Antenatal education

All our classes are free and are for everyone who is booked to have a baby at one of our hospitals. We offer antenatal classes relating to the end of your pregnancy, birthing and feeding your baby. You will be invited to book a place on a class when you are 28 weeks pregnant.

Face to face antenatal classes

You are welcome to bring a partner or supporter to these classes.

General antenatal classes

Classes are split into 3 parts run separately. They should be attended in order:

End of pregnancy
Birth preparation and support
Hormones
Birth place and environment
Stages of labour
When to call
Birthing

Induction of labour
Assisted birth and caesarean birth
Coping strategies – pain relief
Early postnatal hours
Introduction to feeding
Postnatal care
Community support

In this course we will discuss all you need to know to get your infant feeding journey off to the best start. We will cover attachment and positioning, how to overcome common challenges, understanding how your body makes milk and how to tell if your baby is getting enough.
We will also talk about the fourth trimester, normal new-born behaviour and much more!

Twins or more antenatal class

If you have having twins or more babies you can just attend this class to get all the information you need about end of pregnancy, birth and postnatal care.

End of pregnancy
Birth preparation and support
Hormones
Birth environment
Stages of labour
When to call
Birthing
Induction of labour
Assisted birth and caesarean birth
Coping strategies – pain relief
Early postnatal hours
Introduction to feeding
Postnatal care
Community support

Homebirth class

This session is for you if you:

already know you would like a home birth or are not sure and you want more information to help you decide
want a home birth, but your partner/mother is not keen and you would like them to feel reassured and to have more information
have already had a home birth but feel you could do with a reminder
are wondering what you might need
want some top tips.

Virtual antenatal classes

Many of our classes are also run virtually every month using Microsoft Teams. We also occasionally run Facebook ‘live’ sessions on our UHSussex Maternity Facebook page.