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They say it takes a village to raise a child,

but who nurtures the new parents?

Welcome to It Takes A Village, Crystal Palace

We are an inclusive perinatal peer support community here to help nurture your mental wellbeing, and support you and your family from pregnancy to parenthood.

Run by local mums and supported by expert practitioners, we provide antenatal education, restorative meet-ups, stay & play sessions, and workshops in and around Crystal Palace, South East London.

Join Us

Connect

Friendly, informal weekly hang outs with local mums and their babies in Crystal Palace Park during Summer. Bring a picnic rug, connect, relax and breathe. During the colder months, our meet ups move into a cosier setting indoors in Anerley. Attendees can also opt to join our WhatsApp community, keeping in touch with new found play-date buddies or accessing a nurturing network of support.

Support

Our sessions are led by local mum, ITAV Founder and Mindful Breastfeeding Practitioner/Peer Supporter Emily Harper, and supported by our resident International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and Breastfeeding Counsellor, Eleanor Campbell. Come share your feeding highs and lows, build confidence breast/chest/bottle feeding whilst out and about, and get signposted to further help or evidence based information.

Restore

Parenting got you down? Feeling anxious, overwhelmed, isolated or downright knackered? Join us for some breathwork, mindfulness and the sharing of resources, to inspire, engage and restore you.

Antenatal & 4th Trimester Course
Postnatal Support Groups
Special Events & Workshops
Find Out More

“Truly don’t know what I would have done without ITAV! A safe, gentle, warm, welcoming environment with lots of practical and pragmatic advice. In a time when parents are so under-supported by government, and society in general, a resource like this has literally been a lifeline. So grateful to have found it; so quick to recommend it.” – Maisie

“An amazing group providing much needed space, support and friendship for new mums. I felt so welcome from the beginning … can’t thank you enough.” – Emily

“I didn’t realise how much I needed this group until I got home from my first session. Such an incredibly supportive environment and group for both listening and being listened to. Thank you ITAV.” – Amy

“The most welcoming environment you could imagine for a new parent, and it provides quick and easy access to advice, support, and friendship.” – Hannah

We’re back this ⭐Saturday 27th May⭐ (and the last Saturday or every month!) for our free Babies & Brews meet-up at the wonderful community cafe @leo_foood in Sydenham 💫 It’s the end of ⭐Mental Health Awareness Week⭐ and we are reflecting on the conversations we often have in our weekly postnatal groups about support and signposting for postnatal mental health. It's been two years since It Takes A Village, Crystal Palace was formed, and it's never been so evident that there are still huge gaps in the education, preparation and support given to expectant parents 🤰🏻 for their mental and emotional wellbeing before their babies arrive 🥀 It's time to introduce our next 🌟The Pregnancy Project🌟 practitioner! As this ⭐Maternal Mental Health Week⭐ comes to a close, we’ve been reflecting on the support we’ve been providing to our local community of mums over the last 2 years, and looking forward to ways in which we can keep the important conversations around mental health going 🌱 Raising awareness on how to better understand ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally as our identity shifts in parenthood, and supporting each other through the high’s and lows of this incredible transition, is at the heart of everything we do 💞 While the UK is gearing up to celebrate the King’s Coronation, here at ITAV towers we are saluting some very special queens and unsung heroes today! 👸🏼 Well, our very first Babies & Brews community hang out @leo_foood was certainly a hit this weekend! 🎉 It was such a treat to reunite with some of the old ITAV ‘alumni’ and their now fully fledged toddlers (they are growing up so fast! 😥) and to enjoy catching up with our current cohort of parents, carers and partners too 😍

For all our latest news, follow us on Instagram @ittakesavillagecp

It Takes A Village, Crystal Palace CIC

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