Transform your understanding about what breastfeeding/breastmilk really is:

• An irreplaceable relationship
• A brain developer

• An immune system
• An organ system
• A living tissue

Transform your professional skills

• Increase your doula competencies in the first hours after birth
• Hone your postpartum doula skills
• Learn unique strategies for teaching breastfeeding to families
• Explore adult learning styles
• Enhance your communication skills

Transform yourself

• Take the leap to explore new ways to work with families
• Connect with other women who love working with moms and babies
• Open your mind about new concepts surrounding breastfeeding
• Take the first step to becoming certified as a lactation
educator with CAPPA

Concepts covered over the three days include: Lactation Professionals, History
of Breastfeeding, Group Process, Learning Styles, Anatomy and Physiology of
Breastfeeding, The Importance of Breastmilk and Breastfeeding, Prenatal Support
and Breastfeeding issues, Birth’s Impact on Breastfeeding, the Hospital
Experience, Latch and the Breast Crawl, Skin To Skin, Signs of Successful
Feeding, Maternal and Infant Challenges, Medications and Breastmilk, Fathers and
Partners, and Curriculum Development.

LAST DAYS TO REGISTER!!!! Must register before 5pm, May 9th MST.

June 3-5, 2011, 8:30am-5:30pm, $425

Colorado Springs, CO at Prep for Birth

To register www.motherjourney.com

Ready to become more proficient when offering breastfeeding education? This
course is designed to improve the skill base, knowledge and perspectives on
breastfeeding and supporting both the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative and
Mother Friendly practices.

This course satisfies the following:

*The Core Competencies in Breastfeeding Care and Services for All Health
Professionals as outlined by the United States Breastfeeding Committee (no
endorsement by the USBC is implied).

http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/Portals/0/Publications/Core-Competencies-2010-rev.pdf

*The 20 Hour World Health Organization Curriculum to support the baby Friendly
Hospital Initiative.

http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/bfhi/en/index.html

*The CAPPA Lactation Educator certification step for workshop attendance.

http://www.cappa.net/get-certified.php?lactation-educator

Why become a certified lactation educator?

Certified Lactation Educators (CLEs) provide evidence based information to the
community, families and professionals to encourage an increase in breastfeeding
initiation, duration and support. CLEs are found teaching community and hospital
based breastfeeding classes, as peer breastfeeding counselors in hospital and
public health setting, facilitation support groups, running pump rental stations
and providing phone support.

The CAPPA CLE does not prescribe, treat, nor diagnose breastfeeding related
conditions and is trained to refer clients facing circumstances that require
this degree of intervention to a qualified professional. The CAPPA 20 Hour CLE
course is not an IBCLC exam prep course, nor does the CAPPA CLE training prepare
a student to become an IBCLC.

Your faculty:

Laurel Wilson, BS, IBCLC, CCCE, CLE, CLD, CPPFE, CPPI owns and manages
MotherJourney in Centennial, Colorado. She has her degree in Maternal and Child
Health-Lactation Consulting. With over sixteen years experience working with
women in the childbearing year, Laurel takes a creative approach to working with
the pregnant family. So is co-author of forthcoming book, The Greatest
Pregnancy Ever: The Keys to the MotherBaby Connection. Using journaling, birth
art, visualization and experiential exercises, women connect with their inner
resources to discover their true beliefs about themselves, their relationships,
and their abilities to birth and parent their children.

Laurel is certified as a lactation consultant/counselor and educator, childbirth
educator, labor doula, Prenatal Parenting Instructor, and Pre and Postpartum
fitness educator and prenatal yoga teacher. She serves as the CAPPA Executive
Director of Lactation Programs and trains Childbirth Educators and Lactation
Educators for CAPPA certification. Offering education and movement classes to
families in private and hospital settings, Laurel has created teaching
strategies that facilitate better understanding of the change processes during
the childbearing year. Laurel has been joyfully married to her husband for
almost 20 years and has two beautiful teenagers, whose difficult births led her
on a path towards helping emerging families create positive experiences. She
believes that the journey towards and into motherhood is a life changing rite of
passage that should be deeply honored and celebrated.

In light,
Laurel Wilson, BS, IBCLC, CLE, CCCE, CLD
Co-Author of forthcoming book, The Greatest Pregnancy Ever: The Keys to The
Mother-Baby Bond
MotherJourney Childbirth Services
CAPPA Executive Director and Faculty for Lactation Programs
Customer Advocate for InJoy Birth and Parenting
linfinitee@aol.com, www.motherjourney.com
720-291-9115

Connect with CAPPA:

Our website

On Facebook

I am very excited to announce the addition of  Lori Welch, BS, CCCE to the Preparing For Birth teaching team. She is a CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educator and also Lamaze trained. She has experienced both hospital and home births herself.  She has a deep calling for assisting others in their pregnancy, birth and early parenting journeys.

Beginning in May 2010, she will begin teaching and overseeing the bulk of  PFB group classes.

Class registration will remain the same. Her contact information will be lori@prepforbirth.com.

I look forward to working alongside her and expanding the available offerings for birthing families.

Building a labor support team is a vital piece of conscious preparation during pregnancy in preparation for birth and life with the very newborn. Today as part of that support team many women are opting to hire a labor doula to come alongside them at the end of pregnancy through labor and delivery with some additional early postpartum follow-up.  For additional after birth support, a postpartum doula can be hired.

Step 1: Finding a Doula

• Inquire with friends, family, local support/informational groups (for example – ICAN, LLLI, Birth Network, Birth Circle), childbirth educators, care providers, prenatal massage therapists, prenatal exercise instructors, lactation experts and chiropractors for referrals.
• Use your favorite search engine and type in your city or area name with the keyword doula
• Search training and certifying organizations such as CAPPA, DONA, ICEA,  ALACE and CBI
• Search general doula sites such as All Doulas, Doulas.com, About.com or Doula.com

Step 2: First Contact

Once you have located local area doulas, the next step is a visit to make contact. You will likely find that most doulas are women though occasionally you will find a male doula in your area.  After visiting any applicable websites, phone or email only the doulas that most interest you and fit your particular needs.  Generally there is not much need to contact more than three perspective doulas.

During your phone conversation or in your email be sure to include:

• Full name
• Contact information
• Estimated Due Date
• General location where you live
• Care Provider
• Birth Location
• Top needs and desires for birth
• If referred, by whom
• Any financial considerations

Step 3:  Setting up the Interview

I encourage an initial interview via phone prior to meeting in person to get more of an idea for compatibility that email alone cannot offer.

• Unless the doula has an office, interviews are done in a public place such as a coffee house, restaurant, library, park, or shopping center. If you meet at a place where beverages or food will be ordered you can offer to pick up the tab for everyone if you desire, but it is not expected.
• Your partner, husband or other support who will be attending the birth needs to be at in-person interview.
• Expect the interview to be approximately an hour and to be free of charge.

Step 4: The Interview

The interview is to gain more detailed information from the doula, as well as, share more detailed information about yourself and what you want.  It is customary for the doula to bring a client packet with her that may include her professional background, client agreement, services, and support details and offerings.

Suggested Interview Questions:

• Why are you a doula?
• What is your philosophy of childbirth?
• Where did you get your training?
• Are you certified? Why or why not?
• How long have you been a doula?
• What is your scope of practice?
• What types of births have you participated in?
• What types of birth locations have you been to?
• How many births per month on average do you attend?
• How many clients would max you out in a month?
• Have you ever missed a birth? Please explain why.
• Do you specialize in working with a specific type of clientele or birth plan?
• What has been the most challenging birth you have attended? Why?
• How do you work with my husband/partner/other support?
• Have you worked with my provider before? If yes, please describe the experience.
• How many prenatal visits would there be?
• In general, what is covered in the prenatal visits?
• Will you help me make a birth plan?
• Please explain how your fee is structured.
• Do you have a back-up and do I meet her ahead of time?
• When do you go on-call?
• Do you labor at home with me?
• What do you do if I am induced or need to schedule a cesarean?
• When will you see me postpartum and what does it include?
• What are your expectations of me as a client?
• How long do I have to decide before you would contract with someone else around my EDD?

Of course that is a fairly long list of overview questions. Brainstorm some of your own. The interview is not meant to be a free prenatal visit, it is simply to find out if you and the doula are a fit personality wise and in how she practices.  Most doulas do not expect to be hired on the spot. You  need time to think over all the interviews before making a decision. If a doula is pressuring you to hire on the spot, that could be a red flag.

Step 5: Hiring the Doula

When you make your decision, please also contact those you are not choosing as well to let them know you have hired someone else so they will not be holding your EDD space open any longer.

Details to be clear about when initially hiring your doula:

• Sign and return the agreement/contract she gave you at the interview (if applicable).
• Payment  – First portion of fee is usually paid upon hiring a doula.
• Ask her usual business hours and contact preference for non-emergencies or labor related needs.
• Let her know your contact preferences and all phone numbers to reach you and your spouse/partner or other support.
• Set the date and time for the first prenatal appointment. Give her directions if your home is not easy to find.

Congratulations!

As practice through the ages and evidence shows, support during the birth process can be greatly beneficial to both mothers and babies. It is not about having an experience. It is about healthier emotional and physical outcomes for mothers and subsequently for babies as well.  Putting together a support team is not as simple as inviting a family member or friend along. There are many components to consider as this is the most intimate time to allow others to share in except for the conception of your baby.

Prior to putting together your Labor Support Team (LST):

You and your spouse/partner are generally the only persons who can speak on your and the baby’s behalf unless another individual has a medical power of attorney for the labor and postpartum time period. Learning how to be a self-advocate is an important piece of the support team puzzle.  Answering very specific questions prior to looking at who ultimately will be with you at your birth will be helpful to you in addressing specific needs, goals, philosophy, and expectations.

• What education and self study are you doing during pregnancy?
• Do you feel confident and equipped to birth your baby?
• Are you confident and at ease with your provider?
• Are you comfortable with his or her requirements and practice style?
• Are you comfortable with the policies, requirements, and protocols of your birth location?
• Do you have special circumstances or health concerns?
• When you close your eyes who do you see being the most supportive of you and your choices?
• Are you a single mother or is your spouse/partner deployed?
• What type of help does your spouse/partner or your main support person need?
• How involved does your spouse/partner or main support person need?
• What type of physical support do you need (massage, positioning help, any chronic pain or health issues to contend with?)?
• What type of emotional support do you require (affirmations, encouragement, quiet and positive, no questions asked, reminders…)?
• What type of educational/informational support do you expect to need?
• Are you comfortable discussing needs and desires with provider?
• Do you feel confident in addressing the staff at a hospital or birth center?
• Do you have a birth plan?
• Planning a natural birth?
• Planning an epidural in your birth?
• Traveling a distance to your birth location?
• Are there any specific cultural barriers or needs that ought be addressed?
• What other considerations or needs might you have?

Now that you have answered the questions, it is likely a much more clear picture why being specific about your LST is so important.  This is an opportunity to look at and personalize what is needed in labor.  It is not for anyone else to decide what it will look like, who is going to be there, and who is not going to be there.

Putting together your LST

The birth of a baby is only less intimate than the act of making the baby. Inviting anyone into the area surrounding this event can affect the process positively or negatively. Privacy, comfort, safety, and honoring the birth of a baby are a must so choosing the person(s) to take the journey with you needs to be well thought out. Some candidates for a LST are on the below list.

• Husband
• Partner
• Mother/Father (other family members)
• Friend
• Older Children
• Doula (skilled and trained labor support)
• Care Provider (OB, Midwife or Family Practice Doctor)

Many on the list are pretty obvious choice considerations. The best person(s) to have around you during labor and birth will aim to provide what you need physically, emotionally, and by way of information while supporting your decisions and desires without bringing in negativity, fear, bias against what you want, distrust for the process, anger, a sense of undermining, etc. Your support team can make or break the outcome of your labor and delivery simply by what he or she brings into your birth.  Your birth is not about any one elses satisfaction, background, needs, wants or the like. This is your birth, your baby’s birth.

The one person on the list you may or may not have heard of is the labor doula. The labor doula was born out of this need.  Essentially this is a woman of knowledge and skill in pregnancy, birth, and immediate postpartum (yes there are a few men in who are labor doulas as well) who comes alongside a pregnant woman (family) offering education, physical support and emotional support to both the mother and partner/husband/other support.  A doula does not take away from a husband or partner during the process.  Doulas are shown to decrease interventions, cesarean, epidural use, narcotics use, need for induction, and increase satisfaction, bonding, breastfeeding success, and more! For more information regarding labor doulas, click here  http://prepforbirth.com/2009/08/09/what-is-a-labor-doula-what-does-she-or-he-do/.

From the Birthing Front

Here is a sampling from women who have birthed, are pregnant or attend women in birth who answered the question “Why is having a supportive birth team important?

“…because a woman in labor is in the most vulnerable state of her life. When I was in labor I needed someone holding my hand telling me I could do it… telling me all those incredibly intense sensations were, indeed, normal. I was vulnerable, and my support team protected me and supported me as I gave birth.  “For me, feeling “safe” didn’t just mean feeling safe physically… it meant feeling emotionally safe to welcome the vulnerability that labor brings and thus to be able to let go” Lily B.

“Birth is one of the biggest events that define a woman’s life. When she is in labor her senses are heightened by the hormones going through her body. Her perception of those around her will make or break her birth experience. A trained experienced birth team knows how to keep the emotions of both professional and non professional people positive and empower the woman to birth not only her baby but a stronger more confident self into being.” Amber-joy T.

“A supportive birth team can mean the difference between a physically healthy birth and a birth that can take months to recover from. Regardless of the actual events at a woman’s birth (vaginal birth, cesarean, medicated, non-medicated, home, hosptial, birth center), a supportive birth team can also mean the difference between having a happy, rewarding, and empowering birth and a birth in which the birth is not owned by the mother emotionally. Mental health can be more important than physical health and more costly to treat down the road. Always take care of yourself emotionally.” Nora M.

“Birth is such a vulnerable and powerful experience. I remember that I had to tap into a side of myself that I had not yet known until birth. Every *vibe* from others around me affected my state of mind during the process. Without the complete support of my birth team, and husband, I would’ve when that point of surrender hit, given into the doubts and crumbled under the pressure; But becauseI did have a supportive team, I was empowered to press forward and experience the most amazing moment of my life uninhibited.” Julie W.

So now take a moment to think about who will offer you what you need and help you attain what you want in labor and delivery.  Having continuous support no matter the type of birth you want is important because you and your baby matter.  Your birth matters.

Whenever I am asked why I am a doula, I need to stop and think for a moment.  My response every time is that as a doula I am filling the gap (along with others)  that is missing in today’s transient and autonomous society. When I respond, I am thinking of the days when girls and young women learned the ways of pregnancy to all things postpartum at the feet of their grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, and other women in their community.  What a beautiful and age old scene that is.

Then that scene brings me to my own journey in becoming a doula.  Here is my “why” story.

Living without my own mother since I was 10 years old, I yearned for the mentoring and teaching that I am called to act upon in my life’s work.   Even without my mother, I was blessed to grow up around some other women who modeled breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and natural birth for me.

I also think of the journey that brought me to being a doula for real.

I had an epiphany one day almost 25 years ago when a close friend and I were waiting for the bus to get home from work.  She described her birth – left by her partner during pregnancy, her mother refused to come since she was unwed, and she was at an overtaxed county hospital where the staff was barely in the room to support her.  She was utterly alone and scared.  My heart broke for her and her daughter. No woman should ever be alone to fend for herself under those circumstances.  EVER.  In looking back, I can say at that moment my doula heart seed was planted though it would be years before the seed came to full bloom.

Fast forward a couple of years and I had a knack for mamas and babies.  I could help a baby latch and mom grow confidence in breastfeeding.  I knew how to calm a mama when she was tired and at her wit’s end. I understood the pregnant mama and could easily encourage.  I was invited to attend a birth of a family member I was very close to.  She delivered in a freestanding birth center.  It was an amazing natural birth with very little requirement of her except to labor and birth.  An atmosphere of encouragement, freedom, and calm. I will say it was one of the most comfortable places I have ever been in my skin supporting her.  I didn’t understand the job I had done with her, but it was good.  I think I was on a birth high for weeks.  The doula seed was beginning to ferment.

I attended birth along the way for friends and other family, assisted in breastfeeding and talking through general pregnancy issues. Mind you I hadn’t had my own children, was educated and worked in fields that had nothing to do with birth.  I loved the mamas and families that I knew.  When I started having my own family, it seems the mojo went into high gear.  I was asked questions all the time about many things pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding related, no matter where the place or situation.  Even my husband began fielding calls when I wasn’t home from friends who needed baby help.  The doula seed was slowly sprouting.

When my dear youngest boy weaned himself, I began wondering OKAY now what am I going to do while maintaining being a SAHM? My sister-friend “J” found the CAPPA website and told me I needed to take the trainings and then I could really support the families in my community as an extension of what I was already doing.  Get the education she said.  I went to the site, spoke to my husband at length and took the leap.   Three trainings in 5 months.  Then I began to to seek out clients, put together curriculum, and found a local doula group to join.  The doula seed exploded into a blossom of great fragrance about me.

I ill not say the work is easy. Anything worth any value is not.  From the prenatal meeting, to the birth while looking into a mother’s eyes encouraging her down the path so many have walked before, to the early postpartum time in assisting with breastfeeding, attachment and family health, I am honored and blessed doubly.  Participating in the most intimate time possible, witnessing the transformation that so often occurs in a woman (and her huband/partner/family), and hearing that first sound of life when her baby “speaks” is beyond description.  A miracle takes place each and every time.

The doula blossom has deep roots now.  On occasion it needs some pruning, soil treatment, and large doses of sunshine as all beautiful plants need to maintain health and well-being.  Still it is very good.