Relaxed Birth and Parenting Doula Training©

Our doulas are known for their presence and self awareness, as well as for their understanding and practical 'know how'. We want doulas who can support the whole family in what is probably one of the biggest transitions a human can go through.

As a Relaxed Birth and Parenting Doula © you will learn†how to help women and their partners to approach birth with a deep sense of relaxation, freedom and joy, nurturing the relational side of
birth, mum, dad and baby.

What makes our doula training special?

As with everything we do, you will benefit from the basis of a thorough grounding in birth physiology and Active Birth principles.

However what makes this course unique, is that we will also be going deeply into the mind-body paradigm, giving you a clear sense of how to work with your clients around the issues and feelings that they may bring to birth, and that can sometimes get the way of the smooth unfolding of the birth process.

This training will teach you active listening skills that will help you to support clients in their journey through pregnancy and birth, to make their own empowered and authentic choices. We will be giving you skills to work with the often neglected psychological and emotional aspects of birthing.

We will also be bringing cutting edge knowledge from peri-natal psychology which will mean you will be trained to support the baby in labour and postnatally with depth and empathy in a way that is timely.

Perhaps most importantly, you will have the opportunity to explore what you personally bring to the arena of birth. Self awareness and self reflection are very much part of the journey with us. We believe that if you want to best serve your women and families, it is essential to be clear about what you bring yourself, so that your personal issues do not get in the way of your birth work.

Our way is not prescriptive. It is about helping clients to understand themselves and their journey, so they can look after themselves and make choices that feel right for them, rather than following a system that tells them how to do it!

Requirements:

* Module 2 - 7 Secrets of Birth and Active Birth

* Module 3 - Wise Woman Workshop with Jill Benjoya Miller

* Module 4 - Beyond Birth with Dominique Sakoilsky

Once you have attended the 7 Secrets of Birth and Active Birth © you can follow on to become an accredited (by FEDANT) insured doula and be part of the Relaxed Birth and Parenting network (see our website www.relaxedbirthandparenting.com). You will also have the opportunity to be listed as a ‘Relaxed Birth and Parenting’ doula affiliate on Janet Balaskas’s new Active Birth website (currently in development).

About Module 4 - Beyond Birth

with Dominique Sakoilsky and Louise Bennett

This inspirational day will focus on the mother and baby, the father and the formation of the new family in the immediate post partum period, which can be a very challenging time where the support of the doula can make all the difference.

You will learn to support family relationships and help them to understand the unfolding of the newborn, calling on the work of the world renowned peri-natal psychologist Karlton Terry, who has developed a model for accurate empathy which helps the baby to release birth trauma and release stress from their newborn body.

We will be looking at the mother’s recovery and healing after birth and how you can support her and the baby with the initiation of breastfeeding, using the most up to date understanding of maternal and infant reflexes during biological nurturing pioneered by Suzanne Colson.

We will also focus on the emotional and practical transition into parenting for fathers and how you can support them in forming their new role in the family dynamic.

It is our intention that by the end of this day you will bring a totally different depth of support to the families and babies you work with. You will learn practical skills as well as a clear way of helping women and their families support the psychological growth necessary for parenting. You will never look at a newborn baby in the same way after doing this day.

Dominique Sakoilsky and
Louise Bennett, co-directors of Relaxed Birth & Parenting,
will facilitate this day.

Dominique has worked with women and their families for over 20 years, and trained doulas for over 10 years. She brings a passion for deepening into our understanding of this time, and calls upon her experience as an Active Birth Teacher, Relationship and Family Counsellor, and Cranio-sacral Therapist. She has also spent 2 years studying with Karlton Terry around the issue of birth trauma for babies.

Louise brings over 20 years of working with and supporting new families, and has particular experience of working in the NHS developing and delivering programmes that support breastfeeding. She created the Breast Buddies training) and also the Birth Buddies Training which was pioneered in the NHS in Walsall last year.