Sheridan at Enjoy Birth reviewed the book Keep the Fires Burning: Conquering Stress and Burnout as a Mother-Baby Professional by Mickey Jones, and she is giving a way a free copy! The life of a birth worker can be very demanding, and this book sounds like a great resource.
Click here to read the review and enter the giveaway!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Hypnobabies Certified!
I received word a few days ago that my certification as a Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis Instructor (HCHI) and Hypnobabies Certified Hypno-Doula (HCHD) is official! Yesterday, my information was posted on the Hypnobabies Instructor listing. If you are local and interested in joining my first class (most likely stating in late September or early October) please contact me here or through my website (link on sidebar). If you are not local, check out the link above for an instructor in your area.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
New Website, Facebook Page, and Twitter Account!
I bought a domain name for my doula services website, and I decided to do away with "Peaceful Waves Birth." The new website for my Yakima area doula services is:
The new website which will also be the location of information on the schedule of my Hypnobabies classes, and updates for my Dancing For Birth™ classes, when I get them started. I also made an accompanying facebook page, which you can find at The Birth Specialist. I also finally joined Twitter. Unfortunately @BirthSpecialist was taken (by someone who apparently created the account, but never used it), so I just went with my first and last name: @BrittanyCromar. So, now you can like and follow me if you are on Facebook and Twitter!
www.birthspecialist.com
The new website which will also be the location of information on the schedule of my Hypnobabies classes, and updates for my Dancing For Birth™ classes, when I get them started. I also made an accompanying facebook page, which you can find at The Birth Specialist. I also finally joined Twitter. Unfortunately @BirthSpecialist was taken (by someone who apparently created the account, but never used it), so I just went with my first and last name: @BrittanyCromar. So, now you can like and follow me if you are on Facebook and Twitter!
Monday, August 15, 2011
I &hearts Dancing for Birth&trade!
The Dancing for Birth™ training was awesome! I learned so much! I am currently planning on finishing up certification and teaching the classes, in addition to my Hypnobabies courses, but we will see if it works out.
In a nutshell, Dancing for Birth™ is a prenatal and postpartum fitness class and a birth and new motherhood support circle, with bits of birth empowerment and childbirth education incorporated into it. There is a basic flow to the structure of the classes, but the content is flexible--instructors can choose what to include each week based on the needs of their students. There is a huge list of benefits to dancing during pregnancy, birthing itself, and the postpartum time. Not to mention it is a whole lot of fun!
I had a wonderful time bonding with all of the other women who were at the training. It was a very passionate group, and the nature of the workshop allowed us all to become close very fast. Most of the other trainees were doulas, but we also had some midwives and belly dancers. One thing I really liked about the workshop was the opportunity to practice some comfort techniques, including the double hip-squeeze and several rebozo techniques.
I found that the vast majority of what was taught was very compatible with Hypnobabies. We talked about how having "sensation" is necessary to follow your instincts in childbirth, but there was not talk of "preparing for pain." There was some of the idea that "you don't birth in your brain, you birth in your body," which is not what we teach in Hypnobabies, because we teach that you most definitely do use your mind during birth--it is where your birthing hormones come from. However, I think "birthing in your body," it is just different wording for a concept that is taught in Hypnobabies--birthing in a state where our conscious, analytical thinking is pushed aside, a state we call hypnosis, but other people have different words for it. Dancing is a naturally hypnotic activity, so it makes sense that dancing during your birthing time would promote the ideal mental state.
We also did a game where music plays and everyone dances, then the music fades and people pretend to be having pressure waves (most people chose to stop dancing and lean forward onto something, which would work with using the Hypnobabies lighswitch), then the music fades back in and everyone gets up and dances again. This exercise reminded me a lot of something we do in Hypnobabies called a "birth rehearsal," and I could see how the techniques of both programs could work together as we did it.
We did another exercise where we compared the measurements of the pelvic outlet (from pubic bone to tail bone) in a deep squat (with hips below knees) versus a standing squat (hips above knees, pelvis tilted back, upper body leaning forward). I recommend trying this yourself--you may be surprised at what you find!
All instructor training workshop participants take home a copy of the Dancing for Birth™ DVD, and I have been practicing with it every other day since I got back. I have difficulty sticking to exercise routines, but since dancing is so fun, I'm more likely to do it (plus, I'm trying to get a good grasp on the moves for teaching it, if that works out) I am looking forward to having dance to use along with my hypnosis during this baby's birth!
In a nutshell, Dancing for Birth™ is a prenatal and postpartum fitness class and a birth and new motherhood support circle, with bits of birth empowerment and childbirth education incorporated into it. There is a basic flow to the structure of the classes, but the content is flexible--instructors can choose what to include each week based on the needs of their students. There is a huge list of benefits to dancing during pregnancy, birthing itself, and the postpartum time. Not to mention it is a whole lot of fun!
I had a wonderful time bonding with all of the other women who were at the training. It was a very passionate group, and the nature of the workshop allowed us all to become close very fast. Most of the other trainees were doulas, but we also had some midwives and belly dancers. One thing I really liked about the workshop was the opportunity to practice some comfort techniques, including the double hip-squeeze and several rebozo techniques.
I found that the vast majority of what was taught was very compatible with Hypnobabies. We talked about how having "sensation" is necessary to follow your instincts in childbirth, but there was not talk of "preparing for pain." There was some of the idea that "you don't birth in your brain, you birth in your body," which is not what we teach in Hypnobabies, because we teach that you most definitely do use your mind during birth--it is where your birthing hormones come from. However, I think "birthing in your body," it is just different wording for a concept that is taught in Hypnobabies--birthing in a state where our conscious, analytical thinking is pushed aside, a state we call hypnosis, but other people have different words for it. Dancing is a naturally hypnotic activity, so it makes sense that dancing during your birthing time would promote the ideal mental state.
We also did a game where music plays and everyone dances, then the music fades and people pretend to be having pressure waves (most people chose to stop dancing and lean forward onto something, which would work with using the Hypnobabies lighswitch), then the music fades back in and everyone gets up and dances again. This exercise reminded me a lot of something we do in Hypnobabies called a "birth rehearsal," and I could see how the techniques of both programs could work together as we did it.
We did another exercise where we compared the measurements of the pelvic outlet (from pubic bone to tail bone) in a deep squat (with hips below knees) versus a standing squat (hips above knees, pelvis tilted back, upper body leaning forward). I recommend trying this yourself--you may be surprised at what you find!
All instructor training workshop participants take home a copy of the Dancing for Birth™ DVD, and I have been practicing with it every other day since I got back. I have difficulty sticking to exercise routines, but since dancing is so fun, I'm more likely to do it (plus, I'm trying to get a good grasp on the moves for teaching it, if that works out) I am looking forward to having dance to use along with my hypnosis during this baby's birth!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Doula Certification!
I submitted all of my forms to complete my doula certification yesterday and was notified today that they have been received. It is official: I am a certified doula! I will be changing the image at the bottom of my blog to this:
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
I'm going to the Dancing for Birth training!
Ever since writing my Dancing Your Baby Out post, I have been really interested in dance as a form of prenatal exercise and as a comfort and positioning measure during childbirth. I have always loved to dance. Although my parents never signed me up for classes when I was growing up (I'm sure they had good reasons) and my high school did not offer dance as an elective, in college, I took a ballet class, a modern dance class, and two ballroom dance classes, and I loved all of them. My husband took ballroom classes, too (he is actually better at ballroom than I am!) Since marrying into a Tahitian family, I have also tried to learn Tahitian dance. Tahitian slow dances probably have some some things in common with what is in prenatal dance classes.
Performing Tahitian dance at a family wedding reception (I am second from the right)
I think that teaching pregnancy dance classes would be a great way for me to combine my interests in dance and birth. It also will be an opportunity to expand my market (women who typically might not be looking for a Hypnobabies class or a doula might come to a prenatal dance class and then might find out about my other services that way), and will give me another birth-related thing I can do that won't disrupt my family life too much. Like teaching Hypnobabies, it is something I can schedule around my husband's work schedule, which avoids needing a babysitter, and since classes are for both prenatal and postpartum women, who can do the dances while wearing their baby, I will be able teach it while babywearing.
When I first learned that there was going to be a Dancing for Birth instructor training at the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations at Bastyr University in Seattle, I wasn't sure if I would be able to go, even though I wanted to, because I had a doula client whose due date was about 10 days after the training. She gave birth at 37 weeks gestation last week (I will write more about that experience later, if I get permission from the mom), so I looked to see if they were still taking registrations, and they were! So, after discussing it with my husband, I decided to sign up! I will try to write a blog post about the training after I go!
Performing Tahitian dance at a family wedding reception (I am second from the right)When I first learned that there was going to be a Dancing for Birth instructor training at the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations at Bastyr University in Seattle, I wasn't sure if I would be able to go, even though I wanted to, because I had a doula client whose due date was about 10 days after the training. She gave birth at 37 weeks gestation last week (I will write more about that experience later, if I get permission from the mom), so I looked to see if they were still taking registrations, and they were! So, after discussing it with my husband, I decided to sign up! I will try to write a blog post about the training after I go!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Homebirth Set Up Video
A common question people have about homebirth is that there will be a big mess in their house and they will have to do a lot of work to clean up. This video shows a midwife setting up a home for a birth by putting a shower curtain under some old sheets on the bed and a garbage bag between pillows and the pillowcases, which helps make post-birth clean up easy. It also shows supplies for the birth, including old towels, the birth kit, and a bowl for the placenta. At the end, it shows how the midwives leave the room after the birth.
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