A helping hand for Shropshire's new mums

When Jan Minihane swapped a high-flying life in London for bringing up two wonderful little boys in Shropshire, she didn't realise she would become so actively involved with her local branch of the National Childbirth Trust.

Formerly a corporate tax specialist, Jan moved to Shawbirch in 2005 to work for her mother-in-law, the intrepid @MaureenMDavies, who featured in last week's column.

"I was looking for a new challenge and wanted a safer, more relaxed environment to bring up children," says Jan.

"When I first moved to the Telford area and became pregnant with my first child, I found that I couldn't easily find opportunities to meet other new mums-to-be."

Jan started going to antenatal classes run by the National Childbirth Trust's Telford branch and through them, she was able to meet other mums and get valuable advice and support.

The branch run antenatal, postnatal and antenatal-refresher courses in Muxton, Newport and Little Wenlock.

Along with the Shrewsbury branch, they cater for the entire county from Ludlow to Market Drayton.

"Shortly after my first child was born, I started going to their committee meetings because I was desperate to do something, and through that I began chairing the branch."

Jan stepped down after giving birth to her second child in 2008 but has continued to help raise the profile of the Trust in the local area.

"In London, the National Childbirth Trust has a very high profile – every mum I knew there went to their antenatal classes.

"But in rural areas, the Trust doesn't get the same profile as people are much more scattered and you don't get the concentration of mums as you do in big cities.

"We're working to raise the profile of the Trust so that mums and mums-to-be from all over the area know we're here to help and support them."

Jan also set up the Bumps and Babes drop-in centres for the Trust so that mums could get together and find out everything they need to know, from breastfeeding to postnatal depression.

The group meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at St Johns Church in Muxton and on the first and third Thursday of each month at Newport Children's Centre in Newport.

"It's a great way for mums-to-be and new mums and dads with babies up to around 12 months old to meet others at the same stage as them," says Jan.

"We usually have an antenatal teacher and breastfeeding councillor on hand to provide informal advice and which can be invaluable in those first few weeks as a new mum, and we even have a beauty therapist to help make mums feel human again!"

Jan says the branch are always looking for volunteers to help them offer more services locally to parents, as well as parents who have baby items to sell for their twice-yearly Nearly New sales.

For more information visit www.nct.org.uk or contact the Telford, Wrekin and District branch on 0844 2436295.

Follow Jan on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JanMinihane