This one-day intensive class is taught by Sarah Leslie, a registered and practicing midwife. It is meant for soon to be parents who are looking for prenatal education from the comfort of their own home. This is a small, interactive 6 hour online Zoom class where you can learn the basics about labour, birth, postpartum healing and how to care for your newborn.
This class is best taken between 28 and 34 weeks gestation.
In the morning session you will learn about the last trimester of pregnancy and how to prepare for your birth. You will also learn the basics about labour and birth with the following topics:
What are your choice of birth place (home, Toronto Birth Centre, hospital).
How to preparing for birth (teas, foods, exercise, perineal massage, Hypnobirthing).
What is a birth plan and do you need it?
What supplies do I need for giving birth, what to have/pack.
Planning for support in labour (partner, doula, family, friends), who's taking care of the fur baby?
Why do people pump before labour?
What are the phases of labour (latent/early labour, active 1st/2nd stage, pp 3rd/4th stage)
What coping strategies/support are available to you in the different birthing places.
What pain management options are available to me during labour and birth?
What are the most common challenges during labour (rupture of membranes, fever, "slow progress", long inductions of labour, high blood pressure, abnormal fetal heart rate) and how can I make the best of them?
What are the different kinds of births (spontaneous vaginal birth, caesarean birth, vacuum birth, forceps birth)?
What does it mean to do skin to skin?
What is delayed cord clamping?
What is cord blood banking?
How to optimize healing your body after giving birth.
How can I optimize my mental health after having a baby?
When can I get more active after giving birth?
Lunch break of one hour
In the afternoon session you will learn your newborn's operating system by cover the A-Zs from sleep to feeding and the transition into parenthood! We will cover the following topics:
Identify normal newborn appearances and behaviour
What tests do newborns have in the first 6 weeks
Information about Ontario Health cards, registration and birth certificate
Understand the basics around an ideal latch for breastfeeding and feeding newborns
Learn about healing and recovery from birth
Information about postpartum mood disorders
Baby hygiene (bathing, diaper rashes and dressing baby)
What to expect from a newborn, including sleep, and how you can grab some zzz’s too.
Normalizing the 4th Trimester and setting yourself up for parenting success
You will also receive our Postpartum Survival Guide, which covers everything we cover in class, this way, if you forget anything after the baby arrives, you have easy access to all the information in your trusted guide.
Most folks who take this class are first time parents but if you are looking for more information about how to make your next birth a better experience this class might be a great fit for you.
Please email Sarah Leslie at SarahLeslieRM@gmail.com to sign up or use the contact page on this website for more information. Include the date of the course you are interested in and who you are receiving pregnancy/birth care from i.e. midwifery clinic, OB or family doctor. Once you have paid for the class you will receive a Zoom link for the class.
Online class structure:
The Prenatal in the morning: 9:30 am to 12:30pm
Lunch 12:30pm to 1:30pm
The Newborn in the afternoon: 1:30pm to 4:30pm
Class Dates:
Sat, Apr 12, 2025: 9:30 am - 4:30pm
Sun, June 1, 2025: 9:30am - 4:30pm
Sat, July 12, 2025: 9:30am - 4:30pm
No August class in 2025
Sun, Sept 7, 2025: 9:30am - 4:30pm
The Prenatal and The Newborn are 6 hours of detailed online instruction that will give you everything you need to know to prepare for birth, optimizing your labour as well as looking after your newborn. These classes are special as they are taught by Sarah who is currently working as a registered midwife and has 20+ years of midwifery experience.
You can take both classes in one day or over two months. For example some folks like to spread out the classes by taking The Prenatal between 28 - 30 weeks and then The Newborn 32 - 36 weeks.
The Prenatal costs:
$100 for two people or $50 for one person
The Newborn costs:
$100 for two people or $50 for one person
The Prenatal and The Newborn cost together:
$200 for two people or $100 for one person
The information were very helpful and the way it was delivered gives to us, as first parents, confidence to pass through all those phases and having our little girl.
Ariane
Super informative class! This is my first pregnancy and I learned so many things that I didn’t even think I needed to know! Sarah took her time to make sure the group was ready to move on from each slide and answered all the questions anyone had. I couldn’t be happier, thank you so much!
Parent of the Midwives Clinic
Sarah was a wonderful instructor and her session is both informative, casual and empowering. It provided us a great sense of comfort knowing we are more prepare for the birthing day.
Parent of the Midwives Clinic
Sarah Leslie was personable, thorough, patient, left time for questions, and was very knowledgeable. Thank you!
Parent of the Midwives Clinic
Even though we've read several books and done other free classes, this was by far the best and the most informative class we took. It was nice to meet other parents and hear they're questions and get so much excellent information.
Parent of the Midwives Clinic
I’m so happy my partner and I took this class! It was very informative and enjoyable. I feel more prepared and now know what topics I want to delve even further into after exploring them today. Thanks so much!
Katelyn
Sarah was an excellent facilitator. The Newborn class was a great refresher of the tips I have learned in my earlier prenatal classes, and covered many things I didn’t yet know about. She comes across incredibly professional and knowledgeable. Thanks for a great class!
Michelle
The class was fantastic. Well paced, informative and definitely helped take care of some back of the mind worries I had!
Tamara
This class from Sarah Leslie was AMAZING. It was super-helpful to know what to expect, and what is perfectly normal, and why it's all happening. Especially when family/friends will make strange remarks, "Not sure if you noticed this but you may be giving baby heat rash". It's nice to say thanks so much - that's actually baby acne. Or that's newborn rash. Or whatever those little stages are instead of being stressed out at night wondering if you've done something horribly wrong. Sarah has the most amazing blend of practical know-how, a full willingness to share from her own personal and professional experience, and a total love of babies. It is so incredibly refreshing. And she provided resources to help with the big stuff that align with all methods of parenting and didn't focus on one specific kind, which I appreciated as a lot of the internet seems to lean strongly in one sharp direction I was looking to avoid. Thank you so much, Sarah! We are forever grateful for your guidance, recommendations, and of course, for your help bringing our sweet little one into this world! 😍
Nathalie & Christopher