Busy expectant parents are signing up for antenatal classes in spa hotels to combine preparation for their baby with a weekend of fine food and pampering.
Once antenatal options were limited to often packed hospital-based courses or classes at a tutor's house. Now choices range from private one-to-one sessions in a couple's own home to spa hotels' "babymoon" mini-breaks in Scottish country houses where golf and falconry are on offer alongside tips on pelvic floor exercises and pain relief.
Companies springing up in the last few months to cater for the new breed of expectant parents say they aim to tap in to a desire among pregnant women and their partners to inform themselves as fully as possible as they prepare for birth. Some target a niche group of "cash-rich, time- poor" clients prepared to pay more than £1,500 for a weekend while others offer a options for parents on most budgets.
The rise in luxury classes comes amid evidence that NHS antenatal education is falling victim to budget cuts in some areas. Midwives fear that poorer women who cannot afford to go private may miss out on crucial information and the chance to form links with other local mothers.
While hospitals do not have to provide antenatal courses, the practice has been that they offer at least four two-hour sessions. But the Royal College of Midwifery has found that classes are being seen as a target as trusts struggle to make cuts to meet the NHS's £1.2bn deficit, while juggling midwife shortages in some areas.
Guay Ong, regional adviser at the RCM, said: "The classes don't attract additional funding. A trust gets no more money whether it holds 10 classes or two. Many years ago, women were given eight to 10 classes. Then it was gradually reduced to four and in some areas even two."
West Hertfordshire NHS Trust has suspended its antenatal craft classes indefinitely from the new year, while midwives have been told to tell parents of private alternatives. Cuts in NHS classes in Romsey, Hampshire, have been raised in parliament, and there have also been cuts in Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells.
Gill Perks, a practising NHS midwife in Kent, set up GentleBirth to offer antenatal education, including one-to-one sessions for couples and luxurious weekend breaks at spa hotels.
The company is also planning to work with a local Sure Start scheme to offer free classes and Mrs Perks argues that widely available, high quality antenatal education can save the NHS money.
She said: "In a culture of rising obstetric interventions and caesarean section rates, antenatal education is key."
