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WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
Ani, Mother of Iris Mae: First Time Mother and WaterbirthIris had such a kind birth and part of that was down to you providing wonderful birthing pools. I am glad that you are there to make it possible for first time mothers to have the birth they want.
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Pregnancy Information and Communities
Congratulations on your new pregnancy! The web is full of sites with information about what to do and what to expect. Among all these sites, we have selected a few that we think are particularly good and useful as you progress through the various stages of your pregnancy. As new questions pop into your mind, we are certain that you will find what you are looking for on one of these.
General Pregnancy Information |
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About.com has a specific Pregnancy & Birth section run by Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, a childbirth and postpartum educator and author of several books. While the site is US based, and is ridden with advertisements that often get in the way of content, you will be able to find information on all aspects of pregnancy, from advice on how to get pregnant to pre and post natal care. The site also features a week by week pregnancy calendar that you might find useful. Of particular interest is the focus on involving Dads-to-be in the whole pregnancy and birth.
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Childbirth.org was originally set up by Robin Weiss who now runs About.com's Pregnancy & Childbirth pages. This site is well established and is run by a number of professional midwives, doulas and child health-care professionals. Aside from a number of interesting articles on all aspects of pregnancy and birth, Childbirth.org has an interesting Ask the Pros section where you can send questions to a nurse, a midwife, a childbirth educator or a doula. In addition the site features a number of interactive applications such as a birth plan builder and a "Will it be a Boy or a Girl?" questionnaire (while its scientific validity could be questioned, it is fun!).
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The National Childbirth Trust is a UK charity that is probably best known for its country wide network of volunteer members who organise antenatal classes and Nearly New sales. The NCT however is much more than that. Its aim is to help and support parents, families and birth professionals. The NCT website provides a wealth of information on pregnancy, childbirth and early childhood accessible through their online index . It is a good idea to get in touch with your local branch for help or advice. The NCT also runs a number of online e-groups. |
HomebirthUK |
An e-group you can register for on Yahoo Groups. A popular and supportive group of midwives, mothers and antenatal supporters who promote homebirth and provide some wonderful help in deciding whether to have home birth and how to plan it. A must if you are planning or interested in a home-birth
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HowToDoThings.com is a venue where real people can share their expertise in just about any subject. You'll find "how to" articles on a variety of topics and, if you have experience in a particular area, you can write an article of your own. For example: How to Have a Water Birth.
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Babyandpregnancy.com is a lovely site dedicated to pregnant women and provides information from conception through to birth and beyond. They are a non-profit organisation and are dedicated to providing a service rather than selling advertising space! They offer an extremely useful resource for mums-to-be.
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Online Magazines |
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iVillage.co.uk is "The Website for Women". This online magazine covers a large number of topics including pregnancy. Their Community Cafe feature is a message board where you can interact with other mothers-to-be and post your questions or find support from other women in the same situation as you.
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Allinfoaboutpregnancy.com is part of the All Info About network of information sites. As many other sites, this one is also quite heavy on advertising. However, it does feature a discussion forum as well as general information about pregnancy, labour and birth. Whilst this is a US site and some articles might not be relevant (such as for example those in the Pregnancy & Work section of the site), other areas do feature some short articles on selected topics (we found some of the articles in the Health & Fitness section of particular interest). The site also features a week by week calendar of your pregnancy. |
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Babycentre.co.uk is an award winning site (voted best baby site by readers of Prima Baby) owned by Johnson and Johnson. Babycentre LLC runs a number of sites in different countries, including the US, the UK, Germany, Austria, Canada, Switzerland and Sweden. Because it is effectively a corporate resource site, it is relatively advertising free and very pleasant to browse. From the onset you are directed to content that is relevant to how far into your pregnancy you are. The site encourages you to sign up to Free Development Update e-mails based on your due date. A great feature of the site is the Birth Clubs . These are forums where you can meet other mothers-to-be who are at the same stage of pregnancy as you. Overall the site contains over a thousand articles on a wide range of topics from conception to caring for your newborn written by an extensive list of experts. Often the site features special offers for mothers-to-be from their sponsors, Johnson & Johnson, Avent and the Early Learning Centre.
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The BBC's Parenting site includes a number of sections on Preconception, Pregnancy and Birth. Typically, the BBC site is a great place to find information, but also for other support sites. The site also features a Pregnancy Calendar that produces a personalised calendar of your pregnancy based on your estimated due date (EDD). There is some great information on the site about what you should and shouldn't do during pregnancy. As the pregnancy and birth sections of the site are part of the parenting section, there is little in the way of dedicated online forums or a newsletter that is specific to pregnancy and birth.
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Babyworld.co.uk is a very nice site with loads of information. It is an online magazine (or e-zine to use the fashionable term) with some great interactive features. Particularly interesting is the many ways you are offered to interact with other mothers on the site. It features a real chat application where you can discuss things directly with other mothers online in real time or a comprehensive list of forums where any topic can be discussed at length. These forums are moderated and therefore relatively devoid of commercial advertising (or spam). The community section also features antenatal clubs where you can find other mothers-to-be at the same stage of pregnancy as you. The site does require that you register for free. We think it's a great site to help you discover all the various ways you can get involved online (check out the pregnancy diary section in particular!).
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Baby & Pregnancy Magazines |
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Prima Baby & Pregnancy have recently re-launched their online presence with a new site: Babyexpert.co.uk. The site contains a large number of freely accessible articles. To access some of the content you will need to register for free on the site or be an existing subscriber of the Prima Baby & Pregnancy magazine. The site has everything you would expect to find there in terms of information. In particular some interesting and relevant sections such as work and your rights, or healthy eating while pregnant. Registering for the site (for free) does have some benefits in the form of ad hoc special offers, however we feel that the site has little in the way of interactive features apart from their Chat Room which is nothing more than a forum. |
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The pregnancy part of the Mother & Baby Magazine website is organised in 6 sections from "Food, exercise and wellbeing", to "Work and your rights". There is definitely some interesting content there including an article on what you should do if pregnant and self employed, or choosing a birth partner. We found the site overall quite difficult to browse casually due to its structure, however content is OK although topics are generally not investigated in enough depth. The site also features an Ask the Expert section where they partner with Midwivesonline.com. |
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