Contemporary Issues in Perinatal Education: Knowledge into Practice

Providing essential knowledge and understanding that midwives, health visitors, nursery nurses and lay birth and early parenting educators need to deliver effective and evidence-based education to all new parents and families, this book explores key issues in perinatal education.

Bringing together research and thinking around preconception and birth, infant sleep, nutrition, attachment and development, it also includes chapters on topics of growing importance, such as preconception education, LGBTQ+ parent education, the role of parenting advice, parent education across different cultures and teaching antenatal classes online. Each chapter includes a key knowledge update and pointers for practice.

This wide-ranging and practical text is an important read for all those supporting new parents from pregnancy through the first 1000 days, especially those delivering antenatal care and birth and early parenting education.

Mary Nolan is well known for her work in perinatal education. She has published numerous articles and several books in the field, the most recent being Parent Education for the Critical 1000 Days. She has been Professor of Perinatal Education at the University of Worcester for 15 years and Honorary Professor at Nottingham University for 10 years. Prior to her University appointment, she worked as a birth and early parenting educator and trainer across the UK and in France, Belgium, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. In 2013, she was one of the founders of the International Journal of Birth and Parent Education and its first Editor-in-Chief.

Shona Gore has facilitated antenatal and perinatal courses in the UK for those in the transition to parenthood during a 30-year career in childbirth education, relationship and birth education in schools (including for children with special learning needs) and workshops in adult education for NHS and Early Years’ Practitioners. In association with the Universities of Bedfordshire and Worcester, she has devised and taught courses to train NCT practitioners from entrance to degree level. In 2013, with Mary Nolan (Editor-in-Chief), she founded the International Journal of Birth and Parent Education.