Paul gives birth in the family car while Kelly calls 911. Paul is not satisfied with Kelly's assistance.
Paul snuggles the new baby to his hairy chest as Kelly gets some help from a friendly police officer.
This is not your average, sit in the chair and take notes class! For the session on emergency childbirth, I showed “what to have on hand in case you might give birth in the car,” and then two enthusiastic volunteers screeched their way through a very precipitous “labor” in their “car,” much to the hilarity of the rest of the class. It’s good that we do the “how to give birth with nothing on hand but a towel and some hand sanitizer” class, because one of my couples recently gave birth in their bathroom with five Seattle firefighters as their attendants. This was not what they had in mind — BUT THEY WERE PREPARED!
Northwest Natural Childbirth is a new childbirth class series, born out of my seven years experience teaching the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth®.
Northwest Natural Childbirth emphasizes the role of the mother’s partner of choice as the primary support person during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. With a thorough understanding of the biomechanics, psychology, and sexuality of birth, simple pregnancy exercises, a healthy, whole foods diet, and deep relaxation, you will learn how to work together as a team with your health care providers to prepare for this transformational event. We will look at the state of childbirth practices in area hospitals and birth centers, focusing on the concepts of evidence based medicine and informed consent. While an unmedicated vaginal birth is the expected outcome, the goal of Northwest Natural Childbirth is a healthy mother and healthy baby, regardless of how baby decides to make its debut! Classes are 2 1/2 hours long in a 9 week series including postpartum care and breastfeeding basics.
Northwest Natural Childbirth Class Goals:
1. Empowered, powerful parents starting their journey together as a team.
2. A healthy mother and a healthy baby are always the goals of any birth.
3. Informed decision making by the mother and her partner.
4. Active involvement by mom’s partner as early in pregnancy as possible.
5. Normalizing birth to maximize the likelihood of an unmedicated, vaginal birth.
6. Mother and her partner feel they have made positive birth choices. It may not have been their first choice, if mom opted for anesthesia or a cesarean birth, but the team made the decisions together. Epidural and cesarean are valid, important choices. I want you to feel confident in making those decisions.
7. Healthy, open communication between the mother, her partner, and the birth team.
8. As a team, you will be prepared to give birth with a midwife, a family practice doctor, or an OB/Gyn, at home, at a birth center, in a hospital, or just the two of you in a Denny’s parking lot.
9. Successful initiation of breastfeeding.
10. A strong bond between mother, baby, and partner.
Classes are taught in my West Seattle home. Note: this is a smoke free but not pet free environment. Classes are $295 on a sliding scale depending on ability to pay. I accept paypal, cash, and check, payment plans, and occasionally, barter. The class fee includes my workbook. See the section on “required reading” for the reading list.
I was having trouble nursing my newborn in the days following a c-section, and just when I was feeling very discouraged, Betsy came to my home for a 2-hour lactation consult, and was so amazingly helpful. She was warm and professional, and made me and my husband feel at ease right away. She did a great job of explaining the problem and ways to address to it. By the time she left, my son was latching properly and nursing like a champ!
My husband and I were a part of Betsy’s Spring 2012 class with 4 other couples. The entire experience was fun, and informative and enjoyable. I wanted to write to share how much we appreciated everything that we learned in her class.
When we attended class we’d planned on having a midwife attended home birth. Unfortunately we ended up going to the hospital and ultimately with a c-section. The information and skills we had from Betsy’s class were invaluable in our 5 day hospital stay. We brought The Birth Partner and the class workbook with us to the hospital and referred to them at every impasse. Some of our birth story was pretty traumatic for me at the time, but I have a lot of peace in knowing that we were able to make well informed decisions every step of the way. Betsy emphasizes “healthy mom, healthy baby” and from our experience the knowledge she shares in her class meets this goal perfectly, and prepares couples for the unexpected world of labor and childbirth.