by Dr. Tiffany Jones, BirthWorks Childbirth Educator certification student
I attended a virtual Childbirth Educator Workshop in August not really knowing what to expect. The “forever student” part of my brain thought we might be focused on science and statistics because so much of my educational experience has been such. I was initially wary of the workshop being held via Zoom, but was pleasantly surprised at how connected I felt to the entire group by the end of the weekend. What I did not expect, though, was the opportunity for growth and grace this workshop presented.
We began with experiential learning, going over the Mandala and Maypole activities. I felt this to be a great way to break the ice - giving us the opportunity to share and learn to trust one another. If I had only read about the experiential activities I may not have been as inclined to teach them because I did not think people in my area would care to do them. Now, I see the value it will bring parents who take my classes. From a teaching perspective, the activities were also used to break up potentially emotional topics like guilt, forgiveness, and loss.
The recurring theme of trusting one’s intuition is easily the most significant takeaway for me. Helping people learn how to check in with themselves and identify when a decision does or does not feel “right” is extremely important. We all often see people make posts on social media that seem like they’re looking for an answer to an “obvious” question because they are afraid of making the “wrong” choice. It is through no fault of their own, but that we have been unintentionally (and perhaps a little intentionally) conditioned to ignore that gut feeling by many institutions in our lives.
I will not soon forget the example given of a child witnessing a terrible car accident. In the moment the parent tells them that everyone in the accident is okay, it is undermining the child’s trust in their own intuition. Helping parents reclaim trust in their own intuition will benefit them throughout not only childbirth, but the entirety of their time parenting.
This workshop allowed me to step away from work and other obligations and get to enjoy learning more about how I can help parents-to-be prepare for birth. I got to connect with an awesome group of powerful women and practice the use of my “primitive brain'' as opposed to my “thinking brain”. [Note from BWI for clarity: in childbirth educator workshops, we discuss how it is ideal – and deeply needed – for women to get out of left brain thinking, so they can relax into labor and birth. "Primitive" as written here is referring to the idea that thoughts from the visual and intuitive (right) brain are better for the time of labor to birth, than thoughts from the quantitative and logical (left brain) which could slow things down. For example, if a woman watches the heart rate monitor screen, that might bring anxiety about her baby’s heart rate, compared to if she is breathing in a relaxed way and moving as it feels good, both of which can decrease her anxiety and most likely help create space for the baby to move down.]
I am grateful for the experience and look forward to translating what I learned into comfort and empowerment for many people in the future!
Tiffany is a Chiropractor based in Mobile, Alabama, USA. She is completing her BWI Childbrith Educator certification now and will be teaching BirthWorks Childbirth Preparation classes to parents in her area in the future. You can reach her at tdjones1016@gmail.com or www.liberationchiropractic.com.
