The Unbiased Antenatal Class

• Antenatal appointments
• Choosing where to give birth
• What a baby actually needs
• Hospital bag checklist
• Preparing your body for birth
• The hormone cocktail
• Myths about bringing on labour

• Early labour signs
• When to call the midwife
• Active labour
• Transition
• The birth of your baby
• Delivery of the placenta
• Caesarean birth
• The golden hour

• Non-medical tools (breathing, water, TENS machine)
• Gas and Air
• Opioids
• Epidurals

• Making medical decisions
• Membrane sweeps
• Induction of labour
• Augmentation of labour
• Assisted birth (ventouse, forceps and episiotomy)
• Caesarean birth
• Common high risk scenarios (past due date, waters breaking early, gestational diabetes, suspected big or small baby, meconium, group B strep and more!)

• Understanding the NHS system
• Writing your birth preferences
• Personalised care plans
• Your legal rights
• How to advocate for yourself and your baby
• Advocacy scripts for common scenarios

• The first 24 hours – what to expect
• Lochia (postpartum bleeding)
• Tear or episiotomy recovery
• C section recovery
• Pelvic floor recovery
• Mental health support
• Relationships and visitors

• The fourth trimester – what to expect
• Feeding your baby (breastfeeding, formula feeding, combi feeding)
• Nappy changing and bathing
• Newborn sleep reality
• Out and about (car safety and sling/carrier safety)
• What’s normal and when to worry

We recommend beginning your antenatal course after week 25 of your pregnancy and completing it by week 36. This ensures all the evidence-based research and practical tools are fresh in your mind and gives you plenty of time to enjoy our in-person Chelmsford social before your little one arrives.

We keep our cohorts small to give you plenty of time to ask questions and connect with other parents in Chelmsford so places fill up quickly. We recommend booking your spot after your 20 week scan to secure your preferred dates.

Yes, but that’s not all! We’ve designed our course around local NHS pathways and use the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust guidelines so that you know exactly what to expect locally. Our course covers Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Basildon University Hospital, Southend University Hospital, WJC Birthing Unit in Braintree and homebirths so that you’re fully prepared with how our local maternity services work.

We offer the best of both worlds by having live online classes and in person socials. The online course means you can learn comfortably and conveniently, while the in person socials in Chelmsford help you bond with local families both before and after your baby is born. We also have a dedicated whatsapp group where you can support each other through the highs and lows of pregnancy and postpartum.

Other birth preparation courses often lean heavily towards one specific type of birth or skip over the realities of medical interventions. Our course prides itself on being completely unbiased, modern and evidence-based. In addition to the usual content, we go into detail on the ‘what if’ scenarios that nobody else talks about. We cover the evidence behind interventions and different scenarios such as going past your due date or gestational diabetes so that you’re prepared for any twists and turns your journey might take. We talk about your local NHS guidelines for Broomfield, Basildon and Southend Hospitals and how to confidently advocate for yourself and your baby. If that wasn’t enough, each of our seven comprehensive modules also includes a dedicated guide for partners and support people so that they know exactly what to do before, during and after birth.

While our in person socials are in Chelmsford, our course is created to be convenient and accessible for our local Essex community by having live online modules. We welcome all expecting parents from in and around Chelmsford, including Braintree, Witham, Maldon, Great Dunmow, Hatfield Peveral, Danbury and Ingatestone.

If you live further afield then we’d still love to hear from you – drop us a line at priyanka@unbiasedbirth.co.uk and we’ll see if we can arrange something in your area.

Absolutely – everybody is welcome here. Our course materials are designed to be inclusive and supportive for families of all shapes and sizes. We offer a 20% discount to anyone attending by themselves and hope that our classes support you to build your local Chelmsford ‘village’.

Every family and support system is unique and we welcome everybody here. Your support person can be your romantic partner, a family member or a best friend and each module contains a guide dedicated to them so that they know exactly how best to support you at every stage. Our course price includes 2 attendees.

The great thing about our live online sessions is that they are recorded and shared so that you can watch back anything you missed if you or your support person can’t attend or are unwell. If there’s any questions on any of the material then can you always ask on our whatsapp group between sessions and we’ll be more than happy to help.

Absolutely. Every family structure, gender identity and path to parenthood is met with equal warmth, celebration and respect. Language really matters and our course materials are intentionally designed to be inclusive of all parents, co-parents and chosen support people.

Definitely! We welcome second time parents (or third, or fourth or fifth!) to our birth preparation classes in Chelmsford as it’s a great way to refresh your skills and meet new friends at a similar stage to you. We cover the NHS system and advocacy in detail and all those ‘I wish I’d known’ moments to fully prepare you. If you would be interested in having an individual birth reflection session to debrief on your previous birth experiences then please get in touch by emailing priyanka@unbiasedbirth.co.uk.