Catalogue 07-08: Auxiliary Programs
Please note that this is the March 2007 version of the 2007-2008 Catalogue. Information within is accurate as of this date. Subject to change without notice.
Childbirth Educator Program
Labor Doula Program
Postpartum Doula Program
Childbirth Educator Program
The Birthingway Childbirth Educator Program was designed from the beginning with the biodynamic model of birth in mind.
Program Requirements
To become a Certified Birthingway Childbirth Educator students follow a three step process.
Childbirth Educator Workshop
The workshop takes place over two weekends and can be taken as a stand alone class or as the first step toward certification. Throughout the nearly 40 hours of classroom time, there are many opportunities to:
• Learn the fundamentals of the biodynamic model of birth
• Explore our own preconceptions about birth
• Practice many forms of relaxation
• Produce our own birth art
• Brainstorm dozens of teaching tools and techniques
• Tell stories and share food
Independent Work
This phase includes designing a syllabus for your own class and a community resources binder.
Student Teaching
Students are connected with a mentor childbirth educator who supports them as they facilitate their first series of childbirth education classes.
Childbirth Educator Certification
Prerequisites: None
Required to complete:
Childbirth Education Workshop
Childbirth Educator Practicum
Birthingway offers a Childbirth Educator Certificate. Students must:
• Apply to the Childbirth Educator Certification program with a fee of $50 (Students enrolled in the midwifery program will not pay this fee)
• Attend and successfully complete Childbirth Education course
• Document Childbirth Educator Practicum
• Request a certificate (good for four years) for a fee of $60
Childbirth Educator Certification Program Fees
Workshop Fee $585.00
Application/Practicum/Certification Fee $150.00
Childbirth Educator Program for College Credit
Students may choose to take the Childbirth Educator Program for two college credits. Students choosing this route will pay the current Birthingway credit price for two credits and will be required to complete additional work. If the student is enrolled in the midwifery program, the course may count as one of their required elective courses.
Students who are not taking the program for credit may take the workshop alone or choose to move forward toward certification, completing additional homework and a mentored teaching experience over the course of an additional 10 months. Students who are taking the workshop for credit MUST complete additional homework (see syllabus for the specific homework details), but may choose whether or not to certify by completing a mentored teaching experience. The additional homework must be completed before the end of the term in which they take the workshop. If they choose to certify they will have an additional six months in which to complete their practicum.
Labor Doula Program
Birthingway has continued to develop our labor doula program over the last 10 years to become a model of biodynamic birth support.
Labor Doula Certification
Prerequisites: None
Required to complete:
Workshop entitled “The Labor Doula: Assisting Women with Birth”
Clinical Practicum of five labor assists
Birthingway offers a Labor Doula Certificate. Students must:
• Apply to the Labor Doula Certification program with a fee of $50 (Students enrolled in the midwifery program will not pay this fee)
• Attend and successfully complete the labor doula workshop, “The Labor Doula: Assisting Women with Birth”
• Provide documentation of five labor assists
• Request a certificate (good for four years) for a fee of $90
Labor Doula Certification Program Fees
Application Fee (non-refundable) $ 50.00
Labor Doula Workshop Fee $425.00
Certification Fee $ 90.00
Program Requirements
Labor Doula Workshop
The Labor Doula Workshop one part of the program and is offered several times a year. It may be taken as a stand alone course, as the first step toward labor doula certification, or as a prerequisite for admission into the Midwifery Program.
The workshop is offered evenings or weekends to fit a variety of schedules. Topics include:
• Tools for emotional support
• How to provide continuity of care
• Supporting mom’s process of telling her birth story
• Tools for physical support
• Breastfeeding support
• Running a doula business
In order to certify, students then attend and document 5 births, with an emphasis on continuity of care, supported by a mentor doula.
Practicum Requirements for Labor Doula Certification
In order to develop the best possible labor doulas around, Birthingway has created a rigorous Practicum Program that emphasizes our beliefs in biodynamic birth and continuity of care. The following requirements reflect our commitment to these beliefs by encouraging attendance at several prenatal and postpartum visits with your clients, requiring documentation of a few of these, and requiring that your documentation reflect a majority of vaginal births, even though it is possible (and even likely) that more of your first few births might be cesarean-sections, given today’s medical birth culture in this country. We hope that this process will be one in which our doulas learn about developing relationships of trust with clients and in which they are able to put the biodynamic model of birth into practice.
During this process, Birthingway provides with a variety of resources to support and mentor our student doulas. Student labor doulas will be able to attend one birth with a more experienced doula during their practicum period. In addition, several experienced doulas are available for on-going phone or in-person mentoring support. Finally, we offer a facilitated support group each month for doulas to mentor and sustain each other.
Students who have completed the Labor Doula Workshop must complete the following in order to earn certification as a Birthingway Certified Labor Doula:
Attend 5 Births: 3 must be vaginal births; 2 can be cesarean but with a minimum of 3 hours labor support. The student doula must attend to the mother during her cesarean birth for at least one cesarean birth, if 2 cesareans are documented.
3 of the 5 labor assists must be hospital births, 2 may be birth center/ home births
Must have continuity of care with 3 of the 5 clients, including, at the minimum, 1 prenatal visit, 1 labor and birth experience, and 1 postpartum visit
We encourage our student doulas to follow the “Doula’s Checklist” handout given to each student during the workshop, which includes:
1 – Initial Contact visit: this is the face-to-face interview with the client.
2 – Prenatal visits
1 – Labor and Birth experience
1 – Postpartum visit
We recognize that it is not always possible to get the optimal amount of prenatal and postpartum contacts with each client. Therefore, students are not required to document continuity of care with every client.
Special Situations/ Tips:
In the past, doulas have reported instances where the client hasn’t called when she is in labor, and the doula missed the birth. If a client neglects to/ is unable to call you for their labor and birth, you decide whether it is appropriate, given the situation, to follow up with a postpartum visit with them. The birth will not count towards certification but you may feel, because of your connection with the client or extenuating circumstances that you still want to check in/ provide some form of postpartum care. Some ways to prevent this problem from happening in many cases are: (1) Make sure there is a person designated to call you and keep you posted (either the woman herself or another reliable person who will be present at the birth) in case she even thinks she is going into labor. (2) If the client is writing a birth plan, have her include your name and contact information in the plan as someone who will be present and supporting her during her labor and birth experience, and make sure the hospital/ birth center/ her care provider has a copy of the plan (3) If she was referred to you by a social worker/ case worker, make sure you contact her referrer, and let them know your name and contact information.
Postpartum Doula Certification
Our new Postpartum Doula Program has been developed with the biodynamic model at its core.
Our postpartum doulas follow a two step process for certification, including an intensive weekend workshop and a mentored practicum.
Postpartum Doula Certification Program Fees
Workshop Fee $425.00
Application/Practicum/Certification Fee $140.00
The Postpartum Doula Workshop
The workshop, which can be taken as a stand alone class or as the first step toward certification, takes place over one long weekend. Students are expected to complete readings before the class meets. During the workshop, students will learn about a variety of topics pertinent to the postpartum period, including:
• Scope of practice for postpartum doulas
• Hormones of the postpartum period and their effects
• Infant care
• Perinatal mood disorders
• Tools for supporting breastfeeding
• Various ways that birth effects the postpartum period
Practicum
If students choose to certify, they will be mentored by an experienced postpartum doula through their first 10 hours of postpartum work.