WHAT WE DO
At the Happy Baby Community, we want to make sure we protect and empower each other, through shared knowledge and understanding. We meet to learn from one another and to feel strong and supported - able to work, study, volunteer, and help others in need.
(Image above ‘ The New Baby’ used by kind permission from Anita Klein)
we provide
yoga & relaxation
The benefits of yoga on mental and physical health are well-known. At Happy Baby Community, we do trauma-informed yoga, suitable for those of us who are pregnant and/or recovering from physical injury. We also get to spend time with a specially-trained massage therapist. It’s incredibly empowering to take time and space for ourselves in which we can breathe and relax.
welfare advice
Dealing with the Home Office can be confusing, using language and terms we don’t always understand. Welfare advice helps us to understand our rights and makes sure we don’t miss out on any of the allowance or benefits that are essential for us and our babies.
listening & counselling
Sometimes we just need someone to talk to about our day, or our situation at home. It can be frustrating when the only people we come into contact with are from statutory services. Having someone to listen to our stories is crucial to our recovery and mental wellbeing. We’re able to talk to other women about our experiences, as well as having one-on-one sessions with a counsellor.
ante-natal support
Midwives, birth doulas and breastfeeding specialists are available to support and advise us through our pregnancies and beyond. They ensure that we have access to the vital information we need for enjoyable and safe experiences of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.
LUNCH and food parcels
We sit down every week for a family-style lunch cooked by FoodCycle. A number of wonderful organisations including the Felix Project donate healthy food parcels that we can take home with us to share with our families.
swimming
Our babies love to swim, and it’s a great chance for us to get some much needed fun too. We make regular group visits to local swimming pools for lessons and relaxation.
The Virtual Community
Our Virtual Community is open to anyone on the community – running on Wednesdays and Fridays we host activities, English classes, children’s singing sessions, welfare drop-in and perinatal care.
post-natal support
Baby massage is a central part of our postnatal support, and our trained baby massage therapist demonstrates bonding techniques that help us to relax our babies
english lessons
Improving our English gives us the chance to gain essential skills needed to navigate services, job applications, studies and social interaction. We also want to help prepare our children to enrol in English-speaking schools and nurseries.
knitting
Sitting in a circle, chatting, whilst we learn or practice to knit is great for our mental well-being. We’re lucky enough to have some real pros in the Community!
Our Outreach Program
The charity has four drop-in sessions in across London, within easy access of areas where our community are living.
We have a firth centre in Crawley, where we welcome mums and babies from across Sussex and Surrey
These drop-in centres welcome the community members and provide activities and workshops along with opportunities to meet other mums and their babies.
new baby bundles
Having a new baby can be overwhelming, especially when there are so many expensive things to buy. The new baby bundles from Pram Depot and Little Village are crucial in relieving some of this stress, in what should be a special time, and include essential items such as baby-grows, blankets and new born nappies.
ACTIVITIES FOR UNDER 2’s
A wide array of toys and activities is available for our babies to engage with. It’s a joy to see them sing, draw and play with each other, and so important for their socialisation. Volunteers are always on hand to care for our babies whilst we get the opportunity to take part in other activities.
BIRTH SUPPORT
We can get one-to-one birth support and pregnancy support from the expert team of doulas.
The Job Club
Working with partners and volunteers and with the support of Rosa and the Smallwood Trust, HBC are working with community members to support access to work, through work experience, training, apprenticeships, and skills conversion.
Research & Reports
Find out more about our Research and Reports
Our Partners
