Westporter Jessica Hill was “accidentally” living in England when she and her husband had their first baby in 2008. She was nervous to have a baby in a foreign country, “but it ended up being an amazing experience,” she says. The most incredible part? “My prenatal education classes.” Jessica went through the National Childbirth Trust (aka NCT), the United Kingdom’s leading charity for parents. The NCT is a longstanding institution providing many services, including comprehensive prenatal education, covering things like labor and feeding and diapering, but also emphasizing community-building and creating a support network. The classes were regular and well-attended, and Jessica says the effect it had on connecting her to other parents with similarly-aged children was transformational.
When her family moved to Westport in 2017 and she started trading postpartum stories with fellow parents, she realized her experience was unusual. “I remember sitting on the preschool playground asking people what it was like to have a baby here, because I hadn't done it. And the stories were overwhelmingly like: it was really lonely.” Realizing how the power of the support NCT provided gave her an idea: she decided to create her own, more inclusive version of the NCT stateside, and The Parent Collective was born. It’s a community that provides resources, classes both online and in person, and coaching sessions for parents, both online and in person. With locations in Fairfield, Ridgefield, Stamford, and Greenwich, you can meet people locally, which is also important. “I think there is something uniquely isolating about the suburbs,” says Jessica of her Fairfield County presence. “You’re always in your car, and there aren’t as many opportunities to connect with people.” It’s why she’s expanding to other, similar locations on both coasts, from Los Angeles, to Tuckahoe, N.Y. “I always envisioned this could be something like the NCT, which is all over,” says Jessica.
While TPC classes cover what you might expect to learn from a hospital birthing class series (things like late-stage pregnancy and labor signs, what to expect during delivery, a primer on newborn feeding, and baby care), they also come from a perspective that takes into account the huge undertaking that becoming a parent is. They offer education on perinatal mood disorders, conversation starters to help couples think about how they want to manage the increased workload of parenthood, pelvic floor support, and local new parent resources and provide that much-needed community element. “A lot of moms think oh, I’ll find my mom friends when I’m on my maternity leave. But there are so many barriers to that,” says Jessica. When you’re in the thick of postpartum and leaving the house is a monumental task, having someone to text who lives nearby and is in the exact same life stage as you is huge, she says. You might get lucky and know someone with a due date right around yours– but if you don’t, a TPC class is a great way to meet them. “To me, the education is almost secondary,” says Jessica. “Yes, you’re gonna know how to diaper, you're gonna know how to swaddle. But having that access to people —my hope is that’s the memory people have of The Parent Collective.” For more info, visit theparentcollective.com