Our Classes

We are proud to offer

Baby Steps

Welcome to OCEA's Tuesday morning parent group!  Bring your baby, a warm drink, snack, and come to meet new friends!  
 
This new parent group will run on Tuesday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for seven weeks.  Each week we discuss a different topic around life with a newborn.  This group is geared toward families with babies from 0-6 months.  Topics will be reflective of each group's needs and may include any of the following:

  • Getting out and about with a newborn: sharing ideas of fun, easy outings with your newborn
  • Finding and creating time-saving strategies as a new parent
  • Family adjustments: setting gentle boundaries with loved ones, and managing expectations from friends and family.  
  • Days with our newborns: sharing ideas and suggestions for setting a nice rhythm to our days
  • Sleep and naps:  let's share our sleep wins and challenges!  
  • Open question week:  Bring your questions and let's discuss and brainstorm some ideas
  • Planning family meals: meal prep is an ongoing task, as support during the "5-7 pm shift" and so much more.
  • Baby wearing: bring your carriers, let's try them on and make adjustments
 
Baby Steps will be facilitated by Michelle Morra, an OCEA prenatal educator, postpartum doula, and parent to five.   Michelle's calm approach to gentle parenting and supportive care towards new parents will make this a wonderful, non-judgmental, safe group.  Michelle looks forward to welcoming you and your baby in the fall!  
 
The cost of the class is $180 (+HST)

Refund Policy: Classes cancelled from the time of booking until 14 days before the class start incur a $25 administration fee. Classes cancelled between 7-14 days; 50% cancellation fee. Classes cancelled with less than 7 days’ notice; no refund

People who took our class had this to say:


We dearly want to support the health of expectant families.

I was worried that due to the fact that information is so easily accessible online these days that this course would be a waste of time and money but I am extremely happy that we did it. The information we received was so clear and unbiased that we feel much more comfortable and well informed for whatever our birth may bring. Our educator was so knowledgeable and approachable, and really made us feel much more confident about the whole process. No regrets.

Prenatal Classes for Midwifery Clients – with Brandie Lekovic

I knew a little bit of what to expect during the stages of labor(prior reading). But was not as knowledgeable in post natal care. I feel that the two day course really prepared me and gave me all the answers to questions I was unsure of. It was a great resource for my husband as he now has many coping methods to implement for support. And the fact that he won't feel lost or unsure of what's occurring is also great. We really enjoyed our course. Thank you!

Pre Natal – with Brandie Lekovic

Erin is a fabulous teacher! Great personality, very approachable, very non-judgemental. She is also super knowledgable. Would highly recommend her and would love to hire her as a Doula if they are allowed to work again when we give deliver.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

I was a little skeptical to do this class through zoom, but I had heard so many good things in the Pregnant in Ottawa group, and am very happy we made the choice, as it was very well done.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

Yes!! You are welcome to use the following with our without Michelle's name. "We are so happy with our experience through OCEA. We would recommend their prenatal class to every new parent! Our educator Michelle made us feel so supported and taught us so much without giving us information overload. We feel so much more empowered and ready to face this new chapter of life."

Pre Natal – with Michelle Morra

The information taught in the "Bringing Baby Home" workshop exceeded my expectations and I would recommend it to all first-time parents. The education really helped ease some of my unnecessary anxieties.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

Highly recommend taking this course. There is so much information available out there, but to have it consolidated into a series of classes led by a fantastic educator made us feel confident in moving towards our next phase of life with our newborn. Erin is endlessly knowledgeable and patient, she is well-versed with all the most up to date research and health guidelines, and her familiarity of local resources is amazing. There is so much to learn, but this class made it feel manageable.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

Erin was really good! We were both impressed by how easy she made it look even through these challenging times! Made us feel comfortable to ask anything.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

Our educator was fantastic. We were really impressed by her. She knew her material, but was engaging and interesting, even remotely for the first time. We felt she was careful with her word choices. She had a pleasant demeanor and was very adaptable and responsive based on our questions and based on the new format of the course without any issues. We would highly recommend this course, but we would recommend any class with her particularly. She made us believe we could bring home a baby and we would all survive!

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen

The OCEA pre-natal classes are extremely valuable for first-time expecting parents. The information is shared in a very open, practical and fact-based manner without any judgement attached. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the advice and research that is out there, but the OCEA classes really manage to distill this information and present it in a clear and structured way. The instructors are very experienced and knowledgeable and are great inter-personally. We were particularly impressed by how they handled giving online classes during the pandemic. They also provide a lot of Ottawa-specific information on the amazing resources that are available here. This was particularly useful to us as newcomers. We have many friends who have given birth in other countries, and when telling them about our experience with OCEA they have all said that nothing like this was available to them and it would have been so useful. Overall, we would highly recommend taking these classes.

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes

The prenatal class through OCEA was amazing! It was so nice receiving information with my partner by my side. It led us to having continued conversations in our own home about pregnancy, our plans for labour, delivery, and postpartum. Brandie is an incredible educator. She makes everyone feel at ease, she is hilarious, honest, and nonjudgmental. She wants the best for each couple simply by making sure you are informed with the best information out there

Pre Natal – with Brandie Lekovic

Fantastic - very engaging Clearly loves what she is doing and made the class fly by (even in a virtual setting). Felt comfortable asking questions & that we were getting very informed up to date information.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen


 
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  • In Person

    Baby Steps
    7 weeks
    Tue, Jan. 13 · Jan. 20 · Jan. 27 · Feb. 3 ·
    Feb. 10 · Feb. 17 & Feb. 24, 2026

    09:30 AM - 11:00 AM
    300 des Pères-Blancs Avenue
    Register now