prepare together
Prepare, together.
Designed and led by experts in perinatal psychiatry and obstetrics, Coracle Retreats helps parents prepare not just for birth, but for the emotional shift into parenthood.
Through clinical-backed guidance, shared reflection and the quiet power of nature, each couple leaves feeling steady, strong and ready to embrace what comes next.
Build the vessel that will carry you into parenthood
The coracle is a small, hand-built boat: light, resilient and steered by trust . Coracle Retreats creates a space for couples to build their own symbolic coracle . A vessel of shared understanding, calm and confidence, to prepare you for change and carry you through the unpredictable waters of birth and early parenthood.
The rhythm of the retreat
A thoughtful structure guides the retreat, while leaving space for the conversations that arise along the way.
The Seminar Sessions
Informal but structured conversations, led by Dr Jo Black each day, where psychological insight and clinical understanding meet, delivered in a way that acknowledges the complexities of real life.
Grounding & Mindful Resourcing
Short daily practices introducing simple techniques for steadying the mind and navigating the emotional highs and lows of pregnancy and parenthood.
Guest-Led Sessions
Some shared as a couple, others delivered for mothers and fathers separately, creating space to explore the physical, emotional and relational side of parenthood from different perspectives.
Create & Connect
Space to embrace creativity and playfulness as ways to quiet the mind and in preparation for parenthood together
Beyond Four Walls
Conversations extend beyond the room, with opportunities for walk-and-talk sessions in open countryside and time by the sea along Devon’s beautiful coastline.
Beyond Your Stay
Support continues beyond your stay, with follow-up conversations and the opportunity to remain connected with the Coracle community.
Your guides
Coracle Retreats is led by Dr Jo Black, a consultant perinatal psychiatrist who has spent more than two decades supporting couples through the emotional landscape of pregnancy and early parenthood. Alongside her clinical work in the South West, she has held national roles within the NHS and the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Jo’s approach begins from a simple belief: that the universal experience of waves of emotions in pregnancy are deeply human. Not a problem to be solved, but a natural response to profound change.
Through Coracle, she offers an expert-held space where those emotions can explored with curiosity; where you can explore the questions that matter most, and begin the transition to parenthood feeling steadier and more prepared, together.
Alongside Jo, consultant obstetrician Jonathan Hindley brings insight into the realities of birth, helping couples understand what may unfold in the delivery room and how to approach those moments with confidence and calm.
Together, they guide conversations that combine clinical understanding with the honesty of lived experience.
Dr Jo Black
Founder
Held at Fowlescombe Farm
Coracle Retreats take place at Fowlescombe Farm, a beautifully restored regenerative farm where rolling hills and wide-open skies create an immediate sense of calm.
Here, couples step away from the demands of everyday life and steady into a slower pace. Sessions unfold across the farm and beyond into South Devon, your time spent between restorative indoor spaces and out in the surrounding landscape as you move naturally between learning, reflection, movement and rest. One of National Geographic Traveller's '30 Best Hotels in the World', and featured in Conde Nast Traveller, Vogue and the Architectural Digest, it is a truly special place to press pause and prepare.
An entirely new kind of pre‑natal preparation
In the months before a baby arrives, much attention is given to the practical preparations of parenthood. Coracle Retreat focuses on something different: the emotional foundations that will carry you through the early weeks and years of family life.
By the time the retreat ends, couples understand each other more deeply, feel steadier in the face of uncertainty, and approach the birth and parenthood with a shared sense of readiness.
They leave with their own coracle, a vessel built to weather any storm through insight, trust and connection.
Coracle Retreats take place over four or five nights for a small group of couples at Fowlescombe Farm. Each day centres around two guided seminar conversations, complemented by workshops, gentle movement and time outdoors. Together they create a gentle structure for your days, while leaving space to rest, reconnect and spend time together before embarking on life’s next chapter.
Retreat format and dates
Location: Fowlescombe Farm, Devon
Duration: four days with a stay of five nights
Group size: 4- 6 couples
Booking: often by recommendation by consultant obstetrician, GP or midwife. We also welcome direct enquires from parents-to-be
