Mummies be informed, by Marina Fogle

It’s a sad week for me. All is well with my baby but I finished my course of ante-natal classes. I somewhat poo-poohed the idea when it first came to signing up; I’d read a hell of a lot of books and coming from a medical family I knew everything, surely? A friend finally convinced me to sign up to Christine Hill (Christine Hill Associates 020 8994 4349), an obstetric physiotherapist who runs ante-natal classes in Chiswick and in September I trundled along, convinced I’d learn nothing new.

As our group of ten mummies-to-be sat there, nervously surveying each other, Christine announced “You’ll all be best friends. You may not think so now, but I guarantee you’ll be on the phone to each other constantly when your babies all arrive”. And thus our journey started. The weekly two hour sessions covered everything from what happens to you anatomically and emotionally, to what kit is essential for your new baby, via pain relief, breathing techniques and how to deal with your mother-in-law.

Christine tells it how it is – she’s very no-nonsense and the one thing you’re guaranteed to get is a straight answer. Little things like, she believes very strongly that you have to get into hospital within an hour of your waters breaking. They will quickly monitor the baby and if all is okay and you’re still in the early stages of labour, send you home again. There is a small chance that the baby could be restricting the umbilical cord and if this is the case, it needs to come out as soon as possible. Lots of hospitals discourage you from coming in at this early stage, but Christine advised us that if you ever want to be seen, just tell them that you can’t feel the baby moving. They’ll then see you straight away.

We talked to a doctor who explained all about medicalised deliveries, and a breastfeeding specialist who convinced us that if done correctly, sore nipples and mastitis can be avoided. After eight sessions, I not only feel confident about giving birth and looking after my newborn, but I can’t wait to feel my first contraction. And even better, Christine was right. Our group of girls are as thick as thieves. Charlie, ‘our’ first baby, was born a week ago, and we all shed a little tear when we heard the news….

National Childbirth Trust (NCT) www.nct.org.uk