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 mentally

Aqua Yoga

The Aqua Yoga area consists of the following courses – Aqua Yoga, Aquanatal Yoga, Well Woman Aqua Yoga, Well Woman Aqua Yoga Diploma, Aqua Yoga Therapy Days and much, much more.

Baby Massage and Baby 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 three

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 Nuture

Well Woman Yoga

The Birthlight Well Woman Yoga Diploma course trains teachers to empower women with therapeutic yoga integrated in their daily lives from menarche to perimenopause and beyond. Well Woman Yoga offers

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 services
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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 parenting

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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 mission. She

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 began

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 attending
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LATEST NEWS

Birthlight Yoga: ‘Relaxed Stretching’ explained
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Birthlight Yoga: ‘Relaxed Stretching’ explained

From the start of Birthlight classes, the changing bodies of pregnant women who were mostly new to yoga called for a dynamic approach to stretching to make space for the growing babies inside. We used

Heading to the Pool with your baby? All about gentle submersions
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Heading to the Pool with your baby? All about gentle submersions

Birthlight Swimming classes aim to provide the optimum environment for not only learning to take place but to create deep emotional and loving connections between the parent and child.  Water itself is a great conductor

My 30 years journey teaching baby swimming – Françoise Freedman
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My 30 years journey teaching baby swimming – Françoise Freedman

Early Days

My baby-swimming journey started with the birth of my eldest daughter in 1975. I had some time between her birth and returning with her to my work in the Amazon. I needed to

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