Perinatal professionals regularly encounter moments in pregnancy and early parenthood that feel heavier than the clinical presentation alone.

A comment about tension at home.

A hesitation before answering.

A sense that something relational is sitting just beneath the surface.

In brief appointments or episodic care, it isn't always clear how to hold that - or how far to go.

In those moments, the question isn’t only what’s happening — but what belongs within your role.

Time is limited. Scope matters. Services are structured around individuals.

Without a clear relational frame, it’s easy for pressure to be located in one person alone — or for professionals to carry uncertainty about whether to step in at all.

This Masterclass offers a practical orientation to those moments.

It helps you recognise early relational strain within the shared transition to parenthood, and respond proportionately — without over-reaching, and without adding more to your role.

Not to turn you into a relationship therapist.

But to offer a clearer map for what you’re already seeing.


What this Masterclass offers

Holding the Space is a self-paced professional Masterclass for mixed perinatal professionals, including midwives, obstetricians, psychologists, social workers, doulas, lactation consultants, health visitors, and others working with expecting and new parents.

It focuses on:

  • recognising early relational pressure

  • understanding how that pressure is shaped by the transition to parenthood

  • responding in ways that normalise and contain, without over-reaching your role

The emphasis throughout is on orientation, prevention, and risk reduction — not intervention.


Why this matters

Pregnancy and early parenthood reorganise identity, roles, expectations, and emotional capacity.

Relational pressure during this stage is common — and often expected.

When it goes unnamed, it doesn’t usually disappear. Parents often move through multiple services, and early relational pressure — and the wider emotional load of adjustments — can remain unspoken, sometimes resurfacing later with greater impact.

Prevention here doesn’t mean doing more.

It means seeing sooner — and helping parents make sense of what they’re experiencing as part of a shared developmental transition, rather than carrying it alone.


Who it's for

This Masterclass is designed for perinatal professionals who:

  • work with parents briefly or episodically

  • usually see only one parent

  • work in medical, mental health, community, or home-based roles

  • want to practise in a way that is preventative, relationally aware, and ethically contained

No prior relationship training is required.


What you'll take away

  • Clearer Recognition

    Understand what’s common and expected during pregnancy and early parenthood — and recognise signs that may indicate emerging relational risk.

  • Scope Confidence

    Feel surer about what sits within your role — and what doesn’t — reducing anxiety about over-stepping or missing something important.

  • Proportioned Responses

    Learn scope-safe ways to respond in your professional role, without opening issues you can’t hold, or risk unnecessary escalation.

  • Relational Orientation

    Hold the relational context in mind, even in brief or one-off interactions, and gently orient parents without requiring both partners to be present.

  • Practical Language

    Use simple, immediately applicable language that names and normalises relational pressure without blame or intervention.

  • Containment & Edges

    Ask questions that symbolically bring the relationship into the room, while recognising and respecting your professional edges.

Access and CPD details

  • Enrol any time

  • Forever access

  • 1.5 hours of CPD, inclusive of guided reflection time