NCT Courses and Covid-19

Covid-19 price promise: If some or all of your course takes place online due to Covid-19, we promise to give you a course price discount related to how much of the course is online. 

Courses until the end of May 2021 are online to bring you local, fully interactive and inclusive courses when Covid-19 infection rates are high and official guidance for pregnant women remains in place – a decision supported by the Royal College of Midwives. 

"Antenatal classes can be incredibly helpful in preparing for childbirth and parenthood – and for meeting and sharing experiences with other parents-to-be. Online classes, like those offered by NCT, are the safest and most practical option currently and still offer those opportunities, even if the experience is different to getting together in person."

- Royal College of Midwives 

We are taking decisions on whether courses from June 2021 onwards will be delivered online or in-person on a month-by month-basis.  We are updating course information on our website and contacting you if have booked a course place explaining why, so you know how your course will run 6-10 weeks before it begins. 

How we make decisions about the delivery of NCT courses

As the UK’s largest parenting charity and leader in the field of antenatal education, we make informed decisions with full consideration to the current and any (confirmed) future UK government restrictions and official guidance and the most reliable research findings and data regarding pregnancy and Covid-19.   

We also consult closely with our colleagues at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Royal College of Midwives (RCM).  

It’s our charitable mission to support all parents to have the most positive experiences of pregnancy, birth and the early days, so we will: 

  • act promptly and transparently, informing you how and why your course will be delivered as early as practically possible.  
  • always make decisions that offer the best experiences available whilst protecting you, our parents, your babies and our NCT course leaders. 

Lara is a doula in Worcestershire.

Would you like Lara to be your doula?

Email: hello@pregnancybirthbeyond.co.uk

Website: lmpregnancybirthbeyond.co.uk

About Lara

Lara lives in the beautiful Worcestershire countryside with her youngest son and their cockerpoo. Ever since she was little she has been drawn towards birth, little people and their families, and so it was only natural that this would then become her chosen career. This started aged 18 where she trained to be a living breathing Mary Poppins, before working as a nanny in the Cotswolds and London. Once she returned to Worcestershire to start her family, she started working in a large Early Years setting as a Baby- Care manager, supporting families with the transition back to work and nurturing their babies as well as safeguarding. 

Lara graduated in 2020 with a Foundation degree in Birth and Beyond with the NCT from the University of Worcester, and she is now a qualified Birth Doula, Baby Massage Teacher and Postnatal Practitioner. Since graduating, she has also become a qualified Hypnobirthing Instructor and has gained a qualification in the use of Aromatherapy in childbirth through the Aromatherapy for Childbirth Organisation. 

Lara is so passionate about supporting women and their partners, actively listening to your concerns and holding space for you to really think about the kind of birth experience that you want to have. She is very keen to work with families ensuring their experience is as positive as possible, that they feel fully prepared should their birth take a different path to what was planned, but most of all that it is as family centred as possible and full of informed choice.  

 

Photo of Lara Mitchell, doula

Qualifications

  • NCT Birth and Beyond Foundation Degree at present. Lara will complete her training in June 2020 and will be an NCT Postnatal Practitioner, Baby Massage Practitioner and NCT Doula.
  • NNEB Nursery Nurse having worked with families and babies for over twenty five years.
  • NCT Postnatal Practitioner
  • NCT Baby Massage Teacher
  • Currently studying –  Mindful Breastfeeding Training - Anna Le Grang

Practicalities

Antenatal

3 appointments to build a supportive/trusting relationship, talk over birth preferences/plans, practice practical tools to help in birth such as massage or breathing techniques. 

Lara will be available 24/7 for two weeks over your due date. With you throughout labour and birth.

Postnatal

One visit to catch up, chat over your birth experience, offer support with feeding and signposting to other professionals should you need it.

NCT Membership

NCT Membership

Become an NCT member and join a community of new parents, all experiencing pregnancy, birth and early parenthood together.

Find out more