NHS ante-natal classes are running in York once again, more than three years after bosses were slammed for replacing them with online videos for mums-to-be.
York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that face-to-face classes for expectant parents have restarted in the last few weeks, on the advice of its own midwives and patients.
A spokesman said: “In January, the Trust’s Community Midwifery Service recommenced face to face antenatal education sessions classes in York and Selby.
“This was a local decision taken in response to feedback from women who use our service.
They added: “Women have told us they would like a choice of ways in which to access antenatal information – as well as having the opportunity to meet other mothers and ask questions.”
In September 2013, York Hospital announced it was cutting all the classes.
At the time, NHS bosses said that as only 25 per cent of expectant mums actually used the service, they wanted to switch to “virtual classes”, which could be watched online and would make the information much more accessible for all parents, keeping classes only for teenage mothers and mums expecting more than one baby.
But the decision was criticised by charity the National Childbirth Trust, who said York should be trying to make the classes cater to different needs, rather than scrapping them altogether.
The charity said the classes provided vital support and a chance to meet other parents in the same position as them, as well as giving out the information.
Now the reintroduced classes are to run alongside the online versions, which will still be available.
They will take place in places like children’s centres and hospital sites, and will run over three weeks with sessions on supporting normal birth and discussions of complicating factors; caring for newborns; feeding and bonding with baby.
The videos have been filmed by staff at the maternity department at York Hospital, and updated versions are planned for later in the year, a hospital spokesman said.
The new classes run in both York and Selby, the only two areas which saw the classes cancelled.
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