Festive greetings my lovely followers! I have some exciting news for this week’s blog.
I am delighted to share with you all that I have been invited to attend the HRH Princess of Wales Carol Service at Westminster Abbey on the 8th of December in recognition of my work creating, supporting and nurturing a fabulous community with thousands of mums and babies across Lanarkshire.

I have loved seeing Kate and Wills journey as they have become parents to three gorgeous children and wonder how Kate’s weekly chat in our class circles would have gone through pregnancy and early baby days! What do you think her weekly banter would have been?

I have been running classes for mums to be, couples and mums and babies for over a decade via Lazy Daisy, The Daisy Foundation Lanarkshire and now under Julie Keys Bump, Birth and Baby Classes. I am over the moon to be among the specially-invited guests at this year’s HRH Princess of Wales Carol Service at Westminster Abbey. It is the third year the HRH Princess of Wales Carol service has run.

This year “the service will be a moment to thank all those who work to support babies, young children and families in our communities across the UK and a celebration of the golden opportunity that the birth of a new baby brings.” And so it is a huge honour to have been selected to attend this fabulous event.

I was selected to attend by Lady Susan Haughey, the Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire in honour of my work supporting children, families and the Lanarkshire community.

I was nominated to attend by Lanarkshire’s royal representative Alison Plummer who is also a Trustee at St Mary’s For All, the venue I teach my Hamilton pregnancy and baby classes.  

Depute Lieutenant Alison Plummer said in her nomination: “Julie offers perinatal support and education to Mums and Families across the Lanarkshire area, with classes currently based in Airdrie and Hamilton.
She has a wealth of experience as a Perinatal Educator. Her mission is to support and empower mums to plan and experience a confident birth and early parenting journey.
Julie offers a selection of classes, workshops and group sessions that meet the needs of expectant mums and new parents from early pregnancy right through to toddlerhood – a continuous perinatal support that helps parents to achieve a positive pregnancy, confident birth and an informed and supported journey to confident parenthood.
She is such a positive and supportive person to all that have met her.”

Next Thursday Grant and I are thrilled to be heading to London for the Carol service on Friday 8th December led by Kate, The Princess of Wales – which will feature a host of star performers and will be broadcast on ITV on Christmas Eve. From our invite, it states, “we have to be smartly but warmly dressed, with no hats or fascinators”! I now have the dilemma of what do i wear??? Keep updated on my Facebook and Instagram to see my options of what to wear and help me decide.

The Carol Service also ties in with the 18th anniversary of our first date which makes it even more special. How fantastic will it be to have a date night with amazing performers like James Bay, Beverley Knight, Adam Lambert, Jacob Collier and Freya Ridings!

As well as being invited to the Carol service one of my biggest achievements in my role as a perinatal educator is to have built up a thriving online community of nearly 3000 mums across Lanarkshire, many of whom, remain friends and share advice and experiences having met at classes and who now continue to help each other navigate pregnancy and parenthood. I love seeing all their night out pictures coming through and seeing their children thrive and grow. One of the best parts of my job is working with mums and babies, seeing relationships and confidence grow, creating a sense of community and helping them through their journeys as they become parents.

I am a mum to two gorgeous children who were both born prematurely and started in the world of Perinatal education whilst I was pregnant with our son Sam who is now 11.

I had post-natal depression after having Emily and didn’t want that to happen to other people, which is why I do what I do now; the support and care in our groups gives a fantastic continuity of care all the way through from pregnancy onwards and it’s great to see mums gaining confidence and seeing them grow as people and hopefully reducing the postnatal depression rates through friendships and support through classes and chat.

Throughout my perinatal career I have had classes running in Airdrie, Coatbridge, Lanark, Carluke, Stepps, East Kilbride, Cumbernauld, Hamilton, Rutherglen, Blantyre, Uddingston, Bellshill since 2012, supporting and caring for new mums both throughout their pregnancy and during their babies’ early years – as well as building up the vital community of new friends who continue to share their advice and experiences as their children grow up. After Covid I decided to reduce my class offering from Airdrie, Hamilton, East Kilbride and Cumbernauld to just Airdrie and Hamilton to ensure classes were provided in both North and South Lanarkshire.

I love working with families and creating those early bonds is so important; it’s all about creating a sense of community and supporting everyone in the classes – some of whom are first-time mums and some are here with their third or even fourth babies.

This year’s royal carol service aims to thank those working to support babies, young children and families across the UK and “showcase the importance of building supportive, nurturing worlds around children and the adults in their lives”.

I can’t wait to be part of the HRH Princess of Wales Carol Service on December 8th, which will include performances by the Westminster Abbey choir plus star names such as Beverly Knight, James Bay, Adam Lambert, Jacob Collier and Freya Ridings. I hope you will tune in on Christmas Eve to ITV to watch the service as I know we will be doing the same!!
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