The issue of babies being present in our classes has been raised by the Guild of Pregnancy & Postnatala Teachers as a point to clarify. We still appear to have some confusion regarding what is allowed in relation to the teacher's insurance.

Firstly, as the participant, it is your right to ask about the instructors insurance: only insurance taken out with Cyril Cooper via Fitpro will cover any antenatal/postnatal teacher appropriately. If insurance is with REPS or any other provider, you may not be covered for the maternity classes you are participating in.

As far as Cyril Cooper’s service is concerned, these are the insurance rules you need to adhere to in all maternity sessions which involve babies:

1. Babies in buggies must be secured/strapped in whilst the class is underway.
2. Babies in an indoor environment must be safely strapped in a seat or carry cot, out of the reach of any mother and at least 2 metres away from the exercise area. Any mother needing to tend to her baby must go to the baby and not bring the baby into the exercise area.

On another note, without wishing to teach you to suck eggs, we encourage you to refrain from including babies as part of the exercise, eg. Doing push ups over baby, using baby as resistance, or worse… doing aerobic work whilst holding baby.

These guidelines are encouraged following some unpleasant accidents which have occurred during postnatal exercise classes. We encourage mothers to use their common sense when bringing babies into class.