about BuddhaBellies

Buddhabellies is dedicated to inspiring and empowering women to give birth instinctively and with confidence. Modern birth is largely dominated by the medical profession, and for those women with difficult pregnancies or complicated labours, that is a blessing. But for the majority of women birth can and should be a natural, even an extraordinary, experience. Buddhabellies hopes to provide women with the tools to prepare both mentally and physically so that they might actively participate in their own labour and create conditions most conducive to a natural birth. For local mothers there are weekly pre and post natal classes, as well as regular couples workshops. For those further afield, there are a range resources on the website including inspiring and provocative articles, downloadable class notes, a yoga practice DVD, an interactive forum, and recommended reading lists. The information is not simply a regurgitation of material that you will find in conventional parenting and ante-natal classes but rather an accumulation of many years essential knowledge, that is otherwise difficult to find in anything but a piecemeal fashion. As one mother succinctly put it - ‘this is everything I wish my mother had told me’…

Nicole Croft is the founder of BuddhaBellies, a qualified Yoga for Pregnancy Teacher and an Associate of the Active Birth Centre in London. She has been practicing yoga for 12 years and has taught both in London and Oxford. The birth of her first child was a life changing experience and prompted her decision to train under the guidance of Janet Balaskas at the Active Birth Centre. Now a mother of three, she has had a full array of birth experiences- at home, under water and most recently by caesarean -and therefore has an entirely balanced approach to educating women about natural birth.

Endorsements from recent classes…

“Nicole’s classes took away the secrecy, fear and myths that surround birth and allowed me to look forward to and take control of my own birth experience. They taught me to have confidence in myself as a woman to give birth just as I wanted. I look back at the arrival of my daughter as one of the most precious and amazing experiences of my life”Natalie Chambers

“The ante-natal classes I went to with Nicole were the best preparation for labour and birth that I could have wished for. Her sessions at the start of the class on aspects of labour and birth were more informative than anything else I read or attended in the lead-up to the birth, and the yoga was beneficial both during the pregnancy and throughout labour. I felt mentally and physically prepared and I had no fear about the whole process thanks to Nicole’s calm, realistic and balanced approach to ante-natal teaching”Becky Jones

“Nicole’s antenatal yoga classes were excellent preparation for the whole birth experience. The breathing techniques became the mainstay of my own labour - impressing my midwife with the focus and control I was able to maintain through many hours of contractions.”Jane Wilson