A Weekend of Birth

So last weekend was the training for my CAPPA childbirth educator’s certification.  I learned so much and met some great women.  The training was held Friday and Saturday at the Alliance Breastfeeding Center in Colorado Springs.  Our instructor, Desirre Andrews, was amazing and a wealth of information.  She was so supportive, honest and helpful.  And she has an amazing amount of experience, both professionally (she’s the president of ICAN) and personally as a teacher, doula and a 2VBA2C  (two vaginal births after two cesareans).

Friday was full of so much information.  The students in our class (me and five others) bonded quickly, and it helped the leaning process immensely to be comfortable with the other women.  One woman was a L&D nurse from Sidney, NB; another woman from Fort Collins who worked in an OB office; two women from the Springs area (one already a doula), and myself and another mother (and doula) from the Denver area.  We had a great pool of information and experience, and had some great moments during the workshop.  More than one person cried over the two days (and about 21 hours of training), including myself.  So cool. 

I went to the workshop Friday feeling confident in my knowledge about birth, and left the ten-hour training feeling a bit overwhelmed and like I still had a lot to learn.  My brain felt completely full and I got home feeling exhausted.  I did my homework for the night, hit the sack, and hit the road again first thing in the morning, excited for day two. 

The second day was just as jam-packed full of information, but I realized that I do know my stuff, and while I still have learning to do, I’m part of an organization that really supports its educators, and that we educators would leave supporting each other as well.  The training was so helpful, and I feel fully prepared to write my curriculum, take my test and start teaching. 

Then, as I sat in my pjs in my living room processing first thing Sunday morning, I got a call to come to a birth.  This was a second time VBAC, at home.  The mom did amazing, and it was so cool to witness her strength as she had a beautiful HBAC (that’s home birth after cesarean) with her midwives supporting her all the way.  I was able to help the midwives a little bit, and mainly took pictures for the family.  Beautiful.

I feel so blessed to be able to have women who  have let me be a part of their births and who have helped me earn my certification my observing classes, births, and giving me referrals.  🙂 

So I am very close now.  I still need to observe a new parent class, and do two hours of teaching under observation.  Then I submit my test (it’s a big test) and forms and curriculum, and I will be certified and able to teach.  Yay!

I’ve been trying not to jump the gun too much.  I am working on a business name so I can buy a URL and business cards (they really help with networking and marketing), and then, after I’m certified, I will launch my website, birth blog, and start scheduling classes.  I can’t wait! 

I’ll keep you up to date.  Be on the lookout for a new business website announcement by the first of the year.  🙂