Supporting Mothers in the Early Weeks Postpartum
With Patty Brennan
2009 Schedule & Fees
To Be Announced
6.5 Nursing and Social Work CEs approved
NOTE: We can bring this training to you! Email Patty for more information. (This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it.)
Supporting Mothers in the Early Weeks Postpartum — Adjustment Needs, Depression Screening, & Support Strategies is a unique training is designed for birth doulas, nurses, social workers, and home visitors who provide services for new moms and their families in the early weeks postpartum. We will discuss a variety of concerns that typically manifest during this period and identify strategies for support. Emphasis is placed on identifying and supporting depressed mothers. Topics covered include:
- Signs and symptoms of postpartum mood disorders
- How the “myths of motherhood” create unrealistic expectations for new mothers
- Sensitive use of the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale with clients
- Impact of the birth experience on postpartum recovery
- Normal physiologic recovery of the mother and comfort measures
- Care of the newborn and safety concerns
- Enhancing mother/baby attachment
- Emotional support for the whole family
- Concrete strategies for providing support to depressed moms
- How to create a postpartum care plan–mobilizing resources for families in need
Rebozos, Palpation, Belly Mapping, & More!
With Patty Brennan & Amanda Smith, CPM
2009 Schedule & Fees
Saturday, 9am–5pm, June 27 (ERD June 5)
Fee $110; $95 if paid in full and postmarked by the Early Registration Date (ERD) listed
6.5 DONA CEs approved (add $15 to fee for CE processing)
This one-day hands-on workshop is appropriate for all birth attendants, including doulas and aspiring and practicing midwives. We will explore together the following topics:
- The art of palpating baby’s position in utero
- Belly “mapping” and optimal fetal positioning
- Techniques for turning mal-positioned babies
- Use of the rebozo with women in labor
- Preventing burnout — the art of being “on call”
Participants will practice belly mapping and palpation on pregnant mothers, keeping alive the lost art of determining fetal position with our hands and senses. We will practice various techniques with the rebozo designed to enhance relaxation in labor, support normal progress in labor, and re-position posterior babies. In addition, we will present a range of alternative therapeutic approaches to turning mal-positioned babies (breech, posterior). And, finally, we will discuss how to keep on keeping on while maintaining our sanity and health at the same time!
Small Business Development
With Patty Brennan
2009 Schedule & Fees
2 Tuesdays, 6:30–8:45pm, February 10 & 17
This class is being offered through Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor. Registration will be handled by WCC directly. For more information, click here.
Summer and Fall dates TBA
Fee $75
4.0 DONA CEs approved
Make a living doing what you love! Come and learn the skills necessary to be successfully self-employed in a service-oriented business. How do you shape and define your practice? What are the basic business components necessary to your work? This class is appropriate for doulas, midwives, massage therapists, lactation consultants, childbirth educators, counselors, and other professionals who have self-employed income or want to establish a small business. Topics include:
- Pros and cons of self-employment
- Establishing yourself as a business entity
- Money matters: setting and collecting fees, bartering, sliding scales, small claims court
- Financial record keeping
- Small business guide to taxes
- Insurance reimbursement for health-related services
- Marketing your practice on a limited budget
- Creating effective promotional literature
- Networking for fun and profit
- Limiting liability and creating effective client contracts
- Small business ethics
Directions to the Center
From West of Ann Arbor:
Take I-94 to the first exit past the M-14 exchange. It is Jackson Rd. and Weber’s Hotel & Restaurant is right there. The exit ramp puts you on Jackson Rd. heading into downtown Ann Arbor. Go to your 4th traffic light (Jackson turns into Huron) and turn left onto N. Seventh. [...]
CPR & First Aid classes
NEW! Infant CPR, First Aid & Safety
With Janetlynne Erickson, RN, CCE
2008 Schedule & Fees
Thursday, 6:30–9pm, December 11
Fee $40 per person or $75 per couple; discounts for multiple classes
2009 Schedule & Fees
Monday, 6:30-9pm
- January 26
- April 20
- July 27
- November 9
Thursday, 6:30-9pm
- March 12
- June 18
- September 10
Fee $40 per person or $75 per couple; discounts for multiple classes
This training is designed for expectant/new parents, grandparents, babysitters/nannies, and other caregivers. We will provide up-to-date information on child passenger safety, accident prevention in the home, first aid topics, safe sleep issues, and SIDS prevention. Hands-on training in infant CPR and choking is emphasized. Enrollment is limited to 9 people to ensure that everyone has sufficient opportunity to practice hands-on skills.
*Please Note: This class does not provide Infant CPR credentialing, but does follow recommendations set forth by the American Heart Association. Participants will receive an AHA completion card at the end of training. If you prefer a more comprehensive training that includes credentialing, please see our Infant/Child/Adult CPR & First Aid class below.
Infant/Child/Adult CPR & First Aid
With Janetlynne Erickson, RN, CCE
2009 Schedule & Fees
Saturday, 9am-3pm
- March 14
- May 30
- August 1
- November 7
Fee $70 per person; $120 per couple (includes manual;* add $6 to the fee if you need us to ship the manual to you). Bring a bag lunch.
This class provides Infant/Child/Adult CPR credentialing through the American Heart Association and includes the AHA Heart Saver Pediatric First Aid training. It meets Michigan State guidelines for daycare providers and fulfills the DONA International postpartum doula certification requirement. This credential is recognized for two years post completion by the AHA. Enrollment is limited to 9 people to ensure that everyone has sufficient opportunity to practice hands-on skills.
*Please Note: You must have a copy of the American Heart Association’s Pediatric Heartsaver First Aid manual in your possession prior to taking this class. We recommend that you do a full review of the book prior to coming to class. At the very least, you must review the steps of CPR and do the review/test questions provided.
Additional Scheduling for CPR Classes
Additional sections of both courses may be added, depending upon demand. If the above dates do not work for you, please let us know. We can also bring this training to your work place. Email Patty for more information.
Homeopathy classes
Homeopathy for the Family
Through application of the healing principle of “like cures like” and the transformation of natural substances into non-toxic, energetic or vibrational medicines, homeopathy effects a gentle — yet often powerful — cure of a variety of ailments. In this class we will explain the basic principles of this 200+ year-old system of medicine and provide guidance for getting started with an inexpensive home remedy kit. Emphasis will be placed on “taking the case” and using resources to choose a remedy. Remedies for common acute ailments and first aid crises will be covered — difficult teething, colic, earaches, bruises, sunburn, and more! 4–7 hours recommended.
Homeopathy for Birth Attendants
Learn to use homeopathic remedies with clients during pregnancy, labor and birth, and postpartum for both mom and baby. Emphasis will be placed on “taking the case” and using resources to choose a remedy efficiently. We will focus on materia medica most commonly indicated during the childbearing year. This training can be co-designed to meet your group’s specific needs. Let’s talk! 7 hours recommended.
We Can Bring this Training to You!
Patty Brennan is willing to bring this training to you. Put together a group for me and I will come (or we can use space at the Center in Ann Arbor). We can negotiate the needs of your group, scheduling, and fees. Email Patty for information.
About the Instructor
Patty Brennan is the author of Guide to Homeopathic Remedies for the Birth Bag and Vaccine Choices, Homeopathic Alternatives, & Parental Rights. She is the mother of two children and has been using homeopathic remedies for home health care for over 23 years, as well as incorporating homeopathics into her clinical midwifery practice from 1988–1998. Patty has lectured at numerous national conferences for midwives, doctors, nurses, and other health professionals on homeopathy. She is passionate about the subject, having both witnessed and experienced numerous homeopathic “miracles.” She enjoys making this treatment modality more accessible to others interested in incorporating homeopathic remedies into their home medicine chests.
Vaccinations & Informed Choice
With Patty Brennan
2008 Schedule
Wednesday, 7–9:30pm, November 19
Free Lecture/Discussion/Q&A
2009 Schedule
Wednesday, 6:30-9pm
- January 28
- May 27
- September 30
Fee $10 per person; $15 per couple
In alignment with the Center’s overall philosophy of encouraging parents to become educated consumers of health care and make informed decisions during the childbearing year, we offer this session on the controversial and complex topic of vaccinations. Emphasis is placed on consideration of recommended childhood vaccinations rather than on vaccines for travel to foreign countries.
The benefits of vaccines are widely touted in the mainstream culture, while the risks and alternatives often go unconsidered. Even if you choose to be in full compliance with the government’s vaccination recommendations, there is much that you can do as an informed consumer to protect your children and minimize the potential adverse effects of vaccines. Discussion will be organized around the following themes:
- how vaccines work and how the immune system works
- vaccine safety and efficacy
- prevention of adverse vaccine reactions
- supporting the body’s immune system naturally
- parental rights and vaccine waivers (if you don’t know your rights, you may as well not have them!)
Alternative Therapies for the Childbearing Year
With Patty Brennan, Amanda Smith & Frances Farmer
9.0 DONA CEUs approved if you take the full series only (partial CEU credit not available)
2009 Schedule & Fees
To Be Announced
The nutrifying, tonifying, and healing properties of a range of alternative therapies will be presented, with emphasis on applications for pregnancy, birth, and the early postpartum period. Participants will have the opportunity to interact directly with each therapy, practice using resources, and play a bit. We will be encouraging you to incorporate these modalities into your self-care and give practical suggestions for how to get started at home or with your clients.
Week 1
Nutrition & the Weston A. Price Foundation with Frances Farmer
Dr. Price studied the nutritional and health status of a variety of indigenous populations around the world, both before and after the introduction of westernized foods. A common denominator of isolated, pre-modern groups with radiant health was discovered: all prescribed special diets to mothers during pregnancy and to mothers with nursing infants. Price’s studies led him to believe that nutrition during the prenatal, perinatal,and postnatal periods was paramount to the formation of children possessing the physical excellence characteristics of the people who ate the nutrient-dense foods of our ancestors. These are foods high in the fat-soluable vitamins and activators vitamins A, D,and K. We will learn what these foods are and how to provide them for our children and mothers.
Week 2
Aromatherapy with Amanda Smith
Learn about the ancient art of healing and comfort through the use of essential oils appropriate for pregnancy and birth. Aromatherapy and essential oils can be a helpful and pleasurable addition to your repertoire as a birth attendant, or for personal use. This hands-on, interactive class will provide a basic understanding of the nature of essential oils, the aromatherapy pharmacoepia for birth, and effective and safe methods of use.
Week 3
Homeopathy with Patty Brennan
We will cover the basic principles of homeopathy in this class while focusing on practical applications for pregnancy, labor and birth, and the postpartum period for both mom and baby. What are the three primary questions you should consider when choosing a remedy? Which potency or strength should you use? How often do you repeat the remedy? How do you judge if the remedy is working? What are Patty’s top 10 favorite remedies for the childbearing year? Which are the most helpful resources? Get your questions answered!
Week 4
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with Frances Farmer
In this hands-on class, basic principles of TCM will be explained, especially in reference to the childbearing year. We will learn how to use hands-on techniques of TCM such as moxibustion (for turning babies in the breech presentation) and acupressure/shiatsu. Emphasis is placed on how to apply the correct pressure to acupuncture points and meridians before and during labor.
Week 5
Herbs & Flower Essences with Patty Brennan
These gentle allies can offer support on the physical, emotional, and spiritual planes. Due to labeling requirements by the FDA and an uninformed media, there is much in our culture to cause fear regarding ingestion of herbs when pregnant. We will clear up the myths, identify herbs to avoid, and focus on nutritive and tonifying herbs that can be safely used when pregnant or lactating. Flower essences are a whole other realm, working on a vibrational level in the system to support intentional change, balance the emotions, and give strength to our soul purposes. Flower essences can neutralize panic in the laboring mother, calm a jealous new sibling (or pet), restore an exhausted birth worker, and ease depression. They can also be used to create movement out of a plateau or “stuck” state such as psychotherapy plateaus; repetitive negative personality patterns; or the more short-term lack of progress during labor.
Our Instructors
Frances Farmer owns a shiatsu practice in Ann Arbor and has been practicing for 18 years. She is an OHASHI Institute® Graduate & Instructor. Frances has travelled the world, studying acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine in China and Sri Lanka. She became a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation in 1999 and has been studying these nutritional principles ever since. She has been lecturing for the last three years on the basics of childhood nutrition and health.
Amanda Smith is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) with New Moon Midwifery, a homebirth practice located at the Center. She has been assisting birthing women for the past ten years. Amanda has long been interested in the healing properties of herbs and incorporating essentials oils into midwifery. In her spare time, she grows herbs and vegetables. Amanda currently serves as President of the Michigan Midwives Association.
Patty Brennan is the Director of the Center for the Childbearing Year and has over 25 years experience working with homeopathic remedies, flower essences, and herbs. She is the author of Guide to Homeopathic Remedies for the Birth Bag and Vaccine Choices, Homeopathic Alternatives & Parental Rights, and has been published in Midwifery Today and in the American Journal of Nurse Midwifery on the use of homeopathy and herbs in midwifery practice. She established introductory-level homeopathy classes at Schoolcraft College in Livonia and at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor and has been a featured speaker, regionally and nationally, at midwifery conferences and in-service trainings for medical care providers.
Scholarship Program for Aspiring Doulas
A limited number of Birth Doula and Postpartum Doula Trainingscholarships are available to qualified candidates interested in serving as volunteer doulas with the Doulas Care Program.Scholarships cover the full cost of training, including the prerequisite classes and the two-part Volunteer Orientation training. You must be available for all dates in the package to be eligible. Scholarships for doula training are provided as a means of ensuring that the Doulas Care Program stays community based. Women who have a passion for working with mothers during the childbearing year are recruited from targeted communities served byDoulas Care. Women who receive scholarships are trained and then engaged as a skilled support person for other women in their community.
In exchange for training, scholarship recipients provide free services for a minimum of five pregnant women or 50 hours of free postpartum care. An effort is made in the recruitment process to attract low-income women seeking career opportunities as well as women who may already be serving informally as untrained doulas to women in their communities. Through the scholarship program we are making more doulas available and ensuring that cost of training will not be a prohibitive factor to anyone who has it in her heart to do this work. The scholarship program offered by Doulas Care in collaboration with The Center for the Childbearing Yearwhich provides the DONA approved Doula training, is grant and donor funded to support our efforts to ensure we can provide a doula to every woman who wants one, regardless of ability to pay.
If awarded a scholarship, you will be asked to sign a contract that summarizes your agreement to provide free doula services to low-income families as outlined below. We ask that all applicants give serious consideration to their ability to follow through on this commitment in a timely manner.
If you have questions about your eligibility for a scholarship or about the application process, you can address all questions to Marylee Scherdt, Director of Doulas Care, 734-332-8070 or email Doulas Care (this email is being protected by spam bots; you will need Javascript enabled to view it).
Applicant Qualifications
For All Candidates:
- Demonstrate financial need
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be a high school graduate (GED acceptable)
- Be a resident of one of the following counties in southeastern Michigan: Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer, Genesee, Livingston, Ingham, Jackson, or Monroe (we are in particular need of Doulas in Wayne, Jackson and Genesee counties)
- Plan to continue to reside in one of the counties listed long enough to fulfill your volunteer commitment as outlined below.
- Be available for training dates, including orientation dates (see training packages below)
- Have transportation available
- Priority will be given to individuals with limited economic resources who live in communities where more volunteer doulas are needed. Bi-lingual and bi-cultural doulas, especially Spanish, Arabic, and French-speaking applicants, are encouraged to apply.
For Birth Doula Applicants:
- Have demonstrated an interest in working with pregnant women or new mothers and their babies.
- Commit to participate in the volunteer Doulas Care program and provide free services to five women that includes: three prenatal visits, birth support, and three postpartum home visits. The return services should be completed within two years of finishing the training. Please be aware that this commitment involves being “on-call” 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a period of two weeks before and two weeks after the woman’s due date. Once she births, of course, you are no longer on call, but do need to remain available to provide needed postpartum support services. Please consider if you have inflexible work hours or an unreliable childcare situation which are incompatible with being “on-call.
For Postpartum Doula Applicants:
- Have demonstrated an interest in working with new mothers and babies.
- Commit to participate in the Doulas Care program and provide 50 hours of free postpartum services to low-income families in need. Hours should be completed within one year of finishing the training.
Birth Doula Training Packages & Application Deadlines
(Training Packages are usually offered several times per year. Check back for 2009 dates.)
Fall 2008 Training Package
Introduction to Childbirth for Doulas, November 7
Birth Doula Training, November 8 & 9
Volunteer Orientation, Part I, To Be Announced for 2009
Volunteer Orientation, Part II, November 15
Application Deadline: October 3
Postpartum Doula Training Packages & Application Deadlines
(Training Packages are usually offered several times per year. Check back for 2009 dates.)
Fall 2008 Training Package
Professional Education in Breastfeeding & Lactation, November 22
Postpartum Doula Training, December 5–7
Volunteer Orientation, Part I, To Be Announced for 2009
Volunteer Orientation, Part II, To Be Announced for 2009
Application Deadline: October 31st
How to Apply
Please click on one of the Scholarship Application links below and fill it out. Your application can be emailed (see above), dropped off at the Center, or mailed to:
Doulas Care
722 Brooks St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
In order to be considered for a scholarship, applications need to be received by 5pm on the deadline date. You will be notified in writing of your status within one week after the deadline date. If you do not regularly check your email, it is best that you leave the email address on the application blank. If you are turned down for a scholarship, you will have a limited-time opportunity to still register for the desired training at the posted early registration discounted fee. Your notification letter will explain the terms.
Click hereto download the Birth Doula Training Scholarship Application.
Click here to download the Postpartum Doula Training Scholarship Application.
You will need Adobe Acrobat to view the scholarship applications. If you don’t already have Acrobat on your computer you can download it for free from Adobe’s website.
About the Directory
Do you provide health related education or services of interest to childbearing families? Would you like to see your business listed here? If you’d like to be listed in our Directory of Practitioners and Services, please contact us for more information. We’d also like to know if your favorite web-based resources for the childbearing year are missing from our list of links. Send us a link and we’ll follow up. Links exchanges are free.
All service providers listed are independent from the Center for the Childbearing Year and have paid to be listed in this Directory. Inclusion of a practitioner or service on this list is NOT an endorsement of any one individual by the Center. You are encouraged to investigate service providers through references, credentials, etc.