Becoming a parent is a life-changing experience and with so much information to take on board it can sometimes feel like you need a degree in parenthood to prepare for your new arrival. We spoke to a Ribble Valley mother-of-three who aims to make childbirth easier for East Lancashire parents.

AFTER the birth of Rachel Harradine’s second son didn’t go according to plan, she vowed to take action to help other mums.

The Ribble Valley-mother-of-three set about training as an antenatal teacher and at the beginning of last year set up the area’s first private advice service, Cocoon Antenatal.

“I’d had a home birth with my first son and I’d planned a home birth again with my second son, but we ended up being advised to transfer into hospital and I’d never been really happy with that decision,” said Rachel, 37, who lives in Barrow with husband Sean and sons Ben, six, Nathan, four, and Adam, one.

“So I started training with the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) to become an antenatal teacher and through my training I realised that there hadn't really been the need for me to have to go into hospital at all.”

Falling pregnant with her third son only fortified Rachel’s decision to change career.

“I hadn’t initially planned to have my own business, but after my own experiences of childbirth and after talking to other mums at toddler group, I decided I wanted to make things better,” she said.

“A lot of women, I realised, weren't given the full information to make decisions for themselves.

“They weren’t aware of all the options available to them. I think birth generally has become quite medicalised and most mothers, especially, with their first babies, assume they have to go into hospital.

“They sort of go into ‘patient mode’ and do whatever the health professionals tell them to. But it’s important for parents to have the knowledge to be able to question the health professionals.”

Rachel’s business couldn’t have come at a better time. New research by Maternity Matters has found that 35 per cent of mums in the North West are turning to the internet and books to find out all they can about motherhood because they live more than 30 miles away from their nearest family. “Cocoon Antenatal offers a service tailored to what parents want without having to be in a group situation listening to everybody else’s needs,” said Rachel.

“It appeals to people who maybe have had a difficult first birth and are feeling an bit vulnerable and want to know what they could do differently next time round.

“It's also good for those who might feel uncomfortable talking about health problems in front of a group, maybe someone who has had multiple miscarriages and feels intimidated talking in front of a group.”

Rachel believes the secret to successful childbirth is knowledge.

“You might come up with a birth plan but the chance of everything going to plan are fairly slim for most people," she said.

“At one time childbirth was a part of daily life. It happened at home and you saw family giving birth. That’s been taken away from us now, and because many people have never seen anyone go through it, it builds fear.”

With business booming, Rachel believes she has the best job in the world.

“It's so special to me to be involved in people's lives at such an important and unique time.”