S Jones A.Congratulations on your impending arrival and on having the baby at a time when the travel and spa world can't wait to embrace you with open arms.

The Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire (0044 1252 853000; www. fourseasons. com/ hampshire) is a Georgian manor decked out with contemporary furnishings and set in English Heritage-listed gardens and it accommodates a spa offering various treatments for new mothers. For example, it has post-natal body therapies catering specifically for nursing mothers to aid relaxation and improve skin tone. You can book this 85-minute treatment or extend it to a full day's programme, which includes a foot massage, lunch and holistic foot and nail treatment with hot stones. Treatments start at 140.

For your husband, there is an array of outdoor activities, including clay pigeon shooting, fishing, horse riding and tennis.

Then there's the hotel's babysitting service, available for all ages including infants. This would give you some much-needed time off and should be booked in advance . . . the cost is 17.50 per hour. Double rooms at the hotel start at 320 per night, including breakfast.

Cots and high-chairs are provided free.

For a city break that includes post-natal spa treatments try Edinburgh's grand Balmoral Hotel (0044 131 556 2414;

www. thebalmoralhotel. com) where the 85minute Maternal Melt Post-Natal Treatment (massage and exfoliation) costs 115. Doubles start at 275 per night, roomonly. Babysitting is available on request for 15 per hour, minimum three hours.