Parenthood education classes held by Manx Care will no longer be face-to-face following feedback from attendees.

The maternity team are changing the way that they deliver the sessions, which will now be virtual rather than in person. The resources, such as presentations and videos, will now be accessible online.

Manx Care state that this change has occurred because of feedback from parents who had previously attended the sessions.

A spokesperson commented: ‘We have made the decision to go virtual following the review of how we delivered the current parenthood education.

‘This was informed by audit and feedback from parents who had attended - we had received lots of feedback that the sessions were long, with lots of information to take in on the day.’

The spokesperson added that the online resources will cover the same topics and guidance that the previous face-to-face sessions did.

They continued: ‘These topics will be broken down into bite size videos and presentations that parents can view at their leisure. We also hope that delivering the sessions in this way will enable this much needed information to go out to a wider audience.

‘We would hope that this platform will act as a support to new parents and will inform them of topics they would wish to further discuss at their antenatal visits with their midwife.’

‘Daddy baby care’ sessions were recently started by Manx Care, and they have advised that these sessions will continue as normal.

Meanwhile, face-to-face practical sessions for new mums and birthing partners are being explored in the same way.

The spokesperson added: ‘Our team in maternity has had the addition of two new maternity support workers this year, and alongside our maternity care assistants and our midwives, we hope to deliver practical sessions on the unit and support new families when their new baby arrives.’