Natural Childbirth Classes

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Hours:	6-8:30
Ages:	Adults
In/Outdoor:	Indoor
Cost:	$$ see below
Category:	Lectures/Discussions

IBWP certified CBEs seek to help all women experience birth’s transforming power with respect and dignity, support, and confidence. IBWP CBEs empower women and their families to choose what is best for them by informing them of their options surrounding labor and birth. IBWP trained CBEs have a holistic perspective of birth, and view birth as a women-centered process.

My goal as an IBWP-trained CBE teaching pregnant women and their birth partners in Boston, MA, is to help women reclaim trust in their ability to safely and dependably give birth. During this 8 wk course, pregnant mothers and their birth partners will learn about the birth process as a normal and natural event. Although we focus on natural pain relief methods, such as movement and positions for each stage of labor and birth, visualization techniques, relaxation techniques, and other comfort measures, all forms of pain relief during labor and birth and medical and non-medical interventions will be discussed. Parents will be able to make confident and informed decisions that fit their needs during birth. Techniques learned are applicable to birth in all birth settings: hospital, birth centers, and home. We will discuss the anatomy and physiology of birth, the stages of labor and birth, the roles of caregivers and support people during birth (particularly birth partners and doulas), fears about pregnancy and childbirth, and how to know when “it’s the real thing!”. We will also touch on nutrition, breastfeeding and postpartum care of the mother and baby.

Similar to the Bradley Method, the course is designed for both pregnant woman and their birth partners — that is domestic partners, wives, husbands, boy/girlfriends, friends, relatives, or other birth support for the pregnant mother. However, unlike the Bradley Method, this course will stress the importance of the informed and empowered mother’s right to make her own birth choices: from “natural” childbirth (for example, no technological, medical, or drug interventions) at home to a “technological one” (for example, elective cesarean delivery at a hospital). The purpose of the course is to give pregnant mothers and their birth partners the power of information so that they may together make educated decisions about their childbirth based on full disclosure of the risks and benefits (to themselves, their babies) of their choices.

COST

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Classes run from 2 – 2 1/2 hours and meet consecutively for 8 weeks in Jamaica Plain, MA. Tuition is $275/couple and includes the textbook and handouts. Need-based sliding scale, payment-in-kind, and payment plans are offered as well. Non-first timers are welcome to join a regular 8 wk course series or private or smaller group refresher courses are available. Private classes for tailor to the individual needs of the couple are available as well.

WEBSITE

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holisticbirth.wordpress.com/

LOCATION

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TBA, Jamaica Plain, MA, 02130 map
Phone: 617.955.1336

Jamaica Plain, MA; location TBA