MOTHERS who find time, childcare or cost a barrier to getting back in shape after childbirth can now workout with their new arrivals in tow.

As many new parents struggle to fit exercise into family life, the One Point team of Durham County Council and NHS workers, has organised buggy bootcamp sessions across the county.

Jackie Staff, principle family worker at Woodhouse Close and St Helen Auckland, near Bishop Auckland, said: “It is difficult for parents with little ones to find time for themselves to exercise, they were asking for our help to make it possible.”

Personal trainer Michael Turner, of Eclipse Fitness and Personal Training, was drafted in to run free weekly fitness classes at Sure Start Children’s Centres across the county.

During the sessions, mothers of varying fitness levels are put through their paces with different exercises such as boxing and kettlebell training while children sleep nearby, watch from their pram or entertain themselves in child friendly surroundings.

Mr Turner created the buggy bootcamp programme after his wife, Kimberley, had the first of their two sons, Spencer and Dexter.

He said: “All women’s needs are different but it is initially about regaining the fitness level they had before pregnancy, aligning their core, getting posture back and abdominal strength.

“It is also about getting out of the house, enjoying exercise, thinking about nutrition and building self confidence.”

Mother-of-two Sally Walker, 26, who attends a Thursday morning class at Woodhouse Close Children’s Centre, in Bishop Auckland, said: “After having a baby you don’t feel in the best shape so it is nice to have something for me and start feeling good, plus the fitter I am the more I can do with my children.”

For details visit the website eclipsepersonaltraining.com or contact your local Children’s Centre.