The Daisy Foundation - Stevenage And Knebworth

The Daisy Foundation - Active Birthing Classes

A practical, educational and supportive journey throughout pregnancy and birth.

Congratulations! It’s almost certain that as you adjust to your pregnancy you are now looking for something that can help you to:

1) Enjoy easing away pregnancy symptoms and adapt to your changing body

2) Prepare for your baby’s birth with powerful and practical tools

3) Meet new friends who are at the same point in their journey as you!

Daisy Birthing® – our Active Antenatal™ method is a ground-breaking, effective and all-encompassing pregnancy class which will support you from 14 weeks of pregnancy right up until your baby’s birth. Our unique classes combine pregnancy yoga based movements AND antenatal education, breathing techniques and relaxation.

At Daisy we call this the 5 elements of birth preparation:


Yoga Based Movement

Our pregnancy yoga based movements and sequences are tailored to help prevent and ease pregnancy symptoms, bring awareness to your changing posture and create space for your growing baby. Weekly classes help bring physical balance to encourage optimum position for your baby’s birth and promote an awareness of how to release within your body during labour. We avoid strain by not holding static postures, we use controlled flowing moves, with every movement having a clear purpose and benefit for pregnancy and birth. The benefits of repetitive movement through weekly classes will allow your body to develop muscle memory, a technique that will encourage you to remain mobile during your birth journey. The earlier you can start attending classes, the more you will benefit during your pregnancy and birth. We are suitable for all birth choices and physical ability with movements being adapted for any ailment, condition or physical restriction.

Antenatal & Active Birth Education

Learning antenatal education in isolation (and often in the latter part of pregnancy) does not give you the time or ability to prepare the body or the mind – for birthing techniques to be effective, practice is essential. Our antenatal education and active birth techniques are delivered in a truly effective way – linking your education to your breath, your body and your movement – exactly where you will need it on your baby’s birthing day. We cover traditional antenatal education; active birth principles and an easy way to understand medical induction and interventions should your birth take that route. This combination ensures you are actively informed and prepared to make choices for you and your baby on your birthing day (and of course birth partners too! ).

Each week we progress through a different topic of education, understanding how our body will be adapting to the stages of labour and learning how to implement that knowledge on the day – so whether it is medical interventions, natural c-sections, home births or VBAC’s, Daisy Birthing prepares you to be confident on your babies birthing day.

Breathing Techniques

Whilst in normal day-to-day life breathing is an automatic process, breathing can be compromised during pregnancy (because of the impact of your ever growing baby). By learning to effectively breathe during pregnancy you can help supply your body and baby with oxygen, ease pregnancy symptoms, allow your muscles to work efficiently, keep you calm and relaxed – and help create space for baby too. Our classes start from 14 weeks as the more classes you can attend the more benefits you will gain throughout pregnancy and the more prepared you will be for labour! Breathing is also a key tool for labour – oxygen is key to fuelling contractions and so by learning (and more importantly practicing) how to breathe effectively (and calmly) during pregnancy, this ensures that it becomes a natural effective process on your birthing day.

The three breathing techniques we use in Daisy Birthing support you throughout the three stages of labour –– gently developing as the intensity builds to encourage your body to work more efficiently and to keep you feeling calmer which has an impact on how your body works during labour.

Relaxation & Birth Hypnosis

Daisy Birthing classes are delivered in such a way that you are guided into a deep state of relaxation as you move. Through the gentle rhythm of your breath, our especially composed Daisy Birthing music and the flowing gentle style of teaching the sequences allows for a truly relaxing class. Relaxing in class is a wonderful opportunity to take some time out just for you and your baby, reducing any stress and anxiety, and ease away pregnancy symptoms such as nausea and breathlessness and aid restful sleep. Our classes link relaxation to your breath, your muscle memory, and your body so that you have a key skill that will be there for you in labour – which will help you to release endorphins, keep adrenalin at bay (which can inhibit the progress of your labour), fuel your body and baby with oxygen and allow your muscles to work as they should (most importantly the uterus). Each daisy birthing class is rounded off with a tailor made relaxation session linked to the educational theme of that week. We bring together the best elements of relaxation, guided visualisation and birth hypnosis to facilitate a deeper learning, a greater understanding and an increased confidence in your positive birth.

Making Friends

We know that we often fall pregnant at different times to our friends, or perhaps you have moved to a new area. It can be isolating being a new Mum-to-be or new Mum, but the added benefit of Daisy is the amazing network of women and couples you will meet along the way. Your Daisy community offers a new network, new friends to be made, both from in class and your own private online community. What’s more, Daisy is not just about first time mum, we are suitable and welcome everyone, no matter how many previous pregnancies you have had. Every mum-to-be needs updated education, a chance to relax and prepare and meet a new support network of mums to be. Your local Daisy teacher supports you not only in class, but will facilitate a community, one from which in 20 years time you will no doubt still be meeting up with your Daisy Mummies!