Further growth is on the cards for a Stafford midwife’s business supporting parents-to-be – with more additions to her expert team, extra locations and a new course aimed at grandparents.
Freya Mahal set up Expecting in 2010 on a part-time basis but turned it into a full-time venture last Spring as demand started to rise for her antenatal classes.
As well as offering online classes she began to take on other midwives and has now expanded into other geographical areas – including Stoke, Cannock, Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
She is soon set to have four midwives, an experienced neonatal doctor and a lactation consultant on the books, with scope for more people to join the team.
In fact, Freya says the business is expanding in all directions – joking that it’s “much like the pregnancy bumps of my clients”.
Freya, who had a 20-year career in the NHS before dedicating her time to the company, said: “I’m so passionate about empowering parents to have access to honest, realistic information and supporting them at this pivotal point in life.
“And I’m also passionate about enabling midwives who are feeling burnt out in their NHS jobs to rekindle their joy of midwifery through teaching our classes.”
Freya is also looking to widen her client base as well as her geographical locations. She has now created an online Grandparents’ Refresher Course to help grandparents blend their existing wisdom with modern caregiving insights.
She added: “I’m not trying to teach grandmas (or grandpas) to suck eggs! But help from grandparents can make all the difference in the first weeks of babyhood.
“I’ve seen relationships grow and deepen as a new-found mutual respect has developed and I’ve sadly seen relationships break down or become the source of stress and strain.
“My intention is that this course helps prevent the latter and encourages the former.”
Other plans in the pipeline for Expecting include developing a gestational diabetes course to be delivered later this year and scoping out further locations to start offering antenatal classes from.
