• Are you an expectant mother/birthing parent in your 2nd or 3rd trimester?

• Do you want to feel emotionally and psychologically ready for your transition into Parenthood?

• Would you like to learn skills to protect against and prevent postnatal mental health issues?

If you answered YES to any of the above, then come and join our online MASTERCLASS focussing on providing you the tools to ensure you are emotionally and psychologically prepared for the transition to parenthood

Clinical Psychologist and Doula, Emma Spencer and her team at The Perinatal Collective, are excited to invite you to our mental health focussed antenatal group program.

Over an engaging and nurturing 4 weeks, you will learn skills to ensure that you are psychologically and emotionally prepared and "psyched up" for the exciting transition into your new role. Most Parents-To-Be will attend antenatal classes designed to talk them through the birth of their baby, but don't mentally, psychologically and emotionally prepare them for the life changing journey they are about to embark on- our program is designed to fill this gap.

Emma and her team have designed and written this program to ensure that Birthing Parent's have the protective skills necessary to prevent mental health issues such as post natal depression or anxiety. With a combination of education, experiential and practical activities, the four weeks will focus on:

• Core mindfulness skills and mindful parenting;

• Managing expectations and understanding the reality of being a new Parent;

• Awareness of core beliefs which drive behaviour and create vulnerability;

• Self-care practices and skills to remain resilient;

• Skills to manage and challenge unhelpful thoughts;

• Education around identifying early signs of mental health problems and how to prevent this.

In preparing this MASTERCLASS, Emma and her team have drawn from knowledge based in current best practice for perinatal health and mental health management. The mental health skills presented are grounded in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Mindfulness and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.

The Clinician's at The Perinatal Collective are extremely passionate about supporting families through birth and into Parenthood. It is our hope that the knowledge obtained and skills learnt lead to healthy Parent's, secure Bubs and connected Families.

Who Should Attend: Those Birthing Parents currently in 2nd or 3rd trimester of pregnancy.

When is the program held: This program is being held ONLINE to make it easily accessible during the current COVID-19 health crisis. We will be using a secure version of ZOOM to facilitate the program.

Dates and time: The program will be run on 4 consecutive Thursdays commencing the 4th March, 6:30pm-7:30pm (SYDNEY TIME).

Cost: The program is absolutely FREE.

AFTERCARE: graduates of our program will be admitted into closed Facebook group, which is run by the facilitators and where you will have exclusive access to ongoing support, resources, livestreams, Q&A sessions and more.

Next Steps:Obtain your FREE ticket and you will be forwarded a ZOOM link which you will use to log in to the session at the required times. We will also be in touch with relevant paperwork.

If you would like further information please feel free to email our groups co-ordinator; groups@spencerhealth.com.au or call through to the centre on 02 8411 1396.

If you are finding your current situation stressful and challenging and would like some individual support, we are able to provide this face-to-face or using Telehealth technology and we encourage you to be in touch with our clinicians 02 8411 1396 or support.gladesville@spencerhealth.com.au.

For more information about The Perinatal Collective, please head to our website www.spencerhealth.com.au