Prenatal and Parenting Classes
If your heart's desire is to welcome, with utmost confidence, your baby's arrival.... being prepared and as ready as you can be.... I invite you to explore Ecstatic Birth ™ prenatal & parenting classes with me.
Please note: Private sessions and consultations are currently offered both virtually and in person.
Doulas of Vancouver Info Events
Four times a year our doula collective presents a 'pay what you can' info event on a topic relevant to birth and babies. Please join us for an informative session and meet the doulas in our group. These events are open to our clients and other expectant and new parents. Registration is required. www.doulasofvancouver.ca/infonights
Childbirth Education Series
This virtual (Zoom) series comprised of 7 classes is for Debra's birth clients. Coming from her doula perspective, with much first hand experience, she brings a unique slant to this childbirth preparation series. Classes are comprised of interactive exercises, brainstorming sessions, explorations of topics in small groups/pairs, as well as incorporating relaxation/breath awareness, meditation, body sensing practices and dance!
2021 Fall Series: Tuesdays, Nov 9, 16, Saturday Nov 20, Tuesdays Nov 23 & 30, Dec 7 & 14
Investment: $300/couple **Doula Package rate
Investment: $300/couple **Doula Package rate
"The childbirth course with Debra was absolutely vital to our preparation as first time parents. Debra has amassed a remarkable amount of resources and has curated an in depth course that strengthened our arrival to birthing. Her course is evidence based, it is illustrative of the realities of birth and also engaging at an emotional level, meeting both partners in their journey of receiving new life wholeheartedly. The course also prepared us in navigating difficult decision making during the birth which was particularly important in our experience. We felt empowered to inquire about our options and to take a stand for our preferences. Debra is devoted to healthy childbearing, we could not recommend this course more." Mariana and Pablo
Infant Sleep Education
Two hour home session to understand normal newborn/infant sleep; learn about nursing and nighttime; choices for sleep space ie. family bed, solitary bed, co-sleeping and how to nurture positive, pleasant sleep habits for your infant based in knowing their capacity and stage of development.
Fee: $135
Fee: $135
Practical Baby Care Preparation
Receive valuable wisdom from a doula who's cared for hundreds of babies.
In this two hour home session inexperienced parents (both expectant and new) practice and learn
essential baby care skills.
Never held a newborn? Never changed a diaper?
How to hold a baby to burp... when.. for how long?
How DO you bathe a baby? What bathtub is best? How OFTEN should you bathe a baby, use soap?
Fee: $135
In this two hour home session inexperienced parents (both expectant and new) practice and learn
essential baby care skills.
Never held a newborn? Never changed a diaper?
How to hold a baby to burp... when.. for how long?
How DO you bathe a baby? What bathtub is best? How OFTEN should you bathe a baby, use soap?
Fee: $135
“We cannot put in words how much Debra's baby prep session has helped our family! In a few hours that we have spent with her, we had all our questions answered and much more! Her wisdom, calm demeanor and ability to listen to the needs of parents and babies has helped me and my husband regain hope and confidence that we can take a good care of our baby boy. As first time parents without extra support here, we are really grateful to Debra for ensuring that we can gain enough knowledge to provide comfort for our newborn.” Diana and Cedric
'Making Sense of Your Baby' Class
Expectant parent... turning your focus toward ‘life with baby’? New Parent... your baby has arrived and you need answers?
This three hour home session focuses on the basics of preparing for ‘life with baby’.
Parents gain an understanding of their baby’s fundamental needs and how to fulfill them.
Topics covered:
· What to expect from your infant; attachment needs; brain development
· What is normal infant sleep? Strategies to maximize your sleep!
· What’s your baby trying to tell you? Learn to understand an infant’s cues and pre-cry
sounds
· 5 ways to calm a crying baby. Learn soothing techniques that work!
· Why baby wearing? Demos and practice with different carriers
Content is based in current research and neuroscience pertaining to an infant’s primal needs in the first year of life.
Parents gain an understanding of their baby’s fundamental needs and how to fulfill them.
Topics covered:
· What to expect from your infant; attachment needs; brain development
· What is normal infant sleep? Strategies to maximize your sleep!
· What’s your baby trying to tell you? Learn to understand an infant’s cues and pre-cry
sounds
· 5 ways to calm a crying baby. Learn soothing techniques that work!
· Why baby wearing? Demos and practice with different carriers
Content is based in current research and neuroscience pertaining to an infant’s primal needs in the first year of life.
Private session fee: $195 (3hr.)
'Debra's newborn class was definitely insightful for a pair of total newbie parents and well worth it! Learning about the 5 S's was helpful for calming our new baby. Almost four months later we still use most of those techniques to help her settle!
The universal crying sounds and identifying hunger cues information were also incredibly helpful for navigating the new baby haze.
The combined knowledge and expertise of Debra & Bonnie really helped us feel more confident about life with our new arrival.' Simone
Breastfeeding Class
In this virtual class expectant parents learn the essentials of the art of breast (chest) feeding.
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Topics covered:
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Home Birth Seminar
Why birth at home? Isn't the hospital the safest place? Research shows
that planned home birth is as safe as planned hospital birth for healthy pregnant persons. How could being at home benefit both mother and baby?
This three hour seminar explores all aspects of preparing for a home birth.
Topics covered:
- Is home birth safe?
- Who is eligible?
- Reasons people choose to have their baby at home.
- How to prepare for a home birth/water birth. Benefits of water immersion.
- What to tell friends and family.
- What supplies one needs to purchase.
- Specific pros and cons.
- How to maximize the benefits and minimize any risks.
Final 2021 Date: Dec. 12 (Zoom class)
"My husband and I attended the Home Birth Seminar hosted by Debra at the Childbearing Society. We were sure we wanted to have a home birth but felt the information on home birth classes was limited. I was so happy to come across the home birth seminar with Debra and felt the seminar gave us great information on home birth, was an open and friendly environment and only made us feel more confident in our decision of having a home birth. Thank you Debra" Susan
Ecstatic Birth ™ Class
This four hour class delves into birth: the history, our cultural ideas, expectations and dominant social messages, to examine how this paradigm impacts our birth experience. This class presents a unique perspective for creating a new paradigm for birth - one that has the potential for pleasure.
Through group activities, brainstorming, and investigation into their assumptions, participants will unravel their own beliefs about birth and address their fears to access awareness and understanding. Participants will gain eye-opening insights that reframe birth as an empowering and pleasurable experience. This personal exploration opens up the possibility to envision an ecstatic birth!
Are you ready to release the story of pain in birth?
Topics covered:
- Our dominant birth culture and its impact on our beliefs and experience
- Reframing: shift from fear and avoidance of pain to open to the potential for pleasure
- Birthing hormones/sensations – allies to enhance the power and pleasure of birthing energy
- Sensual Expansion: pleasure both as a holistic birthing tool and an outcome
- Preparation for an ecstatic birth: creating a conducive atmosphere; birth ambiance; holding the tone for pleasure
2022 dates TBD.
“This class has opened lots of windows for my partner and I to discuss afterwards, and to plan for our team work during birth. The class made us think and “forced” us (in a good way) to confront our opinions (with my partner) and to confront (with myself) my own intuitions/fears/norms/expectations.” Nina de Saint Vincent
Ecstatic Birth ™ Private Sessions
This series of one on one private sessions provides practices and offers tools to deepen your awareness about your body and birth. Together we explore how to recreate your birth vision from one of fear and avoidance of pain to empowerment and the potential for pleasure in birth.
These sessions will support an integration of pleasure into your life, and for giving birth. It's possible to experience an ecstatic birth.
Ecstatic birth is about how you feel, not based on a specific set of circumstances, or a particular outcome. Ecstatic birth is an ideal meant to inspire and elevate, not a standard by which to judge performance.
Topics covered:
These sessions will support an integration of pleasure into your life, and for giving birth. It's possible to experience an ecstatic birth.
Ecstatic birth is about how you feel, not based on a specific set of circumstances, or a particular outcome. Ecstatic birth is an ideal meant to inspire and elevate, not a standard by which to judge performance.
Topics covered:
- Raising Consciousness: delve into your beliefs about birth; uncover assumptions; investigate other possibilities
- Navigating your Options: current birth vision; feeling into decisions
- Pleasure as the Most Holistic Birthing Tool: learn ways to bring in pleasure; understand the interconnected nature of birth and sex
- Sensual Expansion as Birth Prep: body sensing practices, deepening ability to experience pleasure through senses
- Disarming Fears: examine fears, address and release what can disrupt the birthing process; understand your own barriers to pleasure
- Dancing with the Unexpected: how to still have an ecstatic birth when the unexpected arises
- Motherhood and Beyond: preparing for pleasure postpartum!
Fee: $375
‘The hormones of love, pleasure and transcendence, excitement, and tender mothering form the major components of an ecstatic cocktail of hormones that nature prescribes to aid birthing mothers. Might it be possible to experience pleasure during birth?’ Sarah Buckley MD
