For readers unfamiliar with continuing education contact hours, they are a requirement for certified doulas and many other licensed professionals to keep their credentials active. The DONA-certified doula is required to complete 16 hours of continuing education in every three-year re-certification period. Any program approved for nursing contact hours will also satisfy DONA continuing education requirements for doula re-certification purposes.

Please note, however, that because a program has been approved for nursing contact hours, it does not follow that one must be a nurse in order to take the training! Pre-requisites are listed where they apply, but a medical or professional background is not required in order to become a doula!

If you are unsure whether or not a program will fulfill your unique licensing requirements, please check directly with the folks who licensed you.

There is an additional fee of $15, beyond the cost of the training, to process contact hours. The fee helps cover the significant administrative burden and cost involved with getting programs approved for contact hours, as well as the required post-training follow-up.

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Online registration is only for people able to pay the full fee with a VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express now. Registration is limited and will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Last-minute registrations may be accepted, space permitting. To reserve your spot with a partial payment, a minimum of $100 is required. Balances are due on the first day of class. A limited number of more flexible payment plans may be available upon request, but must be approved in advance. Email Patty Brennan. For those interested in paying with cash or if you prefer to use a VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express over the phone, please call Patty Brennan at 734-663-1523. To pay by check, see instructions below.

2012 Schedule & Fees

To register for one of the Doula Business Builder Packages on a payment plan, simply choose your plan and make your first payment below. You will be contacted directly by Patty to automate the 2nd and 3rd monthly payments and to schedule your trainings shortly after registering. You may choose any of the 2012 or 2013 training dates (2013 dates will be posted in September). There are spaces available in all trainings at this time. For daily schedules, to learn more about an individual class, or training pre-requisites, please go the individual course description pages (see sidebar). Click here for details on the Business Builder Packages (these bundled trainings will save you money!).

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PLEASE NOTE: Do not register for Professional Education in Breastfeeding Parts I & II if you plan to take the DONA Postpartum Doula Workshop; only Part I is required to fulfill the pre-requisite; Part II is incorporated into the postpartum doula training weekend.

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Refund Policy

A full refund, minus a $25 processing fee, plus 3% on the total for credit card payments, will be provided upon request up until two weeks before any class begins. After that time, refunds will not be issued, though students may transfer their registration to another class. Once we are within 24 hours of a class beginning, no refunds or credit transfers will be permitted.

Winters Storms & Canceling Classes

We will not cancel or refund professional doula trainings due to winter storms. Please allow plenty of extra time for travel if the weather is bad. If you prefer to transfer your registration to another scheduled training that we offer, that is acceptable. If a blizzard should be happening in the middle of a weekend and you are traveling back and forth a fair distance, you would be welcome to bring some portable bedding for your comfort and stay at the Center overnight.

Discounts

Professional trainings offer an inducement for early registration. To qualify for the early registration discount, payment must by postmarked or paid IN FULL no later than 5pm on the Early Registration Date (ERD) listed.

Payment by Check

When sending in payment, please include the following information:

• your name
• address, phone number, and email address
• the class names and dates in which you are enrolling

Please make checks payable to:

Center for the Childbearing Year

Mail to:

Patty Brennan Center for the Childbearing Year 722 Brooks St. Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Please Note:

Portions of trainings may be video recorded or pictures taken during trainings. By registering, you are giving your consent for your image to be used in online programs or promotional materials developed by the Center. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Patty Brennan.
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With Barbara Robertson, MA, IBCLC

2012 Schedule & Fees

Part I

Saturday, 9am–2pm

• March 10 (ERD 2/17)
• September 29 (ERD 9/7)

Fee $85; $75 if paid in full by the Early Registration Date (ERD) listed.

REGISTER NOW

Part II

• Friday, 1:30–6pm, March 16 (ERD 2/19)
  
• Saturday, 1:30-6pm, October 6 (ERD 9/7)

Part I may be taken as a stand-alone class, but it is a pre-requisite for Part II.

Fee for both Parts I & II is $150; $130 if paid in full by the Early Registration Date (ERD) listed above.

REGISTER NOW

Course Description

Part I

If you haven’t taken this dynamic, cutting-edge workshop, then you are really missing out! Learn the very latest in evidenced-based breastfeeding support from an expert lactation consultant and breastfeeding educator. This class will enhance the ability of doulas, L&D nurses, and other professionals to assist their breastfeeding clients in the early days postpartum. You will learn the counseling skills necessary to assess and correct breastfeeding problems.

Part I can be taken as a stand-alone class and it fulfills both the breastfeeding training pre-requisite for DONA postpartum doula training and a certification requirement for both DONA Birth and Postpartum Doulas. Topics include:

• breast anatomy and physiology
• importance of skin-to-skin contact
• newborn self attachment at the breast
• a new view of positions and latch-on
• getting off to the best start
• common problems and their solutions overview

Part II

Join us for a DONA Postpartum Doula Training in progress. This class is the breastfeeding training component of the postpartum doula training weekend. If you are signing up for the doula training, you do not need to sign up separately for this class. Part I must be taken before Part II as this section will build on material presented in Part I. Topics include:

•  presentation of basic breastfeeding education topics
• basic principles including positioning, latch, signs baby is getting enough milk or not getting enough milk
• in-depth consideration of common problems including engorgement, sore nipples, plugged duct, mastitis, thrush, low milk supply, over-active letdown reflex, breastfeeding the sleepy baby, tongue tie, jaundice, and colic
• when to make a referral
• expression and storage of breast milk (demonstration, hands-on)
  
• alternative feeding methods (demonstration, hands-on)
• controversial issues including moms with AIDS, the Vitamin D controversy, environmental contaminants in breast milk, and co-sleeping safety
• effective communication techniques for breastfeeding professionals
  
• special needs including premature babies, babies with Down’s Syndrome, and babies with cleft lips and cleft palates
• visit from breastfeeding mom and baby (hands-on support demonstration)

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What do our students have to say about training at the Center?

“I feel more confident working with breastfeeding women, and will be a better observer and problem solver.” — Class Participant

“Barbara was so energetic and devoted to breastfeeding that it made me motivated to learn as much as possible. I wish every doula was trained by her and every mother received her care.” — Class Participant

“Loved, loved, loved it. Super informative.” — Cameron Shaw

“You have such a way of teaching, it makes something not so simple, very simple, Thank you.” — Sara Pratt

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With Patty Brennan

“Patty’s classes ALWAYS leave me feeling more knowledgeable and empowered to employ what I have learned. I have acquired so many useful skills and feel connected to a supportive, like-minded community. Thank you C4CBY!” — Cameron Shaw, Ann Arbor, MI

From passion to profit … make a living doing what you love! Come and learn the skills necessary to be successfully self-employed in your birth-related or 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 a business entity—what’s the best model for your business?
• Money matters—setting and collecting fees, sliding scales, client contracts
• Record keeping essentials
• Small business guide to taxes
• Marketing your practice on a limited budget
• Networking for fun and profit
• Managing risk and limiting liability
• Small business ethics

2012 Schedule & Fees

Saturday, 9am–5pm

• May 19 (ERD 4/27)
• October 27 (ERD 10/5)

Fee $120; $105 if paid in full by Early Registration Deadline (ERD) listed

6.5 DONA CEUs approved

REGISTER NOW

What do our students have to say about their doula training at the Center?

“Your book and class have really taught me to value myself as a doula and a business woman. I feel much more prepared to take my passion for birth and turn it into a career.” –Toni Auker, Ypsilanti, MI

“I love listening to Patty. She is so passionate, fun, and knowledgeable. She is a great friend and resource in Ann Arbor.” — Dawn Bussey, Ann Arbor, MI

“I feel so much more confident and capable now that I have taken this class.” — Lauren Peace, Ypsilanti, MI

“This class was a great follow-up for the Birth Doula Workshop. Every aspiring doula should take this class to help jump start their business.” — Brandy Monroe, Springfield, MI

“Patty was so knowledgeable in starting and maintaining a birth business. She made it a less overwhelming process.” — Erin Beyer, Hamilton, MI

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Benefits of this training for your organization include:

• Assurance that your staff and volunteers will identify those red flags waving BEFORE a crisis escalates
• Enhanced ability of staff and volunteers to establish and maintain professional boundaries with clients
• Reduction in supervisors’ time spent troubleshooting
• Prevention of staff/volunteer burnout and high staff turnover
• Overall reduction in liability for your organization
• And last, but not least(!), increased base of knowledge and skills to make a significant positive difference for families served

Center for the Childbearing Year announces a NEW specialized three-part training program designed for home visitors, birth doulas, and other professionals who provide support to new moms and their families in the early weeks postpartum.

Postpartum Home Visits:
MotherBaby Care, Depression Screening,
Support Strategies & Boundary Setting

Facilitated by Patty Brennan

Part 1–Focus on the New Mother

Topics & Learner Objectives:

When Postpartum is Not Joyful

• Differentiate the symptoms of “baby blues” from symptoms of postpartum depression.
• Discuss how the “myths of motherhood” create unrealistic expectations for new mothers.
• Define the difference between clinical depression or mood disorders and psychiatric emergencies.
• Discuss the effects of untreated depression on the mother, baby, mother-infant bond, and family.
• Practice presenting, administering, and scoring the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.
• List barriers to seeking treatment.
• Practice techniques to help overcome the barriers and make an effective referral.
• Identify concrete strategies for mobilizing support for depressed moms.

Significance of “The Birth Story”

• List factors during birth that lead to uncomplicated postpartum recovery.
• Summarize factors during birth that lead to complicated postpartum recovery.
• Practice reflective listening techniques that validate the mother’s feelings about her birth.

Postpartum Recovery & Healing the New Mother

• Establish a framework for understanding common physiological changes in the mother postpartum (What is happening? Why? What is normal?).
• Identify simple comfort measures to aid recovery and healing.
• List causes for concern that necessitate referral to a medical professional.

Part 2–Newborn Care, Facilitating Attachment, Easing the Transition, Creating a Postpartum Care Plan & the Meaning of Support

Topics & Learner Objectives:

Your Role as an Educator and the Meaning of Support

• Identify the needs of adult learners.
• List actions and attitudes that feel supportive.
• List actions and attitudes that do not feel supportive.
• Identify personal values and biases.
• Discuss the meaning of nonjudgmental support.
• Explain the importance of using accurate, evidence-based information.
• Describe four different teaching methods home visitors/doulas can use with clients.

Newborn Care & Safety Basics

• Describe common characteristics and needs of the newborn in the early postpartum period (What is happening? Why? What is normal?).
• Describe the six states of consciousness of the newborn and implications for families.
• Identify strategies for promoting bonding and attachment.
• Demonstrate a variety of baby calming techniques.
• Explain safety concerns related to newborns.
• List causes for concern that necessitate referral to a medical professional.

Integrating the Newborn into the Family

• Identify the needs of each of the following during the early weeks postpartum:  mother, father/partner, and siblings.
• Brainstorm strategies to help each person get their needs met.
• Discuss a variety of special needs scenarios (e.g., premature babies newly home from the NICU, babies with health issues, families with multiples).
• Create a postpartum care plan for the family (case studies).

Part 3–Boundaries & Other Challenges for Support Professionals Working with Families during the Childbearing Year

Topics & Learner Objectives:

All About Boundaries!

• Brainstorm personal boundaries you have with clients, friends, family members, co-workers, strangers.
• List eight indicators that a boundary problem exists.
• Describe classic rescuing behavior.
• Explore personal challenges that may make you susceptible to boundary issues with clients.
• Practice tactics for maintaining boundaries when challenged.

Domestic Violence Awareness

• Define domestic violence and describe the scope of the problem.
• Identify signs of an abusive relationship.
• Discuss barriers to leaving an abusive relationship.
• List signs of a potentially lethal domestic relationship.
• Describe appropriate responses when faced with a victim of an abusive relationship.

Staying Safe

• Consider the relationship between boundaries and personal safety.
• Describe the body language of a good victim.
• Demonstrate non-victim body language.
• Explain five principles of personal safety.
• Discuss the value of training in self defense.
• Identify the most vulnerable target areas on an attacker’s body.

Avoiding Burnout

• Clarify the importance of bringing closure to the client/caregiver relationship.
• Explore your “pie of time.”
• Brainstorm strategies for nurturing yourself as well as you nurture others.

Your Facilitator

Patty Brennan, author and CEO of Center for the Childbearing Year, has been an advocate for childbearing families for nearly 30 years as a childbirth educator, doula, doula trainer, and program administrator. She is a certified Birth and Postpartum Doula Trainer through DONA International and is on the faculty of Washtenaw Community College. Patty is a master educator, creating dynamic, interactive curricula designed to match the varied learning styles of adult learners. Every training is infused with passion and abundant energy.

As the founder/executive director of two nonprofit organizations, Doulas Care (1999-2007) and the new Doula Connection (2011), Patty has a thorough grasp of the challenges faced by home visitors, volunteer doulas, and mentoring programs. She understands what it means to be “in the trenches.” In her book, The Doula Business Guide–Creating a Successful MotherBaby Business (2010), Patty establishes her authoritative command of risk management principles and a wide range of issues related to professionalization of the doula’s role, as well as basic considerations for setting up a business. Patty has a Bachelor of Arts from Boston College. She earned a Black Belt in Tai Kwon Do in 2004 and has been training in the martial arts for the past eleven years.

Scheduling & Fees

This training can be customized to meet your group’s special needs and budget. Pick and choose among the learning objectives and I can give you a quote. Email Patty@center4cby.com or Call 734-663-1523 to get the conversation started.

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The Center has an extensive, up-to-date Lending Library on a wide variety of topics related to the childbearing year and the promotion of healthy families. The collection includes videos, dvds, and cds in addition to books. All books required to complete DONA International birth and postpartum doula certification are available. Topic areas include: nutrition, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, breastfeeding, postpartum depression, grief and loss, vaccines and informed choice, herbs, homeopathy, yoga, exercise, women’s health, parenting, adoption, midwifery, anthropological studies, small business development, and more.

Recently Expanded Library Collection!

• Great Expectations Pregnancy Program DVD
• The First Hour of Life, by Marshall Klaus DVD
• Orgasmic Birth: The Best Kept Secret DVD
• Birth Without Violence, by Frederick Leboyer DVD
• The Business of Being Born DVD
• It’s My Body, My Baby, My Birth DVD
• Joining the Family DVD
• Infant Massage: The Power of Touch DVD
• Labor Support: A Comfort Guide DVD
• Laugh and Learn About Newborn Baby Care DVD
• Toolbox for New Dads DVD
• American Heart Association Family & Friends First Aid DVD
• Vaccines: The Risks, the Benefits, the Choices DVD
• Vaccines: What CDC Documents and Science Reveal DVD
• Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers, by Nancy Mohrbacher (book)
• If My Mom Were a Platypus: Mammal Babies and their Mothers, by Dia L. Michels (children’s book)
• Fathers-To-Be Handbook, by Patrick M. Houser
• Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, by Sarah J. Buckley MD (book)
• Spirit Babies: How to Communicate with the Child You’re Meant to Have, by Walter Makichen (book)
• Pushed! by Jennifer Block (book)
• Born in the USA, by Marsden Wagner (book)

Please Note:

Our Lending Library is open most weekdays and is self-serve. Just follow the posted instructions at the Center. We ask that you borrow no more than one DVD or videotape at a time and return it within one week please. Book borrowing is limited to three per family for a maximum of three weeks. Please don’t allow the Center’s library materials to collect dust in your home for weeks, months, and years on end. Someone else is waiting to use them! They can be returned to the drop box inside the front door of the Center, so return them at your convenience, any time of the day or week.

Resource Center

In addition to the Lending Library, available resources include:

• community resources, including bulletin boards and display areas for events, brochures, and business cards
• a variety of free catalogs and magazines

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