One-day birth preparation workshop for pregnant women and their birth partners
Active Birth Prenatal Workshop
Prepare for birth by understanding what happens in your body and with your baby, and how you can work together through labour.
This practical one-day workshop gives you time to understand what happens during birth and, importantly, to experience some of the ways you can meet it — through movement, positions, breathing, rest, touch and partner support.
You won't spend the day sitting and listening.
This is an experiential workshop. We move between conversation, demonstration and practice, giving you time to try positions, breathing, movement, massage and partner support for yourselves.
You don't need to remember everything afterwards. The intention is to give you experiences and resources that your body and your relationship can return to when birth begins.
What couples say
We attended a warm, supportive birth course that empowered us and gave us confidence and clarity. From the start, we felt welcomed with tea, dates, and nuts in a beautiful, calming space. We learned about the birth process, hormones, and how my partner can support me during labor. Irida listened to us with care and guided us through practical movements to use before and during birth. And it helped to identify our birth wishes. A great mix of useful info and hands-on practice.
We came away feeling much more prepared as a couple. My partner finally understood how he could support me in practical ways, and we had conversations we probably wouldn't have had otherwise. Irida created such a warm, relaxed space where we could ask questions, practise together and feel genuinely ready to meet the birth as a team.
The workshop helped me understand what my body will be doing during labour and how I can work with it rather than feel afraid of it. Everything was explained so clearly, and the practical positions and breathing gave me something I could really take into birth. I left feeling calmer, more confident and much more connected to my own instincts.
Birth asks something of both you and your baby
In an Active Birth, you learn how your body is designed to give birth and how movement, gravity, instinct and your changing positions can support the way your baby moves through the pelvis.
But being active doesn't mean you need to keep moving. Sometimes your body may ask for movement; sometimes for stillness, rest, sound, touch or privacy. Active Birth is about learning to listen and respond to what is happening.
Your birth partner is part of this too — learning not simply what to do, but how to notice, listen and support you as labour unfolds.
What we'll explore together
Meeting Birth
We begin with your body and your baby. Using a pelvis and baby model, we'll explore how the pelvis moves, how your baby makes their way through it, and why movement and upright positions can make a difference during labour.
Early Labour — Warming, Opening & Settling
We'll follow what happens as labour begins: what your uterus, cervix and baby are doing, how contractions build and release, and what early labour might feel like. We'll explore rest, breathing, creating a supportive birth environment and when to contact your maternity team.
Active Labour — Working Together
This is the practical heart of the day. You'll move, breathe and practise different labour positions together; explore sound, massage, touch and counter-pressure; and experience how a partner can support without taking over. We'll also explore what remains available if induction, monitoring, an epidural or other medical support becomes part of your birth.
Birth of Your Baby
Using the pelvis and baby model again, we'll follow your baby's descent and rotation towards birth. You'll explore positions for giving birth, breathing and sound, the instinct to bear down and how your partner can continue supporting you.
The First Hours Together
We'll follow birth into the first hours with your baby: skin-to-skin, baby's transition after birth, early feeding behaviours, the umbilical cord, birth of the placenta and what happens when mother or baby needs additional care.
For birth partners too
You don't need to arrive knowing how to support someone through labour. Throughout the day you'll practise together — how to offer physical support, massage and counter-pressure, how to help with positions, and how to recognise when what she needs is quiet, rest or simply your presence.
You will also explore how you can support communication and decision-making if circumstances change during birth.
When birth changes course
Active Birth isn't about achieving a particular kind of birth.
The principles we practise can remain useful if your birth includes induction, monitoring, medical pain relief, an epidural or other interventions. We explore how you can keep asking: what is available to me now? Perhaps movement. A different position. Breath. Touch. Rest. Communication. Your partner beside you.
The aim is not to prepare for a perfect birth, but to help you meet the birth that unfolds with more understanding, resources and support.
Is this workshop for us?
This workshop is for you if you are pregnant and would like to prepare for birth together with your partner or birth companion.
You don't need to be planning a home birth or an unmedicated birth. The workshop is relevant whether you are planning to give birth at home, in a birth centre or in hospital.
Questions
Meet Irida
I'm Irida, an Active Birth facilitator and founder of Women's Den. As a Rite of Passage Doula, I support women through significant life transitions.
My work around pregnancy and birth is influenced by the Active Birth approach developed by Janet Balaskas — understanding the physiology of birth, working with gravity and movement, and helping women and birth partners feel informed and actively involved.
Nothing can fully prepare us for birth. Each birth is unpredictable, unique and a new, intense experience. But preparation can bring awareness, practical understanding and confidence in what may support you through different moments of labour and birth.
My invitation for this day is to explore that together — to understand more about how birth works, to practise ways of moving, breathing and responding, and to discover what might help you and your birth partner meet what unfolds with greater awareness and choice.
More about IridaNext Active Birth Prenatal Workshop
Saturday 17 October or Saturday 14 November 2026
Schiedam — exact location follows by email
09:30–17:00 · €190 per couple · €95 solo
Small group · Workshop in English
Book your place
Prepare for birth together.
Next Active Birth Prenatal Workshop
Saturday 17 October or 14 November 2026 · Schiedam
09:30–17:00 · €190 per couple · €95 solo · English · Small group
Have a question? Get in touch