Human Values
We want to share that the practice of human values lays the foundation for our training and certification programs. Enjoy being open to the possibilities that values bring to improving the birthscape.
BirthWorks believes birth is instinctive and the integration of body-mind-spirit guides new mothers to find the inner knowing to trust their bodies, intuition, and abilities. Values help guide us to know that we can look inward to be fine. The wisdom of BirthWorks comes partly from a deep inspiration underlying it – belief in Human Values.
The Practice of Human Values:
You will find the practice of human values raises consciousness to higher levels, and is both empowering and transforming to anyone throughout their lives. Our capacity and capability grow as we are aware of positive values and make choices to embody and uphold them. Underlying so many positive values is love for self and love for others.
Speaking from the heart is something that – when put into practice in your own life – will automatically be there when you educate and serve families as a birth worker. Always remember that only when you speak from your heart can the energy of love flow. This can make all the difference in how you teach and support. It matters for how parents handle a new pregnancy and how families prepare for labor. It is part of how a mother births, welcomes their baby, and uplifts the family’s adjustment to having a newborn (or more than one!) at home.
Human Values and Character Development:
Human Values form the basis of character development. It is through the practice of human values that society can be raised to a higher level of morality. The result of character development is self-confidence. Birth workers who can exemplify human values in their work with pregnant and new families will be known as special, for they understand how to speak from their hearts.Â
Positive Values Worth Considering:
It is worth considering how values can be applied to your work in the childbirth field. Which values do you practice already in your daily life? Which will be beneficial to practice more personally? Do you use values in how you think about your professional work already or how you approach work-related communication and tasks? As you read the values below, see how they land, light you up, inspire you, or make you curious:
- Patience
- Humility
- Flexibility
- Peace
- Love
- Truth
- Caring
- Endurance
- Equanimity
- Integrity
- Respect
- Nurturing
- Non-violence
- Compassion
- Empathy
- Inner strength
- Resilience
- Right ActionÂ
Values are Empowering:
The BirthWorks Philosophy and its Human Values give us the confidence to believe in our strength as women. (This is so needed in the face of an often patriarchal, liability-first ideology that views pregnancy as risk, where women often need to advocate for themselves, even to their health care providers.)
Key values we teach in BirthWorks – Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love, and Non-Violence – help us believe in ourselves as women and so carry us over our fears. Values offer a deeper context and open loving options for all we do as birth workers!
The BirthWorks philosophy gives us a clear path to transition to motherhood. . . in an empowering, transformational way. This means we help uplift the next generation, from the moment of birth and as they grow.
Values-Based Care Brings Human Dignity to Birth:
At the essence of human dignity is being valued, and through the process of BirthWorks with our dignity being honored, we experience knowing, integration, flow, and power. These values gracefully and powerfully uplift us, so we keep lifting ourselves.
Prioritizing values like those that are part of BirthWorks allows stillness and peace within, creating space for clarity, and our authenticity. When we have that, we can choose our truth and actions in our world. BirthWorks gives us our dignity, allows us to bring positive loving vibes to families, connects us to our children in beautiful ways, and ultimately creates a world where the values of human dignity bring to the surface more and more.
The intention to try to work and live a value-based life is infinitely rewarding. We can hold values strongly in all we do. We can connect to what we instinctively feel is right — knowing our bodies and minds, and letting our spirit guide us, to find infinite opportunities to heal, gain awareness and create positive vibrations. We hope you see the value and feel inspired by this values-based approach.
Here is an assignment to ponder – What are the top three values that matter most to you?
See how your thoughts evolve as you go through the coming weeks. We look forward to you sharing, if you would like, your top values at the workshop when you take it in the future!
