Antenatal classes prepare expectant parents for labour, birth, and parenthood and cover a range of topics to help you feel more confident and informed.
Many antenatal classes are online with some face-to-face classes depending on where you live. Please ask your midwife for up-to-date information along with which classes are free.
You can also access our new podcast ‘Leicester Maternity Matters’ on Spotify which provides information about different topics to support you in making decisions about pregnancy, labour birth and your baby. Information is provided by staff working at University Hospitals of Leicester. Access the episodes here and follow to get notifications about new episodes.
The Maternity Matters: Meet the Expert event will be held on Thursday 2 October from 6pm to 8.30pm at the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) Antenatal clinic – Kensington building.
This is your opportunity to meet the team who will care for you during your pregnancy. Speak to your experts about why vaccines are important in pregnancy, how midwives and student midwives support can you, and how the infant feeding team can guide you with feeding your baby. Experts can also support you to stop smoking if you need to, and talk about your feelings and mental health during pregnancy. The birth centre, homebirth and community teams will also be available to talk about what they offer. Other teams/services available:
Interpreting services are available in Hindi, Romanian, Kurdish Sorani and Gujarati.
Getting to know your baby – antenatal feeding session
Maternity Support Workers in your local area run a 2-hour class about feeding your baby. This will give you good information about both breast and bottle feeding.
It will also give you information about how you can bond with your baby.
You can come along to a class at any point during your pregnancy.
You can bring your birth partner with you.
Please speak to your community midwife for more information about these sessions.
Bumps to Babies by Heads Up
Heads Up Leicester offer free Bumps to Babies antenatal classes as well as Wellbeing in Pregnancy classes to those living in Leicester City.
Parent and baby group for Black African/Caribbean families
A welcoming space created for Black parents and their babies to connect, share, and support one another through the early stages of parenthood. This group is rooted in cultural understanding and shared experiences.
The group will be supported by Leicester Midwives and support staff to share health messages and build relationships.
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust runs a confidential secure text messaging service for parents of children aged 0-19 years called Chat Health. The service operates Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, excluding bank holidays. All texts will be responded to by a public health nurse (health visitor/school nurse) within 24 hours. Outside of the service working hours, you’ll receive a message back to inform you that your text will be responded to once the line reopens.
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust runs the Healthy Together Helpline for parents and carers in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The Helpline’s qualified health and administrative professionals offer easy to access, safe and free advice, support and signposting. Calls are answered from 9am – 4.30pm on weekdays, excluding bank holidays. Calls are charged at the same rate as calling a standard landline number.
Should you require urgent health advice in the meantime, please contact your GP, visit an NHS walk-in centre or call NHS 111. For emergencies, dial 999 or visit A&E.
Should you need urgent health advice please contact your GP or call NHS 111. In an emergency please visit A&E or call 999
