How ESOL is empowering expectant and new mums

Interview with Emma

Tell us a bit more about the pregnancy and infant focused ESOL sessions you run for Better Start Bradford?

In our ESOL for Pregnancy sessions we teach English words relating to the pregnancy journey so that the mums can talk to their midwife, doctor and other healthcare staff with confidence, they can get ready for the birth of their child and make decisions about their birth plan. They can also make friends with other expectant mums.

We make the sessions ESOL for Pregnancy sessions as inclusive as possible, by delivering online and face-to-face in the community. We also have a mixed model of digital and paper delivery. Everyone attending gets a workbook to work through and the classes have discussions, videos and Wordwall (an interactive worksheet) to consolidate the learning. We also ask them to download Google Translate and WhatsApp to their phones so they can watch videos and interactive elements personalised to their first language.

In ESOL with Infants parents work through a workbook, which focuses on different books that they read together with their infants, starting with the Very Hungry Caterpillar. The book is broken down and in the example of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, we focus on saying the days of the week, learning the foods that the caterpillar eats and we even include a recipe for them to try at home.

Through looking at pictures in books with their children and learning and saying the names of things and making up stories, mums grow in confidence and it’s great to see how they develop each week. We also encourage them to read not only in English, but in their mother tongue too as it’s really important that families realise that it is possible to speak in multi-languages with their infants.

Have there been any challenges in delivering the pregnancy and infant focused ESOL sessions?

Prior to the pandemic, we were only offering face-to-face ESOL for Pregnancy and when Covid-19 hit we had to adapt the course so it could be delivered online. However, this actually made the course a lot more accessible to those expectant mums that would have been reluctant to do the courses face-to-face and we found that the courses became more popular.

Have you had any ‘wow’ moments?

I remember I was delivering an ESOL for Pregnancy session at Womenzone and I was genuinely worried about one expectant mum, who I knew was having challenges in her home life. I saw her a few years later at an ESOL with Infants class and she was really engaged in the class and so was her little boy.

I then saw her there a little while later at the Womenzone play centre and her little boy read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to me – her transformation was so powerful to see.

I have also taught three mums at the West Bowling Centre, who have now gone on to do accredited ESOL courses in English and have now all completed level one within a year. One of the mums now runs her own Stay and Learn sessions for babies and toddlers – it’s just amazing!

Lidia

When mum of 3, Lidia Rosanu, was pregnant with her first child seven years ago, she had been in another country. She moved to England and for her second pregnancy, she needed an interpreter at her midwife appointments.

Thanks to the English she learned through Better Start Bradford’s ESOL for Pregnancy course, she didn’t need an interpreter at all for her third pregnancy.

Lidia’s ESOL story

I had been going to the ESOL for Infants class with my son to prepare him for nursery school. It was a very nice time for us both with quality time together and he got to play with other children. It also gave me the opportunity to exercise my English and to listen to different stories.

I was also pregnant with my third child and Emma Rose, who is the ESOL for Infants course tutor, told me about the ESOL for Pregnancy classes. I decided that it would be very good for me to learn more English words and the centre is very near to my home, so it was convenient.

It was really good for me to learn English words to do with my pregnancy and I found out so many new things, that I didn’t need an interpreter at all when talking to my midwife.

I also found out about other help available through Better Start Bradford, such as the Bradford Doulas, who provide support for pregnant women for six weeks before birth and six weeks after birth. Once I found out about this, I told other mums about them. I had not heard of a doula before and this kind of help wasn’t available in my country.

Emma was the best English teacher for me, I like her vibe and how she runs the sessions. I am very thankful because I had chance to learn English at a good time for me.

Naima

Mum of one, Naima Haiba, 36, has Arabic as her first language. Her little boy Junaid, 2, was a lockdown baby and with no family in Bradford, Naima felt very isolated until she heard about a Stay and Play group at the West Bowling Centre.

She went along and it was there that she met Better Start Bradford Neighbourhood Worker, Ludmila, who introduced her to the Better Start Bradford programme and the ESOL classes.

In this story Naima tells us about the impact Better Start Bradford and ESOL has had on her life.

Naima’s story

Better Start Bradford has really changed my life. I had a young son born in lockdown, I had no family here and I had nothing to do and then a lady at the doctors told me all about the Stay and Play group at the West Bowling Centre that had started.

I met Ludmila at the group and she told me about all the things that were available for me and my son thanks to Better Start Bradford. I wanted to improve my English so I signed up for the ESOL with Infants six-week course.

We absolutely loved it. Emma Rose, the ESOL with Infants course tutor was so good with all of the children and mums. We worked through a workbook that had children’s books in it and she showed us how to pronounce and understand all the different words in those books, so we could then read them with our children. We also got to take away books to carry on the reading at home such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Elmer the Elephant and a book about Eid. We learned so many new words.

I loved learning English so much that I also signed up to do the accredited ESOL course and I now have Level One English. Everyone tells me that they can see a big difference in my confidence and my personality, and I am forever recommending the ESOL course to friends.

We also started going to the Stay and Play Group at the Mayfield Centre, Junaid loves messy play. I have made so many friends through being part of Better Start Bradford.

I remember being so shy on that first day when we went along to our first Stay and Play session and met Ludmila, and then when I started the ESOL for Infants with Emma. It was my lucky day when I met these women. I am happy all day – I was so unhappy – no one with me, a new baby, I didn’t know what to do – it was so hard. I wouldn’t go out if I hadn’t got a reason. Now I am out all the time. No matter how tired we are, we always go out!

I wish Better Start Bradford would never come to an end – I wish you would find funding to go on and on. I am so happy and my son is so sociable thanks to everything that you offer.