What is mindfulness and what place does it have in birth and postpartum work?

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Mindfulness is a mindset and process of self-awareness that can improve birth outcomes, increase maternal satisfaction, invite clarity and healing, and foster empowerment for your future clients. As you step into your doula practice, you will find that many clients prepare for birth in an "outcomes-based" way and define their birth experiences solely by met or unmet expectations (My birth was a successful VBAC, I had an unmedicated water birth, I ended up with a c-section, I had a failed hypnobirth, etc.) You can help your clients work toward outcomes-based preferences while also helping them release rigid expectations that lead to feelings of failure, judgment, shame, self-blame, victimization, and trauma. This way of preparing for birth is both compassionate and transformative, allowing all birthing individuals to experience birth as a rite of passage regardless of outcomes. Mindfulness is also an effective coping tool that helps us release labels and beliefs like "too painful" "too hard" or "I can't do this" and instead open to and welcome feelings and sensations in the body. 

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In the postpartum sphere, mindfulness and the foundations of yoga provide an entirely new vocabulary and skillset when engaging with depression, anxiety, emotions, and overwhelm. Rather than being victimized by the unraveling of identity that can occur postpartum, mindfulness and yoga give purpose to the process, allowing us to see the big picture reality of healing and personal evolution. You can provide your clients with hope, compassion, practical support, and life-changing perspectives on what it means to "rebirth" postpartum.

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But here's the other huge benefit: mindfulness benefits YOU and makes doula work more sustainable long-term! By training with Bhava Birth you are setting yourself up for success by learning self-care practices, better mindset, managing expectations, processing secondhand trauma, and so much more. Too many doulas burn out in the first year of practice. You deserve a well-rounded training that will prepare you for the full experience of birth work. Knowledge is not enough. Bhava Birth wants to empower you with physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual tools for starting and sustaining a service-led business of passion.

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What sets the Bhava Birth trainings apart from other trainings out there?

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Before Stephanie launched this doula training she interviewed handfuls of doulas, both new and old, in the field to find out what they loved most about their training and where they felt it was lacking. Based on that information she found that the following areas are sorely neglected and Bhava Birth now emphasizes:

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• Mindfulness and Yoga Foundations

  • ​Underlying everything we cover in this training are the fundamental principles of mindfulness and yoga, such as embodiment, self-compassion, mind-body connection, present-moment awareness, breath practices, holistic preparation, and much, much more

• Business Logistics

  • Logo, website, and business card design

  • Marketing and networking strategies

  • Structuring packages

  • How to host and what content to cover in prenatal and postpartum visits

• Business Psychology

  • Building confidence as an entrepreneur​

  • How to put yourself out there authentically

  • Holding boundaries and practicing self-care

  • Business as a powerful self-development path

• Advocacy​

  • In hospital and out-of-hospital birth settings​

  • For unique client needs: LGBTQIA+, VBAC, PAL, post trauma, and more

• Continuous mentoring​

  • Many of the larger doula training agencies are not able to provide mentoring or further education beyond the training. Stephanie is passionate about not only training her doulas but helping them succeed in the field! Not only do you get three days of hands-on training, you also get to come back (in person or online) for unlimited monthly meetups. Bring your questions, concerns, frustrations, and successes ​and let us hive mind solutions.