Our Training Courses

Perinatal Yoga – Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum & the Postnatal Year

Train to support all women journeying through pregnancy, birth and postnatal recovery with specially adapted Yoga that will enhance their health and wellbeing throughout their pregnancy, help them prepare

Aqua Yoga for Women’s Health, Pre & Postnatal Aqua Yoga

The Aqua Yoga area consists of the following courses – Aqua Yoga for Women’s Health, Aquanatal Yoga and Aqua Yoga Therapy Days.

Why Train?
Birthlight Aqua Yoga

Baby Massage, Baby Yoga & Toddler Yoga

To digest and sleep well, to grow and develop their potential, babies need movement appropriate to their ages and/or developmental stages. Drawing on a wealth of teaching experience over

Baby Swimming

Birthlight Baby Swimming Area consists of courses: “Baby Swimming Teacher Certification (Parts 1&2)” and “Aquatic Nurture for Newborns” (Short Course / CPD). Additionally, “Foundations of Swimming for Toddlers”, “Aquatic

Well Woman Yoga

Well Woman Yoga – Yoga for Women’s Health and Well-being

Why we need specialist Yoga for Women’s Health and Well being

Women transform

In-house, Corporate, Community and Charity Sector Training

In the last 30 years, Birthlight has offered a wide range of in-house training courses for a wide range of providers. Birthlight can come to you for in-house, specialist
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WELCOME TO Birthlight

Our Story

Birthlight, now worldwide, started with informal, small birth preparation classes taught by Francoise Freedman in Cambridge in the 1980’s. As an anthropologist at Cambridge University, Dr Françoise Freedman was asked to share

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Our Team

Dr. Françoise Freedman

Dr Françoise Freedman is the Founder and Director of Birthlight. She is a pioneer, Senior Yoga Teacher, acclaimed writer and lecturer of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. 

Françoise interlaces her academic research at Cambridge with Birthlight’s

Kirsteen Ruffell

Kirsteen Ruffell is the Co-ordinator for Birthlight’s land-based training courses and is one of our experienced Perinatal and Baby Yoga Tutors. She is a registered Senior Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance Professionals, has been teaching yoga since 1998 and

Carol Anne Procter

Carol Anne is a Special Baby Swimming tutor and a Certified Aquatic Specialist with more than 10 years experience in warm water therapy for adults and children. Having one of her own daughters living with a disability from birth has

Collective Birthlight

The fourth team member is the collective, it is you and the common and related work that you do, maybe in related disciplines or maybe in the directions you take after coming on a training with us or
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LATEST NEWS

Birthlight Conference: Water nurture: a priority for the world.
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Birthlight Conference: Water nurture: a priority for the world.

Andrea Andrews, Swimming Instructor, Director of The Lifesaving Foundation, National Aquaphobia Trainer Assessor and licensed Miracle Swimming instructor for adults spoke on ‘Water nurture: a priority for the world’.

Birthlight Conference: ‘50 Years of Becoming a Mother…’
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Birthlight Conference: ‘50 Years of Becoming a Mother…’

Keynote by Professor Charlotte Faircloth (Professor of Family and Society at the UCL Social Research Institute and Project Leader of the BAM50 project, London, Trustee of Birthlight): spoke on her project ‘50 Years of Becoming

Birthlight Conference:  Birth and early life: lighting the way with joy, hope, love and health.
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Birthlight Conference:  Birth and early life: lighting the way with joy, hope, love and health.

Lesley Page CBE, Former President of the Royal College of Midwives visiting professor of midwifery at King’s College London, Patron of Birthlight presented her reflections on ‘Birth and early life: lighting the way with

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