ANTENATAL ACADEMY SESSIONS
Welcome to our community!
Hi there, we're Debbie Willis and Helen Fortes, the founders of Antenatal Academy. Together we have many years of experience educating and supporting couples prepare for birth and beyond
We have built a friendly community of parents and parents-to-be in Bury St Edmunds and beyond. We offer education and guidance on how to thrive through your pregnancy, and prepare for a positive birth and the first weeks and months of being a parent. We have free regular community meet ups, birth and baby education and preparation courses, coaching and support.
Our Group Antenatal Academy course in Bury St Edmunds is designed to help you achieve the birth you want, a positive experience where you feel in control and prepared for what to expect during labour and after your baby is born. Our course is unique, because it's based on our real-life experience of supporting hundreds of pregnant folks and their partners.
PREGNANCY SUPPORT GROUP
This free group is a community of local pregnant folks, parents and birth professionals such as doulas, antenatal teachers and midwives ...and anyone else who wants to share positive stories and support women in birth in a positive way - helping them to have a positive birth and parenting journey.
The purpose of the group is to link with others locally, both virtually and in person through meet ups, to share information, articles, knowledge and birth stories that help to inspire and support local pregnant folks in a positive way.
BUMPS AND BABIES meet up’s
A free community meet up for pregnant couples and parents of newborns to meet like minded parents, have a chat and a cuppa and cake at the Joy Connection cafe lounge.
Everyone is welcome, all parents to be, bumps, babies and toddlers!
It's also your opportunity to say hello to HELEN FORTES Birth and Post Natal Doula and Antenatal Educator and DEBBIE WILLIS Birth Coach, Hypnobirthing Specialist and Antenatal Educator.
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Debbie is an Antenatal Educator, Birth Coach, Hypnobirthing Practitioner and facilitator of the Bury St Edmunds Positive Birth Group. Having learnt about hypnobirthing and after having straight forward positive birth experiences where both she and her two children were born healthy and recovered quickly, Debbie realised that she wanted to support women through teaching them how to trust their bodies and learn the very effective tools of hypnobirthing. She trained through Natal Hypnotherapy and has been supporting couples through Group and Private antenatal courses and birth coaching for over ten years.
A self confessed ‘Birth Nut’ Debbie is an experienced facilitator; she loves talking about the nitty gritty of birth and you certainly won’t be bored in her class!
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Helen Fortes is both a Teacher and a Birth and Post-natal Doula, providing emotional and practical support for families. She is a fully trained three step rewind practitioner to help couples with negative birth experiences, and birth educator. She is passionate about home birth and the rights of all women and birthing people. She also helps Debbie facilitate the local Pregnancy Support Group.
Helen loves supporting people to navigate the maternity system and give them the confidence to make informed decisions that shape their birth and postnatal experience. Helen is a Mum of two and recently a surrogate where she carried and birthed another couples baby, how amazing is that!
SESSIONS FROM ANTENATAL ACADEMY HOSTED OUTSIDE OF THE JOY CONNECTION HUB
GROUP ANTENATAL CLASSES
Our comprehensive, modern and unique group antenatal course comprises of six parts, each part taking two hours. We book these parts in over three or six sessions.
These classes are designed to support you to have the birth that you want, where you feel in control, and knowing what to expect. You will learn all about labour and birth but also how you can effectively navigate those first few weeks of parenthood.
We will also include a reunion with your antenatal class after your baby is born.
Hosted by Antenatal Academy
HYPNOBIRTHING, BIRTH COACHING
Where both you and your birth partner feel prepared, listened to, and in control.
The labour and birth techniques you will learn in my classes are bespoke. They include hypnobirthing and mindfulness techniques to help reduce the likelihood of interventions, to reduce pain that you may be feeling and to enable you to have a positive experience, helping you to feel in control and making decisions that are right for you and your baby.
We also host baby-moon’s and pregnancy retreat days
Hosted by Better Birth and Baby
BIRTH AND POST NATAL DOULA
Doulas support women and families in all kinds of situations, who have different kinds of births and make a wide range of parenting choices. The services offered by a doula vary greatly according to the needs of the women, couple or family that she is working with.
I really want all women to know that they still deserve to have the right support and that their bodies and their babies are still ‘theirs’ to make informed decisions about and to have their views heard.
Hosted by Natal Nurturing
Together we have many years of knowledge and experience of pregnancy, birth and babies and are constantly learning and providing those we support with up to date evidence-based information and education.