experiences to the providers and commissioners of those services, in order to see improvements happening across the service.

2024 Course Dates

Book Now

AN075, for mid August - mid October due dates: Wednesdays 26th June-31st July 7.00-9.30p.m. Women only session will be held on 24th July from 3.00-6.00p.m., partners only session will be held on 24th July from 7.00-9.00p.m. Fully booked! But we still have spaces available on our KG Hypnobirthing course running through July for similar due dates.

AN076, for late October- mid December due dates: Wednesdays 28th August-2nd October, 7.00-9.30p.m. Women only session will be held on 25th September from 3.00-6.00p.m., partners only session will be held on 25th September from 7.00-9.00p.m. Only space for 2 couples left!

AN077, for late December - mid February due dates: Wednesdays 6th November-11th December, 7.00-9.30p.m. Women only session will be held on 4th December from 3.00-6.00p.m., partners only session will be held on 4th December from 7.00-9.00p.m. Spaces available.