Let me dispel a popular myth: preparing to be parents is about more than deciding how to decorate the nursery. It’s about more than ticking the usual boxes, such as attending ante-natal classes and meeting your midwife. And it’s about more than having a few popular parenting books on hand to refer to when the going gets tough.

Unfortunately, this typifies the approach taken by many – if not most – families. Follow such an approach and the chances are you may be able to get by or muddle through, but parenting certainly won’t be as easy, as rewarding or as worthwhile as you would hope.

You’ll be unprepared for many of the challenges and responsibilities that lie ahead. You’ll be poorly equipped to make difficult decisions and you’ll find it hard to stay motivated. In other words, you’ll be an Unpreparent. And you only have to read the newspapers or watch the news to see that being an Unpreparent doesn’t always work out for the best.

Discover the profound new way to prepare for parenthood

I believe that the way children are raised fits into a bigger picture than most people think. Children are central not only to the future of your family, but to the future of our society and that of the wider world. In other words, the world of tomorrow is shaped by your approach, actions and attitude as parents today.

With so much at stake as parents or parents-to-be (and particularly at a time when we face more social, economic and environmental challenges than ever before) it pays to be better prepared for all that lies ahead on your parenting journey; to be, in my words, Preparents.

So, if you’ve a notion that you’d like to start a family either now or at some point in the future, and you wish to become better prepared for the choices, changes and challenges ahead, the Preparenting Programme is for you. Equally, if you've recently given birth, or have a child or children already, the Preparenting Programme may well feel like the road map you've been missing.

In fact, I believe anyone with an interest in the way that children (and therefore parents) can influence the world around us will find that the Preparenting Programme provides plenty of food for thought.

To learn about how the programme works, read on...