These Terms and Conditions (governed by the law of England and Wales) are an agreement between you and Katie Smith, trading as Birthcare with Katie (“Birthcare with Katie”, “us”, “we”, “our”). You agree to these terms whenever you use our content, products or services. These include, but are not limited to:
Our website, birthcare.co.uk
Our social media accounts, including Instagram and Facebook
Our online (digital) courses, including The Birth Prep Course and Birth Without Fear: Essentials for a Better Birth
Our in-person courses, including The Birth Prep Course delivered face to face
Our free resources, including our birth preferences and birth plan guides, workbooks, and email content
By accessing or using any of the above, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree with them, please do not use our content, products or services.
2. About Katie Smith
Katie Smith is an NHS Mental Health Midwife specialising in perinatal trauma, and an experienced antenatal educator with over twenty years supporting people through pregnancy and birth.
Birthcare with Katie is her private education business, which operates separately from, and independently of, her NHS employment. Katie’s role within Birthcare with Katie is as an educator. Using Birthcare with Katie content, products or services does not create a clinical or midwifery care relationship between Katie and any participant, subscriber or website visitor.
3. Terms of Use
By accessing our website, social media, free resources, in-person courses, or purchasing any of our products, you agree that you will not:
Modify, copy or reproduce any of our materials
Use our materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display, whether commercial or non-commercial
Share login details or course access with any other person
Attempt to decompile, reverse engineer or extract any software or content from our platforms
Remove any copyright or proprietary notations from our materials
Transfer our materials to another person or mirror them on any other server
Record, screenshot or capture our course video or audio content
Publish or post our course content on any platform, website or social media channel
Record, film, screenshot or photograph any in-person session, or any other participant, without our prior written consent
Where these terms are breached, we may revoke your access to our content or courses (including removing you from an in-person session), and any payment made may be non-refundable, to the extent permitted by law.
4. Online (Digital) Courses - Purchase and Access (Updated)
This section applies to our online (digital) courses, including The Birth Prep Course (online) and Birth Without Fear: Essentials for a Better Birth. For in-person courses, please see Section 5.
4.1 Instant Access
Upon successful payment you will receive immediate access to your course via your account login. Access details will be sent to the email address provided at checkout.
4.2 Lifetime Access
Your purchase gives you lifetime access to the course content as it stands at the time of purchase, plus any future updates made to that course. There are no recurring charges.
4.3 Personal Use Only
Your login is for your personal use only. Course access must not be shared with, transferred to, or used by any other person. Each individual wishing to access the course must purchase their own enrolment.
4.4 Future Pregnancies
You may use your lifetime access to revisit course content during future pregnancies at no additional cost.
4.5 Platform Access
Our online courses are hosted on a third-party platform. Access is subject to that platform’s own terms and conditions. Birthcare with Katie will make every reasonable effort to maintain course availability but cannot be held responsible for platform outages or technical issues outside of our control.
4.6 Content Updates
We aim to keep course content accurate and up to date. However, medical guidelines and best-practice recommendations change over time, and content may not always reflect the most recent updates. We recommend always consulting your maternity team or healthcare provider for current clinical guidance.
5. In-Person Courses - Booking, Attendance and Cancellation (New)
This section applies to our in-person (face-to-face) courses, including The Birth Prep Course delivered in person.
5.1 What’s included
An in-person course booking gives you a place on a specific scheduled course, made up of a set number of sessions run on set dates. Unless we say otherwise, the price is per pregnant person and one birth partner or support person attending together.
5.2 Booking and payment
Places are limited and are booked and paid for in advance through our online booking system. Your place is confirmed once payment has been received. Payments are processed securely by Stripe (see Section 6).
5.3 Eligibility and suitability
Our in-person courses are designed for people preparing for birth and their chosen birth partner or support person. Please make sure the course dates fall at a suitable stage of your pregnancy before booking. The sessions are not childcare and are not suitable for young children. You take part at your own discretion.
5.4 Cancellation by you
Cancellations made 14 days or more before the course start date will receive a full refund.
Cancellations made 7–13 days before the course will receive a 50% refund.
Cancellations made less than 7 days before the course are non-refundable. However, where possible, we will do our best to offer a transfer to another available course date.
If you are unable to attend due to illness, pregnancy-related circumstances or an unexpected emergency, please contact me as soon as possible. I will consider each situation individually and, where possible, offer a transfer to another course date.
Online bookings and your cancellation rights
Please note that although bookings are made online, the statutory 14-day cancellation right for distance contracts does not generally apply to services relating to a specific date or period of performance where an applicable exemption applies. Your cancellation and refund rights are therefore as set out in this policy, subject always to your statutory consumer rights.
Cancellation or postponement by Katie Birthcare
If I need to cancel or postpone a course, you will be offered either a full refund or the option to transfer your booking to another available course date.
5.6 Missed sessions
If you miss a session, we are unable to refund or reduce your fee for that session. Where possible, we may share materials or offer another way to catch up, at our discretion.
5.7 Venue, health and safety
Our in-person courses are held at a third-party venue. Currently Little Wild Patch, Glossop Market Hall. While at the venue, please follow the venue’s rules and any health and safety guidance. You are responsible for your own personal belongings, and you attend the venue at your own risk.
5.8 Your health and wellbeing during the course
Our in-person courses are educational and are not a substitute for your maternity care (please also read Section 9). Please tell us at the time of booking about anything that may affect your ability to take part safely. If you feel unwell during a session, or think you may be in labour, you should stop, seek appropriate medical care, and contact your maternity team. For everyone’s safety, we may ask someone to step out of a session where necessary.
5.9 Behaviour and conduct
We want every course to feel calm, safe and respectful for everyone in the room. We reserve the right to ask anyone whose behaviour is disruptive, abusive or unsafe to leave, without a refund.
5.10 Photography and recording
To protect everyone’s privacy, you may not record, film or photograph any session, or any other participant, without our prior written consent. Any photographs we take during a course are used only with the consent of those pictured.
5.11 Insurance
We hold appropriate insurance for our in-person and online teaching, including public liability and professional indemnity cover.
6. Pricing and Payment
6.1 Early Access / Launch Pricing
Where a product is offered at an early access or launch price, this price is available for a limited time and to a limited number of participants. It is not guaranteed to remain available beyond the initial launch period. Future enrolments will be at a higher price.
6.2 Price Lock (online courses)
If you purchase an online course at an early access price, your access is secured at that price permanently. You will never be asked to pay more, and all future updates to that course are included at no extra cost.
6.3 Payment Plans
Where a payment plan is available, payments are collected monthly from the date of your first payment. Full course access is granted immediately upon the first payment. You are responsible for ensuring all payments are completed. In the event of a failed payment, access may be suspended until payment is received.
6.4 Currency
All prices are in pounds sterling (£ GBP). If you are purchasing from outside the UK, your bank may apply a conversion rate. Birthcare with Katie is not responsible for any currency conversion fees.
6.5 Payment Processing
Payments are processed securely by Stripe. Birthcare with Katie does not store your card details. Stripe’s own terms and conditions apply to payment processing.
Because our online courses are digital products with instant access, we are generally unable to offer refunds once course content has been accessed. However, we offer a 7-day satisfaction policy for new students:
If you request a refund within 7 days of purchase, and have accessed no more than Module 1 of the course, a full refund will be considered.
Refund requests must be made by email to [email protected] within 7 days of your purchase date, including your full name, the email address used at purchase, and your reason for requesting a refund.
Refunds will not be granted where more than Module 1 has been accessed, or after 7 days from the date of purchase.
If you are on a payment plan and request a refund within the 7-day window, only the first payment will be refunded and subsequent payments will be cancelled.
7.2 In-person courses
Refunds and transfers for in-person courses are covered in Section 5.4.
7.3 Free resources
Free resources, including workbooks, templates, guides and our free birth plan and birth preferences guides, are provided at no cost and are not subject to any refund policy.
7.4 Your statutory rights
Nothing in this refund policy affects your legal rights as a consumer, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
8. Intellectual Property
All content created and published by Birthcare with Katie, including but not limited to website content, social media content, video lessons, audio meditations, worksheets, workbooks, in-person course materials, email content, and all other written or recorded materials, is the intellectual property of Katie Smith / Birthcare with Katie and is protected by copyright.
Some of our materials include third-party images or resources used under licence or accreditation. These remain the property of their respective owners.
You may download and print the worksheets and workbooks included in our courses and free resources, and keep any printed workbook provided to you at an in-person course, for your own personal use only. No other reproduction, distribution or commercial use is permitted without our prior written consent.
9. Medical Disclaimer — Please Read Carefully
The content provided by Birthcare with Katie, including all website content, social media content, online courses, in-person courses, free resources, email communications and any other materials, is educational in nature and is intended for general information purposes only.
Our content is designed to complement, not replace, the care provided by your maternity team, NHS or private healthcare provider. Nothing within our content, products or services should be interpreted as medical advice, clinical diagnosis, or clinical treatment, and nothing should be relied upon as a substitute for professional medical advice based on your individual condition and circumstances.
Katie Smith is an NHS Mental Health Midwife. Her role within Birthcare with Katie is as an educator. Engagement with our products and services does not establish a clinical or midwifery care relationship between Katie and any participant, subscriber or website visitor.
You should always follow the guidance of your own maternity team regarding your pregnancy, birth and postnatal care. If you have significant concerns about your mental or physical health during pregnancy, please contact your midwife, GP, or healthcare provider.
We are not liable or responsible for any consequences of your having read, listened to, or acted upon any content, advice or materials provided by Birthcare with Katie. You assume full responsibility for your own decisions and actions.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we make no representations or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the content, advice, materials and information published as part of our products and services.
Please consult your healthcare practitioner before using our products, and do not consider our content or services as a substitute for medical advice.
10. Privacy and Your Personal Data
At Birthcare with Katie we take your privacy seriously and are committed to handling your personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
When you purchase a course, download a free resource, or subscribe to our email list, your name and email address will be stored securely and used to provide you with access and relevant communications. Your data will never be sold to third parties.
When you book an in-person course, we may also collect information such as your due date, any health needs relevant to your participation, and an emergency contact. Some of this is health-related information, which is treated as special category data under UK GDPR and is handled with additional care, in line with our Privacy Policy.
You may unsubscribe from our email list at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email.
For full details of how your personal data is collected, used, stored and protected, please refer to the Birthcare with Katie Privacy Policy at birthcare.co.uk/privacy.
11. Third-Party Platforms
Some of our products and services are accessed through, or delivered with the help of, third parties - including our online course hosting platform, our online booking system, our payment processor Stripe, and the venues at which our in-person courses are held. Access to and use of these platforms and venues is subject to their own terms and conditions, which you are responsible for reading and agreeing to.
Birthcare with Katie is not responsible for the content, terms, or practices of any third-party platform or venue.
12. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Birthcare with Katie shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss or damage arising from your use of, or inability to use, our website, products or services.
Nothing in these Terms and Conditions limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under English law.
13. Changes to These Terms
Birthcare with Katie reserves the right to update these Terms and Conditions from time to time. Any changes will be published on this page at birthcare.co.uk/terms with an updated effective date. Your continued use of our website, products or services following any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.
14. Governing Law
These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising from your use of our website, products or services will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
15. How to Contact Us
If you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact:
