Midwife-led group antenatal course for winter babies

[birthmatters]

Dear parents-to-be,

Are you expecting your baby between mid November to mid December?

Are you looking for antenatal classes run by an experienced and practising midwife? A course to prepare you for labour, birth and early days with your baby and where you can meet other local parents expecting around your dates?

I am a midwife with many years of experience and I run midwife-led antenatal group courses; these are informative but informal, research and experience-based, fun and dynamic, a space where you can have your questions answered from a non-judgmental point of view and meet a lovely group of other local expectant parents. The course content is as follows:

Wednesday November 11th 2015: process of labour, how labour unfolds

Wednesday November 18th 2015: coping strategies and medical pain relief options

Wednesday November 25th 2015: when birth does not go to plan, ventouse, forceps and elective or emergency c-section

Wednesday December 2nd 2015: recovering from birth and life with a newborn baby, what to expect

Wednesday December 9th 20015: early days with baby, practicalities such as swaddling, bathing, nappies, soothing a crying baby

Wednesday December 16th 2015: feeding your newborn baby

Classes run over 6 consecutive Wednesdays from 7pm to 9pm. The venue is the private room at the Clockhouse pub, at the bottom of Barry road, opposite Peckham Rye park.

Getting to know the other couples in the group is very important, hence, during the course I organise two social events with the whole group, another one when the course is over and a final reunion with parents and babies.

The whole course, material and phone/email support throughout these weeks cost 240?, to pay upfront or in small installments, as it is more convenient for you.

If you were interested contact me for an informal chat at 07598293625, PM me or send me an email at [email protected]

For further details about the courses, contents, dates and FAQ please check my website at:

https://www.ariadnasole.com

Please read my previous posts and comments from previous attendees at http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,1238496,1238496#msg-1238496 and/or http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,1320501,1320501#msg-1320501

I also organise courses for second time parents, please check my website for dates and availability.

Looking forward to hearing from you, enjoy your bumps,

Ariadna Sole

www.ariadnasole.com

07598 293 625

[Stu D]

We cannot recommend this class enough we did this course when we were expecting our first baby in 2013. The class is ran in such a way you learn a lot, meet some great friends & share all your hopes, questions and fears in such a supportive and friendly atmosphere.

I think the key to the success of the class is having Ariadna's positive personality passion & knowledge of womens health, children and midwifery at the heart of things. We have met some great friends whom we meet with regularly with the children and also socially on well deserved nights out! :-)

Enjoy these classes they will help you so much and now I am having baby number 2 I realise again just how much I learned and remember from what we discussed. A brilliant part of your pregnancy journey which I cannot recommend enough!!

Many Thanks Ariadna!

[birthmatters]

If you are expecting on late June/July and would like to sign up, contact me (details above). Below you can read another comment from a now mother, who attended the course few months ago:

Hi,

Just wanted to recommend the antenatal class run by Ariadna Sole in East dulwich. Went when pregnant with my first and found the classes very informative, but also light hearted and fun. She encourages the social side and the 8 couples in our class are still in touch and see each other every week. I have just found out that Ariadna is my midwife for my 2nd and I am absolutely over the moon. Ariadnasole.com

Link to the comment: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,1492747,1492747#msg-1492747

[birthmatters]

There are 3 spaces left for this course, do not hesitate to contact me if you were interested in signing up!

Below you can find a lovely comment from a couple who finished the course few weeks ago. Thank you Susie and Matt for such lovely feedback!

"My husband and I have just finished this excellent six week antenatal course with Ariadna. We truly cannot recommended our experience highly enough. Being a midwife led course in itself is a bonus but Ariadna has a lovely and unique way of running the course that would be difficult to find elsewhere. She is brilliant at creating a relaxed whilst fun atmosphere meaning everyone is happy to ask the most weird and wonderful pregancy and baby related questions without embarrassment or reservation.

Being amidwife at Kings, Ariadna has great inside knowledge in having a baby locally along with all the care the hospital and area has to offer. It also means she is fully up to date with all the current evidence based practice and if she is ever unsure of any finer detail will find out for the next session or provide the information over email in the week. Having three sessions on labour and three on looking after a newborn was so helpful and seemed something other courses didn't offer. For new parents to be it was really reassuring to go through postnatal mother and baby care.

Ariadna puts a strong emphasis on the social side of the course organising regular meet ups for mums, partners and everyone combined. Having only just finished the course we feel we have a new network of friends in the same position as us. We are meeting every week and already have two babies out of the seven couples.

If you want an incredibly informative, relaxed, fun and social antenatal course this is most definately the one for you. Can't thank you enough! Susie and Matt"

Link to comment: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,1320501,1320501#msg-1320501

[DebNiks]

I can also highly recommend Ariadna's class. My midwife suggested it and I am ever grateful. The class was informative, relaxed and provided a support network that has been invaluable in the first 6 months of my little one's life. Ariadna is supportive no matter what your birth plan and is always on hand to answer your questions even after the class has finished. In particular I love the way Ariadna focuses on the social aspect- organising group gatherings and boys as well as girls nights out- it's lovely that you get to know each other pre baby and as a group not just the mums. We can not thank Ariadna enough for all her help and support.

[KGastaldo]

My husband and I just finished Ariadna's winter course, for our Feb due date. I cannot say enough great things about this course. Upon going into labor, I felt informed and prepared. While my birth did not go as planned (do they ever?), I was confident in my decisions.

Ariadna is warm and welcoming, making herself available anytime thoughout and even after the course.

The ladies I met have been invaluable. Having just moved here from the states, it's been amazing to meet so many new people - and to have the support of women going through the same experiences we are. We still meet weekly and chat via text almost daily.

This course is a great way to prepare for birth and make lifelong friends!

[Amotty]

I can also wholeheartedly recommend Ariadna's course.

My husband and I just finished the March course on Saturdays and we're really glad we did it. The course covers very similar ground to the NCT courses, but what's particularly brilliant about it is that it is run by Ariadna, who is an experienced midwife, and she places the emphasis very much on individual choice, looking at the benefits and risks in an objective way, rather than following a particular agenda (e.g. on breastfeeding, pain relief in labour etc).

The other great thing is that Ariadna appreciates knows that the social agenda is a key reason why so many people choose to do antenatal courses and appreciates the importance of a local support network for parents-to-be. She arranged for us to meet up during the course, both all together and also males/females separately, and strongly encouraged us to continue to meet up afterwards, which has been working well with a catch up in a local pub every couple of weeks so far. Now that the babies are starting to arrive, I'm sure this will be invaluable and makes it all a little less daunting!

If you're considering whether to take this course, I would say go for it!

[LocalLucy]

My partner and I attended Ariadna's course in January/February this year and cannot recommend it highly enough. The course content was evenly balanced between pre and post birth, with lots of opportunity for questions helping us to feel as prepared as possible. Ariadna took a very personal approach and was prepared to help us beyond the core course content with some specific advice we were looking for on breastfeeding. Ariandna's experience of working at Kings was fantastic as it provided an insider's view and accurate picture of what to expect at the hospital. We particularly enjoyed hearing first-hand birth stories from recent couples and we liked the friendly nature of the course - we have met a lovely set of couples who now all have babies within weeks of ours.

Lucy

[birthmatters]

Thank you for all the comments above!! It is really lovely to read such great reviews, I am pleased to see you enjoyed the course!

[RobDab]

Completely agree with all the above. This is a great course and we loved Ariadna's strong emphasis on the social aspect. We've just finished the Saturday morning course and it was informal, interesting and informative. Met some lovely people and came away a lot more confident and informed about pregnancy, birth and the post-natal period. Would highly recommend to anyone from the area who wants to know more, wants guidance and support, or just wants to make friends with other people who are about to become parents.

[karina.fernandez]

We can't recommend Ariadna's course highly enough. Her interactive and practical teaching style means that the skills we've learnt have been readily transferable to the real life experience of labour, birth, breastfeeding, nappy changing etc, and given us not only the resources to manage the wonderful challenges of it all, but also an invaluable sense of confidence. We've also been delighted to meet a group of people in the same position as us, and Ariadna's nurturing of us as a group has meant that we've found new friends too and had some lovely evenings, which makes it an enjoyable shared experience and fosters on-going learning and support. Brilliant!