Antenatal classes dilemma

                                                           

Source

On my 25th week appointment with the midwife I was told that in our area they are no NHS antenatal classes as such, the only training or support they give is with breastfeeding and it will be 1-1 session.

It's been a week since my appointment and I still feeling very disappointed and let down in a way. If you follow my blog for a while you know how unhappy I am with rare (in my opinion) appointments with midwives and that it makes me feel neglected. Perfect example of neglect is my booking appointment.

I have learnt more from books, internet, other mums (to-be) than from local community. And the fact that due to cuts midwives can't give me enough support and provide appropriate care is appalling.

I'm not so bothered really about breastfeeding and early days with baby as I know my instincts will kick in, as much as I am bothered about labour as I need reassurance and all valuable advice from a professional.

Lovely mum-bloggers directed me towards Mumsnet and Netmums websites, where I could find antenatal classes in my area. I came across NCT, Laizy Daisy and Your birth and babies etc etc.

In the past 6 months I have heard a lot about NCT classes, however I have heard more about people making friends rather than what you can gain advice and support wise. I do appreciate that everyone have different opinion about classes and want different things from them, but I'm more determined to learn new things than to meet new people. I'm not afraid to be alone, I already found lots of support online and 100% sure that when we start going to children centres we will find friends.

When I enquired with NCT they could only offer classes in a town 6 miles away as all classes in my town were booked. The cost of the course is £201 per couple, including one years membership with NCT; £161 with no membership plus you can have 1-1 classes where 1 hours costs £57 (they recommend that 2 hours is enough, but there is no agenda), a discount can be applied if your income is less than £26K. But even with discounts the price is the highest I have ever seen for courses.

Lazy Daisy offers weekly antenatal classes for women only (£54) classes are a combination of yoga-like movement, active birth education and self-hypnosis/relaxation; and couple workshop (£75, which is discounted to £60 if you book women only classes) 4 hour session. The couples workshop goes through everything from the women only classes but you don't practice exercises on the day they will be just showed to you. It is a slightly cheaper option, but I'm not really into yoga and hypnotherapy, a couple workshop sounds like a better option, but still not sure that it is worth £75.

I have also found Bounty webinar which suppose to have online antenatal classes, in reality it consisted of 2 minute videos with mums discussing labour.

In the end I managed to find classes which are not quite local (24 miles) but they offer exactly what I'm interested in (labour, birth, pain management) and for the right price- the first workshop option is free of charge and follow up workshops are £10 each (in total £30), which is brilliant!

Finally, I'm stress free! Hope that my post will help if you are having dilemma with antenatal classes.

Envie de Fraises Maternity nightdress review

I'm sure most of us started watching new season of One Born Every Minute, I'm obsessed with it, but this time for a different reason. I watch it not just for the sake of knowing how the labour goes, what might happen, but also to have a rough idea about what to wear during my hospital stay and baby birth.

In my everyday life or every- night life to be precise (I don't know if it's acceptable or normal in wife's code) I wear a t-shirt with a jumper and trackies as I feel the need to be warm during my sleep rather than be all dressed up for my husband and being cold. Don't take me wrong, I do have fancy night outfits, but I just think when it comes to real life they are not very practical.

Anyway for my (for our) special moment- child birth I decided to look the best I can (pampered and dressed appropriately).

Lovely Enviede Fraises representative have sent me a Maternity nightdress (£34.49) to review, which I hopefully will be wearing during labour and after. 

Enviede Fraises founded by Anne-Laure Constanza in 2006, it is the French leading fashion brand for moms-to-be. The brand has been worn by hundreds of thousands of pregnant women since its launch. Envie de Fraises team of stylists and designers has poured its passion and talent into developing maternity clothing that meets the needs and expectations of future moms.

The nightdress itself  looks exactly like on a picture and definitely suits me. It is quite stretchy and I have a little bit of space to grow due to not so big bump, hopefully I will be able to wear (fit in) it in the next 3 months. It's not just a pretty nightdress it is useful as well as I can use it when breastfeeding our baby. 

As a recommendation I would suggest to expand the variety of sizes or maybe even to consider plus size option. I'm sure some mums would agree we would like not just to browse website, but also be able to order Envie de Fraises's lovely items.

DISCLAIMER: I was sent the above nightdress for the purposes of this review. All thoughts and opinion are my own. All pictures taken from Envie de Fraises website.

Pregnancy update 25 weeks

Visible changes in my body: upper part of the bump is sticking out more, didn't put any weight since my sickly first trimester

Other: had my 25th weeks midwife appointment where they were very concerned over my high blood pressure, after I visited hospital twice they didn't confirm it could be pre-eclamsia so told me to enjoy my pregnancy! I was also told that they are no NHS antenatal classes in my area, that they will only talk through about breastfeeding on one on one session, which is extremely disappointing as a first-timer I have no clue what to expect from labour.

How do I feel: all the headaches and sickness are gone (touch wood); feeling tired quicker, had a 4 hours walk on a weekend after which my back was killing me 

Cravings: still none

Fitness: Walking almost every day for max. 25 minutes and swimming once a week

Baby: At 25weeks Head to heels, baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — 1 1/2 pounds. Our baby can still turn somersaults but it won’t be long until there’s not enough room in there! They will be able to hear loud noises which may cause them to jump, and you may notice extra kicks when you’re in the bath or shower too. 

While your baby is in the womb, their temperature is maintained by the placenta, but by this week they will begin to develop fat which will help regulate their temperature once they are born.