Begin Well is a charity dedicated to delivering free evidence-based antenatal education. Our courses are run by teams of trained volunteers and health professionals through local churches, and seek to enable all parents-to-be to begin their parenting journey physically, emotionally and spiritually well.
"We didn't have an easy year leading up to being pregnant with this baby. This course has given us joy and excitement and relieved our worries and anxieties. It was a great way to meet parents. We aren't a religious couple but it was nice to be in a church."
Activity
Fully trained volunteer teams will provide antenatal education courses for families in their communities. They will be supporting local families as they become parents.
Time
To set up Begin Well courses in your church you will have full training (2 days) and then run the courses for parents-to-be over 6 weeks. Most churches deliver between three and four courses a year.
Cost
The licence fee for each church for two years is £750. The cost for team member to be safer recruited and trained is £40. Most church teams welcome parents by providing refreshments and a bag of small gifts e.g. baby-gro, chocolate, invitations to events. Each parent will receive a parent handbook which carries a small cost when bought in bulk.
Partnership
Begin Well will help you link to many of the maternity and health services in your area.
Support
Every team member will receive full training to deliver the course (2 days in person or online). Your volunteers will be supported by our volunteer co-ordinator and administrator for course bookings. The volunteers will receive our Volunteer Handbook, access to course materials and ongoing training and support with our annual training day.
Resources
We want all Begin Well families to experience the love and welcome of their local church. You will need a room to meet, access to toilets and space for refreshments. There is a handful of resources (e.g. baby bath, moses baskets, flip charts) that you may wish to obtain (either new or second hand) to help with the teaching of the course.
People
For each team we ask for a main facilitator, a health care professional (ideally a practicing midwife) and further facilitators. Most teams consist of around 6 people. The main facilitator and health care professionals deliver the teaching materials and the other facilitators welcome and support the parents-to-be.
Replications
Begin Well has:
Replications
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