Birth Conference as personal study

I get emails from Sarah J. Buckley. She is an MD who has experienced homebirth, and author of Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, which the Logan Library will be getting next month.

Anyway, in her latest email, it was announced she will be presenting a post-conference workshop on Undisturbing Birth at the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health in San Francisco in April. So I checked out the website for the conference. There are going to be some wonderful sessions!

Now I'm not even considering attending. But it's like reading the seed catalog in winter - all fun, no mud. Well, not that attending a conference is like getting muddy, but you know.

I love to read about sessions to get an idea of what people are doing to improve birth in the world. I love to read about people and their passions. It's inspiring. I love to read their words, especially if there's a website or book to turn to for more!

For example:

Simple Tools

Karen Strange

This presentation will explore the sequence of events that occurs spontaneously throughout the process of labor and birth. Consideration will be given to the ancient and inherent wisdom that is reflected within birth's unique embryological template. The integration of modern science and technology into the experience of birth will also be addressed. Attendees will learn the significance of humans as mammals and why this matters. The presentation will contemplate a mother's mental and emotional state and the impact it creates on the baby's brain, nervous system, and especially, temperament. Most importantly, emphasis will be given to situations in which things do not go as planned and how to make repair. Focus will be placed on making sense of the unexpected, telling the story, pacing, attunement, love and empathy.

Teaching Adults How to Understand Babies Judyth Weaver This experiential workshop will teach simple exercises that can be used to assist adults to learn more about the child's experiences-from the inside out-somatically as well as emotionally and intellectually. The more fully teachers, therapists, medical professionals, parents and other adults understand the situation of the child, the more sensitive and connected they can be to those children. They can communicate more intuitively and coherently with children. Playing roles of baby and adult in turn will give participants understandings and skills that can support health and communication during pregnancy, can set the temperament for the passage of birth, promote empathy, build healthier connections and bonding with the newborn, and develop sensitive interactions that support relationships into childhood and beyond. These exercises can be used to teach adults to become more attuned to children, help children of all ages to repair and resolve traumatic experiences, and help adults understand their own past traumas and how to repair and resolve them.

and:

The Holistic Parenting Program: Preconception to Birth & Beyond

Julie Gerland and Francois Gerland

Discover this unique and dynamic new program that unites scientific discoveries and ancient wisdom in its approach to accompanying and empowering parents to prepare themselves from soul to cell to give their best to their child right from the start of parenthood. Participants will discover the importance of achieving emotional safety and experience transforming limiting core beliefs and subconscious programming by connecting with the powerful archetypal inner parents. In this interactive and experiential workshop participants will learn why and how parents-to-be achieve their optimum health in harmony with Nature and the importance of conscious conception, prenatal bonding, Hypnobirthing® natural childbirth preparation, and holistic infant bonding. The Holistic Parenting Educator certificate is a two-year training. This workshop is open to everyone.

Fragile Beginnings: Supporting Parents in the Tender Taking In Period Phyllis Klaus There is new knowledge of the importance of skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in the first hours after birth, both of which contribute to maternal-infant bonding and the creation of secure attachment. Patterns laid down in this early period have far reaching effects. Parents will benefit when caregivers understand the profound and changing needs physiologically and psychologically of the infant and parents in these first hours. New data will be presented to describe the delicacy of this period. By understanding the infant's and parents' physical and emotional experiences and the elements that interfere with positive experiences including traumatic birth, separation, unresolved distress, past abuse, marital conflict, losses, and so forth, caregivers can reduce the interruptions and heal the unresolved traumas to re-create the lost ideal experience.

Doesn't that sound like something interesting to ponder, even if you never read their book or attend their sessions?

This one is rather intriguing:

Painless Childbirth

Guiditta Tornetta, Certified Doula, BA, CCH

Painless Childbirth is a nine-step guide empowering women through the miracle of pregnancy and birth. It emerges from the relationship between three elements: the nine months of pregnancy, the fetal development during these nine months, and the nine chakras that reflect the nine basic aspects of our mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Each chakra embodies a 'basic human right.' Once we own our basic human rights, we can then shepherd our children into this world painlessly. Pain is associated with something gone wrong. By contrast, childbirth is a natural event with a known positive outcome. While labor can be intense, usually a contraction lasts just one minute. What we must do is learn how to manage that one minute-one minute at a time. This is not another breathing technique but a shift in consciousness. To obtain a painless childbirth we need to shift the birth paradigm from "Labor is happening to me," to "My baby and I are working together to finally embrace each other in the outside world."

Participants will be able to:

1. Learn nine-steps to painless childbirth and gain a perspective of ancient and lingering fears related to giving birth.
2. Help clients see the relationship between the nine months of gestation and the fetus's development thereby encouraging more communication between mother and child.
3. Acknowledge that thousands of women are experiencing painless childbirth and teach other women to do so as well.

Intended Audience: Health Care and Mental Health Professionals-Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced

(be careful googleing Guiditta's name - it's also the name of someone who made a movie/book about Playboy!)

Hope you enjoyed these ideas!

Painless Childbirth Guiditta Tornetta, Certified Doula, BA, CCH Painless Childbirth is a nine-step guide empowering women through the miracle of pregnancy and birth. It emerges from the relationship between three elements: the nine months of pregnancy, the fetal development during these nine months, and the nine chakras that reflect the nine basic aspects of our mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Each chakra embodies a 'basic human right.' Once we own our basic human rights, we can then shepherd our children into this world painlessly. Pain is associated with something gone wrong. By contrast, childbirth is a natural event with a known positive outcome. While labor can be intense, usually a contraction lasts just one minute. What we must do is learn how to manage that one minute-one minute at a time. This is not another breathing technique but a shift in consciousness. To obtain a painless childbirth we need to shift the birth paradigm from "Labor is happening to me," to "My baby and I are working together to finally embrace each other in the outside world." Participants will be able to: Learn nine-steps to painless childbirth and gain a perspective of ancient and lingering fears related to giving birth. Help clients see the relationship between the nine months of gestation and the fetus's development thereby encouraging more communication between mother and child. Acknowledge that thousands of women are experiencing painless childbirth and teach other women to do so as well. Intended Audience: Health Care and Mental Health Professionals-Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced

~s~