Two minutes, eight questions

How ready are you really for the birth you're likely to have?

An honest word first. If you're happy going with the flow and trusting it will all be fine on the day, you don't need this, and that's a perfectly good way to be pregnant. This check is for the other sort of woman. The one who wants to understand what's happening and why, who wants the facts rather than a pat on the hand, and who has noticed that nobody in her care has time to sit her down and explain. Eight questions, written by a midwife with 18 years in the system. Nothing to fill in, and nobody sees your answers.

Well done, genuinely. Most women never check how ready they are. They go with the flow and hope the day works out, and you've just done the one thing the evidence says makes the biggest difference: you decided to find out. That already puts you ahead. Here's where you stand.

Where to start, for where you are now

    Want the rest of it?

    Above is what your answers flagged. The full breakdown goes further: what the published evidence says each of these gaps actually costs the women who leave them open, and exactly what to do about each one, in the order that makes sense for where you are now. I'll email it to you so you can keep it and take it to your next appointment.

    One email with your breakdown. No spam, and you can unsubscribe in one click.

    That email does not look right. Mind checking it?

    What changes when you close them

    You've just read what the evidence says these gaps cost. Here's what the other side of them looks like.

    • You walk into every appointment knowing what it's for, and walk out having asked what you meant to ask
    • When something unexpected is suggested, you have the words to slow the room down and ask why
    • You make the pain relief decision calmly, weeks before anyone asks you mid contraction
    • You hand over a birth plan the room actually reads, and get treated like someone with a plan
    • When induction comes up, you already know what it involves and what the alternatives are
    • And when it's 3am with a newborn and something doesn't look right, you have somewhere to look that isn't a forum

    Who's teaching you

    Emma Rajakrishnen, registered midwife and founder of Elythia Maternity
    Emma Rajakrishnen, registered midwife I've been a midwife for 18 years, across the UK, Italy and the UAE, with a Master's degree in Midwifery. I left my role as an NHS Quality Leader to do this, because I kept watching the same gap swallow intelligent, capable women, and fifteen minute appointments can't close it. I've seen maternity care from the ward floor, from the quality boardroom and from national safety review work, so what I teach isn't from a textbook. It's what actually happens, explained before it happens to you.
    ★★★★★ 100% recommend, from 8 reviews on Facebook

    "She made me feel safe and confident, and her support was priceless. I recommend her with all my heart to any mum-to-be who wants a dedicated, calm and well informed specialist." Camelia

    What the Library actually gives you

    Not a pile of content. A different version of the next few months. It covers everything from your first antenatal appointments through birth to the postnatal weeks, every decision explained honestly before you're asked to make it, in plain language, by me. You work through it in your own time, on the sofa, with your partner, at whatever week you're at. And the woman who arrives on the labour ward having done that isn't hoping the day goes well. She knows what she's walking into, and the room can tell.

    One honest note. There are no live sessions and no one-to-one time in the Library, that's a separate membership. This is for closing the gaps yourself, in your own time.

    This part is down to you

    I've priced this as low as I honestly can, because I want it in as many hands as possible, and I'd rather you had the knowledge than I had the margin. But I can't do the deciding for you. You've seen your gaps, and you've seen what the evidence says happens when they stay open. You probably found this through an ad, which means you may not see it again. Your first week is free, nothing is charged for seven days, and you can cancel in two clicks. The only question is whether you'd rather walk in knowing, or keep hoping.

    Start your free week

    Then £10 a month. Cancel anytime, in two clicks.