Childbirth Education – Group Classes
Empowered Birth Choices
Natural Childbirth Preparation Class
Make Informed Choices. Cultivate Trust In Birth. Know Your Birthing Rights
A Four-Week Series of Online Natural Childbirth Education Classes for Pregnant Persons and their Birth Partners
Are you ready to embark on a journey of empowerment and self-discovery? You deserve the birth experience of your dreams!
Una serie de cuatro semanas de clases de educación sobre el parto natural en línea para mujeres embarazadas y sus parejas de parto.
Clases de preparación para el parto “Elecciones empoderadas para el parto”
Esta clase también se ofrece en español
UPCOMING COURSES
4-WEEK SERIES MEETS SUNDAYS, 2:00-5:00 PM (PST)
October 8, 15, 22, & 29, 2023
$350 per couple for 4-Week Series
$100 per couple for Single Session
Free for Medi-Cal/Medi-Caid
This class will be held online on ZOOM
FOR MAXIMUM BENEFIT, WE RECOMMEND YOU ATTEND ALL FOUR SESSIONS IN SERIES
BUT YOU MAY REGISTER FOR ONE SESSION AT A TIME.
Have questions? Fill out the “request to register” form, and someone will be in touch
Request to Register, or call (626) 388-2191 (Ext. 3).
Login information will be provided for all who register in advance.
HOW TO PAY FOR CLASSES
Pay By Check or Money Order
Make checks payable to: “HMHBA“, Send to:
Happy Mama Healthy Baby Alliance
600 Lincoln Ave. #92495 Pasadena, CA 91109
Pay by debit card or credit card at PayPal
Use the drop-down menu below to select “Group Childbirth Preparation Classes” then click on the “ADD TO CART” Button. You will then be redirected to PayPal’s secure website to pay using your PayPal account (if you don’t have one, you can set it up in minutes), or your debit or credit card.
These classes are EVIDENCE BASED, and PROMOTE INFORMED DECISION-MAKING and EMPOWERMENT FOR BIRTHING PERSONS & THEIR PARTNERS
- Get ready to take control of your birth experience with our Empowered Birth Choices Childbirth Preparation Class!
- Are you ready to make informed decisions and feel confident during one of the most transformative moments of your life? Join us for an online class (on Zoom) like no other!
- Discover the power within you as we guide you through the journey of childbirth. Our expert instructors will provide you with the knowledge and tools to make empowered choices every step of the way. From understanding your options to building a birth plan that aligns with your values, we’ve got you covered.
- Learn essential labor coping skills that will help you navigate the challenges of childbirth with grace and strength. From breathing techniques to relaxation exercises, we’ll equip you with the tools to stay calm and focused during labor.
- Join us from the comfort of your own home as we bring this transformative experience right to your screen. Connect with other expectant parents, share stories, and build a supportive community that will empower you throughout your pregnancy and beyond.
- Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to prepare yourself for the birth you deserve.
- Spaces are limited, so secure your spot today!
BENEFITS OF THIS CLASS
These classes will help you:
- Take an active role in making informed decisions about your birth and newborn
- Make informed choices based on knowledge of risks and benefits and alternatives
- Feel confident you can use labor coping skills to manage discomforts of labor
- Provide effective support to the laboring person
- Get breastfeeding started right
- Know how to breastfeed your baby
- Understand the critical importance of infant-parent attachment
- Prepare for postpartum so to have a smooth transition to parenthood
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
- First time expectant parents & experienced parents needing a refresher course
- Expectant parents planning to give birth in the hospital, home, or birth center
- Expectant parents who prefer to learn on a live ZOOM session
LEARNER OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, pregnant persons and their partners will have increased:
1) Knowledge about options for childbirth, understand pros and cons of medical procedures, and will make informed choices during pregnancy and childbirth and postpartum.
2) Confidence to give birth normally by utilizing labor coping skills.
3) Confidence in their ability to provide support to the birthing person during labor.
3) Knowledge to breastfeed the baby or support the breastfeeding woman.
4) Skills to care for the newborn.
5) Created a plan for postpartum recovery.
OVERVIEW OF COURSE
Class One: Understanding Pregnancy and Birth
In this session, you will learn about:
- Fetal development, preventing preterm labor, and ways to reduce stress in pregnancy.
- Coping with common discomforts of pregnancy
- Eating right during pregnancy to grow a healthy baby.
- How your body works during labor and birth. You will learn how labor begins and progresses, and when to go to your birthing place or call the midwife.
In this session, you will learn about:
- Ways to cope with labor such as breathing techniques, relaxation exercises, and the power of affirmation, prayer and energy work during labor.
- Positions for coping with labor and pushing.
- How partners can help the birthing person stay focused and comfortable, trusting and open during the process.
- How to bond with your newborn baby through skin-to-skin care
- How to surrender to birth and open to it with ease, fearlessness and faith.
- Options for your placenta including placentophagy through placenta encapsulation, ceremony, or hospital disposal.
Class Three: Making Informed Choices
In this session, you will learn about:
- Your rights as a birthing person. You will be empowered to ask for what you want and stand up for what you want during labor, or make an informed refusal.
- How your partner can be an advocate for you and your baby.
- Medical procedures done in childbirth, their benefits and risks, advantages and disadvantages, so you can make informed choices.
- Pain medication options for labor and their effects on the labor, you, and your baby.
- How to write a birth plan of your preferences for labor, birth, the newborn and the immediate postpartum period.
- How to lower your risk for emergency cesarean section.
- How to increase your chances of a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC).
- How to have a family-centered, elective cesarean section.
- The benefits and risks of different places of birth: hospital, home and birth center
- The differences between Doulas and Midwives
- Your values for childbirth and how to find a doctor or midwife who shares them.
- How a Doula can make a real difference in your birth–and afterwards, too.
- How Doulas support partners as well as birthing persons.
Class Four: Postpartum Adjustments, The Amazing Newborn and Breastfeeding
In this session, you will learn:
- About the amazing newborn, medical procedures (male circumcision, newborn screening test, etc.) and newborn care (swaddling, soothing, bathing, etc.)
- How the breasts make milk
- How to know if baby’s getting enough milk
- How to increase your milk supply
- How to deal with common issues of breastfeeding such as sore nipples or low milk supply
- How to pump and store your breastmilk and returning to work or school as a breastfeeding mother
- About sex & intimacy after childbirth
- Methods of family planning
- How to create a “Reproductive Life Plan”.
- Ways to help older siblings adjust to the new baby
- Types of postpartum mood disorders and where to get help if needed.
- How to prepare a “Postpartum Plan”
- The benefits of a hiring a Postpartum Doula
- The Father/Partner’s role in caring for the newborn and postpartum mother.
We educate about and promote:
- Informed consent and refusal in maternity care–not only is it responsible and ethical, women who felt they had decision-making power during birth had improved self-esteem and bonding with their babies.
- Alternative choices in childbirth such as homebirth, waterbirth, birth centers and midwife assisted birth
- Physiological childbirth–it’s natural and normal, and results in healthy outcomes for mothers and infants.
- The lifelong importance of maternal-infant attachment.
- Breastfeeding–it protects and improves maternal and infant health for a lifetime and is also eco-friendly.
- Awareness of spiritual and emotional aspects of birthing.
- Awareness of the influence of the woman’s social environment on pregnancy, birthing, and breastfeeding
- Family involvement in the birthing process.
- Complimentary modalities for pregnancy and childbirth: acupuncture, chiropractic, herbology, etc.
- Attachment parenting and Biological Nurturing as the most sensible way to develop happy and secure children.