Hi, my name is Lara and I’m the mama behind Baby. Body. Beautiful.
I am 33, mum to my beautiful daughter Luna and wife to my wonderful husband Dan (who is also the BBB tech/website wiz and general all round BBB supporter).
I have coeliac disease, which is an autoimmune condition where I have to be strictly gluten free in order to stop my body attacking itself. I also have a bowel condition/invisible disability called bile acid malabsorption. This is an often undiagnosed condition that leads to bowel urgency, diarrhoea, malabsorption of vitamins and fatigue. It’s not glamorous, but it’s my body and it sometimes flares up so I have to warn my classes. Plus we talk about baby poop ALOT in my classes, so I might as well share too right 🙃 We have also had 2 pregnancy losses recently, one at 6 weeks and a missed miscarriage found at our 12 week scan. We are now in the process of getting extra medical support and tests from the charity Tommys to find out why this keeps happening and to hopefully help us have our rainbow baby in the future. If you are coming to classes with anxiety around your pregnancy especially with a fertility journey under your belt, please know I completely understand and empathise so am always here to talk if you need it too.
I have been teaching fitness and supporting peoples fitness journey for over 13 years. I have always had an interest in training pre and postnatal clients but after having my daughter Luna in 2019, I took the leap and did my training course. I felt after experiencing pregnancy and postnatal recovery I was better equipped to help my clients, as I have been through the same things they will be feeling.
I trained throughout my pregnancy. Throughout the early morning sickness nausea when no one but our close family knew, right through to 36 weeks when I stopped incase I went into labour mid class! I honestly feel keeping my fitness levels up helped me lead a happy and healthy pregnancy along with helping my postnatal recovery after an emergency Caesarean section.
I am fully qualified to create fitness programmes for both prenatal clients from first trimester to third and postnatal clients juggling new motherhood. I can also give nutritional advice alongside the sessions to help you lead a fit and healthy pre and postnatal journey. You can be rest assured that the sessions are held with the latest medical guidance and are safe for each trimester. Options during sessions will change depending on what trimester you are in, be it first or fourth!
I completed my Doula training in 2022 with the Every Birth Matters course. It is something I have wanted to do for a while, but waiting for the right course at the right time was important to me so when this one came along I took the leap and started my training. This included pre coursework, live and online training, post coursework all of which I have passed and am now certified. I am now completing extra training in a mentorship with my course tutor Katy. This means I can gain extra knowledge after the course to further help in your birth, labour and postnatal journey. It also means you get 2 doulas for the price of one as I always have back up on the phone should something unexpected arise, as well as getting a discounted price whilst I complete this extra training. Upon completing my training I also participated in an extra hypnobirthing skills workshop to help assist mums to be and their partners further.
I completed my baby massage training as I knew I wanted to help support parents and babies to connect and bond even further after my own experiences practising baby massage with Luna. I found how the benefits of massage can help promote sleep in little ones, ease tummy aches and release tension as well as promote bonding with touch and singing. It also wanted to create a safe space to be heard, nurtured and supported postpartum and found this calming space with small groups is the perfect place for this.