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How is Passion for Birth unique?

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Teri Shilling, the CEO (Creative Energy Organizer), is on a personal mission to stomp out boring and ineffective childbirth classes. Too often when she asks parents if they took childbirth classes, they will respond, "yes, but they didn’t work" or "yes, but they were boring." By completing the PfB program, you can be confident that the word "boring" will never cross the lips of your class participants!! All of the trainers who lead the seminars are committed to facilitating interactive, dynamic, evidence-based programs. We model what we preach. All of us are doulas, (attending births as our travel schedule allows) and we are still active childbirth educators in our communities.
PfB hopes everyone will take the Lamaze International certification exam. Proudly we can say that we have had an extremely high pass rate for people who are writing it in English as their first language. For those who are taking the exam in other languages than English, it’s more challenging. (very do-able but challenging.) They are still dynamic, incredible educators!

Click here for a printable workshop 3 day schedule

DAY ONE of the Passion for Birth workshop
Let's Get It Started
You will incorporate effective (and fun) ways to open your childbirth classes.
Ready to stomp out
BORING CB education?
Your "tool box" of teaching strategies will be overflowing with ways not to be BORING!
Road map -
where birth has been and
where you are headed
Identify how to overcome the barriers that impact a woman's options to have a healthy, safe and satisfying birth. 
Increase confidence
and decrease fear!
Participate in teaching methods designed to decrease fear and increase confidence. 
Incredible pregnant body -
getting ready to birth
Instead of talking about discomforts, learn how to reframe your teaching to build on her strengths.
The Great Motivator - 
PAIN/NO PAIN
You will look at 8 - 10 different ways to teach about pain and then adapt the best to your teaching. 
Stand By Me -
the important role of labor support
From the now infamous "labor tool belt" to the comfort measure relay race, experience ways to increase the involvement of the labor partner. 
3 Rs -
rhythm, ritual, relaxation
Visit interactive ways to weave in breathing into sessions on rhythm, ritual and relaxation. 
DAY TWO of the Passion for Birth workshop
Let the fun begin
group teach back
Always fun, your group will share a creative way to present a short topic!
Opening -
It's what birth is about
From the endorphin stars to the ping pong ball in a balloon to charting a labor with the roll of a dice, no need to yawn in this session. 
The Big Push -
stop counting to ten
You can never have too many ways to teach about keeping the hips moving to help that baby come out! 
Being in touch -
babies
Be up to date about Baby-led and Laid back breastfeeding.  Discuss ways for parents to see the benefits of the sacred hour immediately after birth!
Postpartum -
the reality sets in
Parenting stations, Postpartum robe are only two of the many tried and true methods you will be able to add to your class.
The tough stuff :
The unexpected
The Interventions
While many educators dread teaching about when the unexpected happens or about medical interventions, you will finish this session with plenty of strategies that will remove that dread!
Embracing research
At the end of this session you will feel confident accessing information in the Cochrane and incorporating research into your course! 
Putting the Pieces Together:
creating your topic list
Working as a team, you will develop a flow to the core topics of a Lamaze class and walk away with a dynamic plan - whether it be a 6 week or 2 day birth class (and everything in between)
DAY THREE of the Passion for Birth workshop
Creating a Course Design:
Purpose/process/payoff
Instead of focusing on generic objectives with the catch all phrase...will be able to.... learn how the P- P-P and the T-T-T process can make your task of creating a learner centered program so much easier! 
Peer Teaching/facilitation
Hands down, this is rated as one of the best sessions in every seminar - where you learn from each and share creative and effective ways of facilitating learning! 
Working lunch:
making money!
Get all your questions answered about the financial aspects of being a childbirth educator!  
The Taters:
juggling group dynamics
You will brainstorm various ways to facilitate the diverse members of your childbirth class - ranging from Agi-tater (who makes everyone mad) to what to do if the Tater Tots (young children) come to your program!  There's over a dozen members of the "Tater" family!  
Visual Aids Extraordinaire!
Always fun, learn why your PfB materials includes broccoli rubber bands and paper lanterns and dominoes and so many more.  
Creating Meaningful Closings,
Evaluations
and Celebrations!
Join your new "BFFs" in toasting to the mission of stomping out boring childbirth classes! Discuss ways to have a meaningful closing and an efficient way to complete evaluations on line!
Print version of this table

Passion for Birth (PfB) knows to "stomp out boring childbirth classes" is a HUGE challenge but we are working to inspire, support and equip childbirth educators around the world to be dynamic and evidenced-based while including "fun" and interactivity in their classes!  
 
What will I gain by coming to a PfB workshop?
  • you'll be more effective and interactive!
  • you'll build skills and learn techniques you can use immediately.
  • you'll learn and retain more in 3 days than you can imagine.
  • you'll increase your networking resources.
  • you'll get great resource materials.
  • and so much more.
 
Who comes to PfB workshops? 
People who are just starting on their path to become childbirth educators as well as experienced educators who are looking for fresh ideas or others who are interested in pursuing Lamaze or ICEA certification.  Most groups include  nurses, doulas, new moms who were inspired (or traumatized) by their births,  "natural" educators from other disciplines, social workers and people who just know that they want to become a childbirth educator!  
 

What are people saying about their Pfb seminar?

From the written evaluation from a recent seminar:
"By completing this seminar, how has your teaching improved?"
  • I was inspired to get my class  up and moving more
  • I got a lot of ideas for visual aids, I am more excited, more confident
  • Less talking and more hands-on.  More confidence that I can do this
  • No more boring lectures
  • More ways for interaction
  • Having another way at look at things
  • I feel I now have a dose of contagious enthusiasm to pass on to my students.  My classes will be much more interactive, fun and memorable
  • So many new ideas to get the point across
  • More creative, more interactive
  • Gave me a great base to develop my plan
  • Immensely! Total change in my scope of teaching and practice
  • I’ve learned new teaching ideas!!!!

The Vision

(adapted from the Lamaze International vision)

For women and their partners around the world to be inspired to seek normal birth*, igniting their confidence within, facing fears and celebrating strengths.

*normal birth is defined as waiting for labor to start on its own, with its own rhythm and pace without routine medical interventions, choosing upright positions to facilitate birth, having continuous skilled support and immediate skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby. 

The Mission 

To stomp out boring childbirth classes by supporting and mentoring a passionate team of creative, inspirational, and interactive childbirth educators around the globe who will reach out in their communities to offer education to pregnant women and their support team.  We envision all programs being open, accessible and dynamic.

We are diverse and passionate.  We open our arms and hearts to non-traditional childbirth educators.

We weave the Lamaze International philosophy into our work.  We hold the Lamaze certification as the gold standard.

We aspire to spread the passion for birth.

Guiding Principles

Knowing is an active verb.  According to Mary Belenky and colleagues in Women's Way of Knowing, when a woman learns she moves from accepting knowledge, to questioning how it fits in her life, to shaping the knowledge so that it has meaning and use in her context.

We will design learning tasks to facilitate that process. 

All programs will focus on ideas/concepts (wisdom - mind), feelings/attitudes (courage - hear) and skills (strength - body) and ultimately will tap into the inner wisdom/strength each of us has.  We believe that learning is most effective when we are actively engaged - cognitively, emotionally and physically.  We invite critical thinking, demand reflection and stimulate creativity.

Learning does not occur in a vacuum and cultural awareness will be a foundation, supporting what we do.