Services

Homebirth Midwifery Care | Childbirth Education | Doula Care

Homebirth Refresher & Sibling Preparation Classes
About three times a year I offer a homebirth refresher and sibling preparation class. Email me for the latest schedule and to reserve your spot!

The series consists of four classes, with three evening classes being for parents and one daytime sibling preparation circle and family potluck.

Topics for parents include review of previous birth experiences, labor and birth physiology, pain coping and partner support, children at birth, older sibling adjustment, the couple relationship, general family dynamics, and postpartum issues that are relevant to experienced parents. The classes are set up to allow couples a good amount of time to connect and discuss the topics we cover.

Sibling "class" is a low-key, age appropriate exposure to some of the things big brothers and sisters might want to know, with plenty of chances to share and participate or just watch from a parent’s lap ... we talk about what babies are like, what they do, what they need, how they are different from bigger kids, practice diapering, swaddling, weighing and holding our baby dolls, read some stories, and often watch some gentle birth videos together.

Childbirth Preparation Classes
I teach a six-week childbirth preparation series at a San Francisco pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting resource center - Natural Resources. I helped design the curriculum and am very excited about the depth of this series. This class is appropriate whether you are birthing in your home, a birthing center or a hospital.

Aside from educating expectant moms and their partners on the anatomy, physiology, hormones and emotions of birth, we practice lots of different coping techniques from relaxation, guided imagery, visualizations, theories of Hypnobirthing and Calm Birth, positions, to a wide variety of other comfort measures for labor and birth. Our 18 hours of class time includes a video in each class, discussion of Informed choice, common interventions, pain relief options, (pharmacological and non pharmacological), hospital birth, birth center birth and homebirth.

The course fee includes a copy of Ina May's Guide to Childbirth  by Ina May Gaskin and a binder of local resources, web resources, diagrams, drawings and articles from Michel Odent, Pam England, Jean Sutton, Penny Simpkin, Henci Goer, Mothering Magazine, CIMS, ICAN  and many more.

Private, customized childbirth preparation classes available.