About our parent wellbeing groups

The journey to parenthood can be a joyous time; preparing your home for their arrival, wondering who they will look like, thinking about holding them in your arms for the first time. But it can also be a time of great stress, worry and anxiety. Worrying about the labour, your babies health, your other children and what life will be like once they are here.  

We can spend lots of time preparing for the physical aspects of welcoming a new baby that we forget to think about how the transition to becoming parents is making us feel and how it may impact our mental and emotional health.  If we talk about this before our baby arrives, it makes the transition so much easier. 

Once our baby has arrived it is so easy for our attention to turn away from our health to focus solely on our babies, making sure their every needs are met. We can often feel selfish if we do focus on ourselves but we shouldn't. The is one time when we MUST focus on our mental and emotional health so we can be the best parents we can be. 

Our parent wellbeing groups will provide an opportunity for parents-to-be and parents to connect to themselves, to understand what they need to look after their mental health when times are tricky, to gain knowledge and information so they feel empowered to maintain positive mental health and feel inspired by other parents on their parenting journey. We can never underestimate the power of connection to help us through major transitions in life, even when we feel we are resilient enough to manage it on our own. 

Our Pregnancy Groups and Mothers Circles are based on Before Birth and Beyond Birth: Mindful Early Parenting Guide so here is a little background on how they were developed. 

They were born out of the personal experience of the founder Sophie Burch when she became a mum. Sophie is a qualified Hypno-CBT therapist and has qualifications in Mindfulness, IAIM Infant Massage and Aromatherapy. 

Sophie developed Before and Beyond Birth to work as a preventative tool for poor mental health and to help parents manage their mental wellbeing during pregnancy and through the first years of becoming a parent. "It will hopefully make the transition to parenthood easier and help parents to build resilience so they can better cope with any challenges they may come across". 

It is derived from research and practice both personally and with Sophie's clients. 

Before Birth and Beyond Birth sessions are not therapy sessions, they are here for you to take some times to reflect on your mental wellbeing before your baby arrives and during the first few years of being a parent. They give you a safe space to think about what you may need to keep mentally and emotionally well throughout the final weeks of your pregnancy and into your early parenting journey. 

We focus on different aspects of the parenting journey, which can often cause stress, including sleep deprivation, our stress response and matrescence. You will gain a variety of coping techniques that will help you to navigate any ups and downs of parenting and are suitable for both mums and dads and can be used at any time night or day. You will leave our sessions feeling empowered, inspired and confident in that you can recognise when you need help, what tools will help you, but also that if you need professional help you are supported the whole way by us. 

Make your mental health a priority during the final weeks of pregnancy to make the transition to motherhood a whole lot easier! 

Our Nourish Mama Pregnancy Group is suitable for pregnant women in their 3rd trimester. 

It runs for 5 weeks and each week has a different theme. The themes are:                                                                                 

Nurture

Emotions

Connections 

Recovery & Resilience

Transformation

Each week has a similar structure which includes refreshments, mindfulness, journaling, an opportunity to bring any thoughts, knowledge or worries to the group finishing with relaxation.  

It will give you time to slow down, relax and reflect on what you need mentally and emotionally during the final weeks and months of pregnancy. 

We learn simple practices that will help you to strengthen your resilience, grow and thrive as a mum. 

You will have an opportunity to relax and connect with other mums, supporting each other on this wonderful adventure. 

You will leave feeling: 

- Mentally stronger and prepared for the most life changing journey you are about to go on.

- Intune with your mind and body, understanding how you can preserve and protect your mental health. 

- Connected to yourself and baby.  

- Confident in understanding when you may need support and what support is available.

- Supported by others mums. Excited to use your goodie bag which will help to bring mindfulness to your days.

Our circles run for 2 hours and you will leave feeling connected to your mind and body, empowered and inspired with lots of tools up your sleeve to make any stressful times more manageable. 

Our Nourish Mama Pregnancy Groups and Nurture Mothers Circles can be delivered on a 121 basis and with partners so if you would like to know more about how this works please get in touch.