Is this the right class for me?
In a Birthing From Within prenatal class you will find a unique group of pregnant women, planning for home and hospital births, getting care with doctors and midwives, and with diverse professions and interests. A Birthing From Within Class is ideal for parents who are seeking a class which will meet both their need for practical knowledge about birth and babies, and support them in exploration of the emotional aspects of birth and parenting so that they can approach the changes to come without fear or anxiety.

What information do you cover?
Birthing From Within prenatal classes provide you with all of the core information you need to know to have a healthy birth in any setting. You will learn the stages and hormones of labour, extensive pain-coping practices (including epidurals and other medications), support secrets for partners, cesarean birth, and of course baby care basics and how to have a healthy first few months with baby. Also included is a separate session just for birth partners, and a postpartum reunion party.In addition, a Birthing From Within class helps you build trust in birth, your body, each other, and in your capacity to work with whatever challenges birth and parenting may present to you. We explore how to create a supportive birth environment in the hospital or home, fears about birth and parenting, and dig below the surface to discover what it is we Really need to know to give birth.

Is the weekend immersion the same as the weekend intensive?
Weekend immersion and seven-week series have all of the same content and activities. Each class has no more than six couples, allowing for extensive dialogue between participants rather than a lecture format, and individualized attention.

What kind of pain-coping practices do you teach?
Pain-coping practices include breath awareness, non-focused awareness, centering, positions for labour and birth, massage, aromatherapy, visualization, epidurals & other pain medications. Many of these “pain-coping” practices are also excellent tools beyond birth when coping with the stresses of parenthood.

Is this a “natural birth” class?
Birthing From Within classes offer you a deep understanding of the natural birth process, trust in your body and birth, working with pain, and practical ideas to support you in working towards your vision for labour and birth.However, classes also offer a balanced perspective on how to work with a birth experience that may be different from your original vision. Epidurals are discussed from the framework of “wise and compassionate use,” and we discuss how to stay connected to your birth and baby should you need an epidural or give birth by cesarean. There is a strong emphasis on meeting the unknowns of birth without fear, anxiety or self-judgment so that you can give birth in awareness no matter what challenges your birth should bring.

Can I attend a prenatal class on my own?
Absolutely! While most women attend with a partner, there are single mothers, and women whose partners' work schedules don't match the class schedule, who come on their own. If you will be attending on your own, I encourage you to consider inviting a friend to join you through the series—in the past, women have brought along doulas, friends, sisters, and even a mother!

What do you mean by “creative activities”?
We engage in a few different “birth art” activities during the classes. Most participants haven't picked up a crayon in many, many years. The creative activities are designed to help you explore birth from the intuitive side of your brain, put you out of your comfort zone (just like birth), and see things with a new perspective—a tool for self-exploration. We do not require you to share your drawing, but do engage in discussion around what we observed through the activity.

If you are hesitant about making birth art, I strongly encourage you to give it a try. One couple who announced it just “wasn't their thing” ended up creating a birth art “gallery” all over their bedroom wall!

I have read the book Birthing From Within. How is this different?
Reading Birthing From Within, by Pam England, is wonderful preparation for birth, and an excellent complement to the classes. While the classes are based on the book, the activities and ideas presented in class go far beyond the book, and include my unique perspective as a mother of three and a birth professional who has attended births in the home and hospital settings.

How can I learn more?
If you have further questions regarding Birthing From Within, Birthing Again, or Birth Story Workshops, please contact me.
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Golden Flower Birth
Antenatal Courses, Workshops, and Doula Care
Tel: 01342 824114