- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Natural Birth
cros8380
member
certified as Provisional Bradley Birth Instructor!
cros8380
member
Just got back from the 4-day training in DC. It was awesome and I am super excited to start my first series (probably in January!)
This discussion has been closed.
Re: certified as Provisional Bradley Birth Instructor!
That's awesome!! I want to hear more about it.
I really want to do this eventually, but you're supposed to have had a natural birth and I had a c/s =( Maybe eventually.
I'm not sure how much you know about getting certified, so I apologize for anything you already know...I think they do accept applications from mom's who did not have a natural birth or use the Bradley Method- but I'm not sure how often they are accepted. You should call the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth to ask! Leave them a message (they are in CA) and they will call back. 1-800-4-A-BIRTH or (818) 788-6662.
There are 3 parts to being certified:
1- Academic Package (you have three months to complete)- which includes a reading list, book outlines, touring 2 hospitals or birthing centers, attending a full series of Bradley classes (if you did not take Bradley classes yourself) or attending one class (if you did the full series yourself), creating a resource page for your students (that has a list of DR/MW, pediatricians, hospitals, birthing center, doulas, etc), attending 2 La Leche League meetings (and writing a little report on them)
2-Attend the 4 day training (they are all over the country) and pass the test at the training.
Once you do those two (in no specific order) you are a provisional instructor.
3- teach two 12-week series, complete an evaluation of each, and take the final exam.
Then you are an affiliated teacher!
It feels like a mountain when you start it, but I worked on the academic package for 30 minutes a night, and did it in 3 months. I wanted to hand it in at the training, so if I passed the test, I could leave as a provisional instructor! The training was intense- each day from 8:30am-10:30pm, whith 1h30 minute breaks for lunch and dinner. It seems long, but it flew by. There were 18 moms, and half of them brought their kids and husband. It was an amazing group of mom's from all over (DC, Maryland, PA, MO, IL). I brought DD and DH with me, and it was great. I learned sooo much, got a ton of great teaching and PR ideas and am fired up and ready to share what I know!
If you can't teach yet, I encourage you to come back to it later, maybe after the next one ;-). If not, there are many other ways to become an advocate for natural childbirth! Helping parents become informed consumers is really what it's all about!
Me too. I was so upset we ended up with a c/s. If you have a c/s or use pain medication during your labor you can get certified, but they give you a mountain of extra requirements-like having to watch 10 successful Bradley births. It was just more than I could manage...and frankly I found it rather punitive.
Congratulations to you! You must be very excited. I really found Bradley helpful even though we did end up with a c/s. It helped me to really know it was necessary.
You are such a strong, smart, dedicated and empowered woman and I'm so happy that you will now being teaching Bradley! For those of you who may not know, Carrie was in my Bradley class when she was pregnant with her little one. She & her DH were so amazing and had a truly inspirational birth. They have come back to my classes several times to share their birth story with couples. Now she will have the chance to educate and inspire couples as Bradley teacher.
For those of you who are thinking about become a birth educator, be it the Bradley Method, Hypnobirth, Hypnobabies, Lamaze or any other I say go for it! The world needs more birth advocates and good people to educate women on their choices. Not only will you be helping other women, couples & families, but if you have a passion for birth this is such a great way to do something that you love. It has given me a greater purpose in my life and I feel so fulfilled by what I do.