I am living in Balbriggan and just found this forum which is great.
I am four months pregnant on my first child and was wondering if you know if there are any ante natal classes given in the area or do I just have to go to the hospital to do them. Local classes would be more convenient.
Welcome to the board and congratulations on your good news
Re Ante natal classes: I attended Holles Street for my pregnancy and they held ante natal classes in the hospital which all first time mothers attended, usually starting about 8 weeks before your due date and lasting 6 weeks altogether. You have to book them yourself but the nurses reminded me at my outpatient appointment. I think they cost €60 but I could be wrong. I'd say the best thing to do would be ring the ante natal dept. in which ever hospital you're attending. Hope that's of some help
Hi Juniper, I had my son, Eoin, in Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and we had 4 ante-natal classes, there was no fee for them. They did ask for a donation at the last class - but I felt the information was invaluable. I think that Mothercare advertise Ante-natal classes but I think it's a one-on-one with a midwfe so maybe try them Hope that helps, Congratulations!
I had my daughter Ella in the Rotunda and I attended the ante natal classes within the hospital. We were offered by the hospital mid wifes a full days course on a Saturday but you had to pay for it ( I cant remember the price of it ).
Have you had your booking with the hospital yet????
I am sure that if you phone up and ask in the hospital they will let you know if there is any available locally.
I am going to Rotunda and they offered me classes for later in my pregnancy but purely for convenience I asked about any locally but they didn't know of any in the Balbriggan area.
I also phoned the Bracken clinic and they too did not know of any being held locally.
I feel these classes will be really benefically so am happy to do them. I am sure Rotunda will offer me different times so we can choose when is best to go.
I might gate crash one of your coffee mornings later on to get some further tips if that is ok.
Yeah, they definitely are beneficial. In Holles Street they even gave us a tour of the labour ward and they showed us a childbirth video, which was optional though!
Feel free to gatecrash the coffee mornings. I'm not sure if anybody's meeting tomorrow or not. I'll put a post up and check it out, if your interested.
hi there im new to this site and just read your notice. I'm due in February and attending OLOL. You must be due around March? I know it's a while since you posted your message but I have just found out about antenatal classes being held by ICT (Irish Childcare Trust) in Swords. The next session of classes starts on 9th January. I think there are 5 group classes, a one 2 one class and a post natal class. There is a charge for the classes and this charge includes membership to the ICT so you can avail of the local support groups for various issues including breastfeeding, childcare etc. Anyways if you're interested I can pass on a mobile no. to you. Are you going to olol or hosp. in Dublin? I decided not to go to the antenatal classes held by olol as I live in Donabate and its handier to drive to Swords, 10 mins as opposed to 60 mins. Main reason is that I can't last more than 20 mins without needing the loo! I actually have my 3rd appt. at olol tomorrow so no doubt i will be running like a mad thing from my car to the toilet as soon as i get there!!!
Thanks for that information I'm going to set up a separate section for mums-to-be so we can move this post over when it's finished, if that's OK with everyone
I'm going to set up a separate section for mums-to-be so we can move this post over when it's finished, if that's OK with everyone 
