Looking for a relaxed, supportive environment and small personalised classes for your childbirth and early parenting preparation?

If so, please join me for a one day class in a beautiful space by the sea in Warrnambool to explore tools and gain confidence for labour, birthing and early parenting. Delicious wholesome lunch, morning and afternoon teas and drinks provided.

Join Donna to assist with your preparation for your journey towards birthing and parenting.

Please email Donna HERE to be added to the mailing list to be
notified for future class dates.

Classes run on weekends so that both partners can have the time and space to attend.
Birth support people/grandparents-to- be very welcome.

Your birth experience will be unique, and so are my classes. Some childbirth educators teach women how to breathe or give them an understanding on how they may behave during labour, and there are certain programs that guide a woman through a series of CD’s and books. This can give them an understanding of what may happen during labour and birth, and for some women are very effective tools. Such tools aren’t for all women though. I strongly believe that women don’t need to be taught how to give birth, and don’t need the distraction of trying to remember what they learnt in class during the intimate space that labour brings. I think that women truly need to remember to go back within their bodies during their pregnancies, and regain the wisdom and trust that has been lost around birth in a busy western and medicalised culture such as ours. It's becoming more and more evident to me that too much reading and information can keep some women in their head space right up to and during labour, and can actually mean that some women get even more *stuck* in their births. Knowledge is power, but an ability to trust one's body and baby and ones instincts and go within is priceless.

My goal is to help couples feel knowledgeable and well resourced so that they may trust their intuition and go forth into birthing and parenting with confidence.

In my workshops I do not teach a particular method of learning. I instead combine the knowledge that I have gained from many different courses and years of experience to encourage women and their partners to trust their instincts. I am passionate about the need to build inner trust about birth, and for women to open up to birth through physical movement and an active approach to their labour by listening to their bodies. I love to inspire and nurture expectant couples, and encourage them to think outside the square of what most education offers. Planning a birth means different things to different people, and my small classes give you the opportunity to ask questions relevant to your choices, whether they be home birth, birth centre, or public or private hospital.

Some of the topics that are covered in the one day workshop include:

• Birth plans – do they matter?
• Your support circle – who is in it and why?
• Effective pain management
• Building pain-coping awareness and confidence
• Trusting your body’s wisdom
• Birth Art as a means to let your emotions unfold
• When the unexpected unfolds
• Stages of labour and how to recognise them
• When labour stalls and how to work it through
• How to make good decisions during labour
• Newborn procedures – what choices do you have?
• Supporting a newborn and preparing to breastfeed
• The importance of postnatal support
• Early parenting - what to expect
• What is normal infant behaviour?

COST: $250 per couple (please email Donna for payment details)

Extra support people from your birth circle are welcome to attend at a cost of $60 per person

If your schedule will not commit to you joining my birthing class, or you feel that you need only a less structured refresher class, private classes can be arranged in the privacy of your home to fit around your requirements.
Please email me for details at or call me on 0404 305 977.

“Donna can share information sensitively, with respect for individual choices but also with the confidence that being well-informed ensures.

Her passion for positive birth experience as a foundation for becoming parents ensures a holistic approach for the couples she supports through the birthing journey: Donna keeps herself up to date on the latest research so that the information she shares is relevant and evidence based. Her classes will leave you prepared and confident, ready for the reality of birth and early parenting.”

Pinky McKay - Internationally certified lactation consultant (IBCLC). Author of 'Sleeping Like a Baby' and '100 Ways to Calm the Crying' and mother of five.

Just wanted to say we really enjoyed Sunday and feeling ready to think about the birth now! The setting, food and sense of humor added to a great experience. Thanks again for a great day with wonderful hospitality.

Dani & Steve

Thank you for the very informative and inspiring workshop you delivered on Sunday. We both got a lot out of it and feel it was a day well spent. I would love the recipes for those cakes too - they were both absolutely divine! Thanks again,

Michelle

Thanks so much for Sunday. We got so much out of it. It was exactly what we were after and needed before bubs enters the world. I will definitely be recommending the class to anyone I can. It was a fantastic day with good people, great information and lovely food....

Kirstyn

Kate and Ben

Thank you for a really great birth education day! You made us feel so welcome and comfortable and we were able to relax and express ourselves freely. The information we went through was clearly presented and it gave us reassurance that we are making the best birthing decisions for our family.

The "birth art" exercise was a revelation for me! Not being an arty person I thought I would struggle, but my ideas flowed freely and the discussion at the end of the exercise helped me work through one of my main birthing fears. Thanks once again for a great day.

Caro and Aaron Miles

Donna has been supporting mothers, couples and families in various capacities since 2001.
Donna is a Member of NACE (National Association of Childbirth Educators), a Birth Attendant (Birthing Wisdom – Rhea Dempsey) & a Breastfeeding Counsellor (Certificate IV) with the Australian Breastfeeding Association.