Our Prenatal Teachers

Our prenatal courses are taught by our team of Prenatal Teachers who have outstanding professional experience and keep up to date with the latest developments in maternity care. They are mothers themselves who have lived and worked abroad with their families. They also teach the Refresher courses and our Pregnancy in Belgium information class.

Prenatal Teacher Alison

Alison arrived in Belgium in 2003 with 2 small children and, through the BCT's antenatal teacher training programme, trained with the National Childbirth Trust in the UK, gaining a diploma in higher education, in prenatal education. She taught her first course while expecting her third daughter, and now has 18 years of experience facilitating courses in Belgium.

"It is such a joy to be involved with expectant parents, to help them gain in confidence by providing information and teaching physical skills, and then allowing them space and time to discuss with each other the options available, so they can make decisions which are best for their family. The richness of the diverse cultures here in Belgium means we are always learning together and discovering new things. Occasionally I meet parents years later, who stop to chat, thank me for the classes and tell me they are still meeting with other parents, a lasting legacy of which I am humbled to have been a part in."

Prenatal Teacher Özra

Özra Gökçe is an IDA certified Childbirth Educator and Full Spectrum Doula and she has been accompanying expectant and new parents from all over the world on their journey to birth and parenthood since 2013. Özra has also acquired profound knowledge in the field of Elimination Communication and Postpartum Recovery and holds free talks about these subjects for BCT members. Her early professional experience in people-focussed management and research fields and the arrival of her two sons both add to her being the dedicated and empathic prenatal teacher she is today.

“I feel so grateful to be teaching expecting parents. Providing them with the essential information relieves them, reduces their anxieties, clears their doubts and fears… As we deepen their knowledge about what the natural physiology of birth is and how we (as birthing parents) help ourselves to make it easier with a lot of practical tools, positions, breathing and relaxation techniques, they become completely ready for this huge rite of passage. It is such a rewarding work in so many different ways, it makes me feel completed and centred.”

Prenatal Teacher Nina

Nina Poschinger has been a certified midwife since 2012. Additionally, she has a diploma in Hypnobirthing and a qualification in obstetric emergency simulation. From 2012 to 2022, she worked in a clinical setting in Austria, accompanying families throughout their childbirth journey and beyond. Two years ago, the family moved to Belgium and her third child was recently born here. Extensive training, a decade of professional experience in the private and public sector, combined with being a mother of three boys herself, has made Nina a dedicated and passionate midwife.

"It is a matter close to my heart to support women and their children in the best possible way during their pregnancy and couples on their path to parenthood. In the prenatal courses, we can face the women’s fears together. This way they can let go and achieve to give birth to their babies well informed, with self-determination and out of their own strength. This is the most rewarding part about my passion. A good birth experience will strengthen and sustain women throughout their entire lives. I feel grateful that I can support in this exceptional vulnerable time. This will never be my job - it will forever be my passion."