childbirth education - joy in birthing foundation
It's been too long. I will post another blog updating you all on my last four months in LA. Whew! I've been in Los Angeles for almost 8 months now. So much has happened in this last year, it's crazy. That will probably be my next blog. A friend encouraged me to recall where I was a year ago and celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Graceful Growth. I will get to that I promise but now I wanted to invite my amazing support group (family and friends) to help me better serve in Los Angeles.
Many may know that I was recently trained as a International Childbirth Education Association Childbirth Educator. I am beyond excited to be living out my one of my dreams...educating and empowering women to have confidence in their capabilities during pregnancy and birth. I chose to certify with ICEA because the heart of our education philosophy is the same.
Family-centered maternity care that is founded on freedom of choice based on knowledge of alternatives.
My vision has been to teach classrooms full of expecting couples.; providing evidence-based care recommendations, nutritional support, and comfort techniques for all variations of childbirth. That dream always included joining with an organization or local clinic and sharing my knowledge with low-income families; making sure they too are aware of their alternatives and can make informed decisions.
Teen, young, foster mothers have always held a place in my heart. My hope is to provide them with accurate and compassionate information that prepares them from their transition into motherhood. Since moving to Los Angeles, I have been doing that by volunteering my time as a birth doula and, now as an educator with a non-profit. The Joy In Birthing Foundation is an organization who's mission is to serve these women through the continuous support of a birth doula, free education classes, and help with the postpartum period.
Through the organization, I am teaching my first group childbirth education class on April 25th. The following week, I will be teaching another class alongside other new educators at BINI Birth. Both classes are FREE to better serve low-income and families with reduced budgets for whatever reason. My goal is to teach a free class throughout the community every other month to better educate the under-served population.
I am soooooo excited!!
My dilemma (and how you can help), regards the teaching materials I will need. You'd be surprise how much a fake pelvis, uterus and baby costs. As an educator without a set teaching location, I move between facilities and it's best that I have more own materials. Majority of my training as an educator involved understanding how to teach and engage adult learners. To incorporate a variety of teaching styles and keep it fun, I will need more than just a PowerPoint presentation. In addition, the clientele I will be serving are young and may have lower literacy levels. Not to judge or stereotype, but I want to be well-prepared and able to engage all the mothers that attend my class. I have been studying and using commonsense on ways to do so. Former doulas and supportive colleagues have already given me a few posters and a breastfeeding model baby. :-D
Here's how you can help...there are other items that are out of my budget but vital for a good class. I would never want to water down my material for any of my clients, so I'm going for the good, standard stuff! You can support my class and future classes by purchasing an item and shipping it to me or by donating any amount of funds to be used for my classes (whether it be an item or the snacks I'll provide during breaks). A receipt and thank you explaining what your funds were used for will be sent out.
You can find my gift registry created on Childbirth Graphics (yep, there's a whole website!) or email me for more information. To donate, you can send funds through my business PayPal account (jad.doula@gmail.com) and put what it is for in the memo section.
I always brag about my support system. You're love and support is invaluable! Each and every one of you shared important pieces to the development of the women behind this blog.
Love you lots!
Tootles,
Jess