Birthlight Birthing Lightly Diploma - Pregnancy Yoga for Maternity Professionals
"I found the ‘Birthing Lightly’ approach to gentle 2nd stage birthing truly inspirational. I have known for so long that a baby birthed gently is so much more ready to embrace life, but until this study day I lacked a direction which enabled women to effectively manage their pushing stage without the drama and forcefulness that traditional western birthing has adopted. I have been greatly encouraged by the display of yoga breathing and have used this technique effectively at a recent birth. I am enthusiastic about the prospect of more 'birthing lightly'”
Overview
Birthlight Birthing Lightly Yoga incorporates carefully selected and long tested classic yoga practices for the specific benefit of pregnant women, women in labour and new mothers. Practices harmonise body, mind, emotions and spirit as one, with the aim of enhancing the enjoyment of this special time and experience in a woman’s life and at the start of her baby’s life.
Birthing Lightly Yoga has been developed through working with pregnant women, birthing women and new mothers for many years. Francoise Freedman has a debt of gratitude to Amazonian rainforest midwives and all the women who showed her how birth can be.
Birthing Lightly Yoga gives women practical resources for ‘birthing lightly’, making space in themselves and using the breath to ‘exhale push’ their babies without undue strain.
Birthing Lightly Yoga is informed by cutting edge medical and scientific research but its hallmark is simplicity and accessibility of all practices to all pregnant women, whatever their state of fitness, their condition, their cultural background. At Birthlight, we take pride in translating research findings into simple and fun movements that ease bodies and produce delight.
Birthing Lightly Yoga supports hands off midwifery and facilitates the work of midwives by giving pregnant and labouring women the understanding and skills they need in order to be positively involved in their personal experience, however the process unfolds at the time. Rather than information, women take body memories and awareness from the antenatal classes to their labour space: this is how yoga is effective.
NICE Guidelines CG62 Antenatal Care: full guideline (corrected June 2008) (Pg 82 3.3 Antenatal Classes)
With reference to the above, Birthing Lightly Yoga incorporates the ethos behind effective antenatal classes by offering social, emotional, psychological and physical awareness of pregnancy, providing good preparation for birth and the postnatal period. It encourages self confidence to approach birth positively. Also within NICE Guidelines (Pg 118-119 5.10) beginning or continuing a moderate course of exercise during pregnancy is associated with positive outcomes.
Research has shown central oxytocin supports sleep, reduces anxiety and increases a woman’s pain coping strategy McNabb Mary (2003). Central oxytocin levels increase with activities such as yoga and meditation.
Who is the course for?
This programme has been specifically designed for Midwives, Doctors, Childbirth Educators, Obstetric Physiotherapists, Maternity Support Workers and Doulas who have an interest in Yoga and practice the principles of Yoga.
Aims and Objectives
Part 1 – Certificate Level
- Provide resources to design safe and effective Birthlight Yoga classes for the antenatal periods, intrapartal periods and the early postnatal period
- Offer a standard and well tested set of adapted postures and breathing practices that are conducive to optimal fitness in pregnancy and that will facilitate childbirth and ease postnatal recovery
- Assist implementation of Birthlight Yoga within a publicly funded birthing unit
Part 2 - Diploma level
- Develop the role of yoga in both preventive care and therapy during pregnancy, in the course of labour and postnatally
- Gain a greater understanding of common complaints in the pre/postnatal period and offer safe practices to prevent and relieve these complaints
- Assist women to take a greater responsibility for their own health and their baby’s health antenatally and postnatally
- Audit pre and postnatal classes in order to assess benefits
How is the course structured?
The course consists of three modules: Part 1 (first module) consists of three days of tuition accompanied with a Birthing Lightly Yoga Manual and Teaching Booklet. The Certificate covers early to mid pregnancy, late pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal period up to 12 weeks. Also covered
are the practicalities of providing and sustaining effective classes. By the end of Part 1 the attendee will feel confident to present Birthing Lightly classes assisting women to take a greater responsibility for their own and their baby's health during pregnancy, offering a positive experience of pregnancy, birth and the immediate postnatal period.
The second module is self-practice over a period of approximately six months. During this time students assimilate the contents of Part 1 and set-up their own classes. Course tutors are available for support and advice if needed during this period, we also have an online support environment to provide peer support and access to resources to help you work towards your Diploma qualification. The Birthlight buddy and watchdog schemes offer additional sources of support.
The third module, Part 2, is a residential or non-residential course taught over two days. The course includes a detailed review of students’ coursework and teaching experiences, followed by tuition on simple therapeutic uses of yoga to address common ailments of pregnancy: back pain, sciatic pain, and pelvic girdle pain. More insights are offered to offer positive body-based resources women can use to combat anxiety and depression and increase their ability to relax. The journey of the baby through the three openings of the pelvis is reviewed in further details with the teaching of simple techniques to increase each of the diameters: these are invaluable resources for midwives who wish to implement physiologic labour in their practice.
Students have a maximum period of 12 months to complete the Diploma from the time of their Part 1 course.
Which qualification is gained on the course?
The Birthlight Birthing Lightly Diploma is the full teaching qualification recognized for purposes of insurance and professional accreditation. It has been submitted for accreditation to national and international professional boards. It can be obtained no sooner than 6 months and no later than one year after completing Part 1.
Course assessment
Part 1 is tutor assessed by means of a simple practical assessment in which students teach part of a class. In the rare instances when a tutor recommends that a student should repeat this assessment, Birthlight strives to arrange that this student work with an established teacher and be assessed at a later date.
Students’ portfolios of case-studies and casework are carefully assessed with detailed constructive comments aimed to forward their teaching and practice. The Birthlight Birthing Lightly Diploma is awarded on the basis of both the students’ portfolio and a final assessment by an external examiner.
Diploma holders can be listed on the register of Birthlight teachers with their own website entry and page. All Birthlight teachers must also abide by the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme that guarantees quality standards for teaching safely and professional with updated techniques.
Who are the tutors for this course?
Birthlight
Françoise Freedman
The founder of Birthlight, Françoise Barbira-Freedman is a medical anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, where she does research and teaches as an affiliated lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology.
After spending long periods of fieldwork in Peruvian Amazonia, including two pregnancies and stays with her young family, she was inspired to share the gentle approach to parenting of her Amazonian hosts among friends in the UK. As a trained yoga teacher and therapist, Françoise used the idiom of yoga to create an original programme of movements and nurturing relaxation for mothers to be and new mothers with their babies.
Having a background of competition swimming and swimming instructor, she also developed Infant Aquatics and Aqua Yoga original programmes. All these activities took place informally in Cambridge around Francoise’s four children and friends of friends until demand grew and the time came to produce books and videos. Parents and professionals who used these products asked for training and the Birthlight training structure was put in place as a development to training courses offered to Yoga Teachers and therapists since 1995. Birthlight Yoga developed not only from the teaching and practice of yoga but also from an intensive involvement of Francoise as a birth attendant and empirical midwife working side by side with midwives both in hospital and community settings during the 1990s.
Francoise is the author of four books on Yoga for Pregnancy. She has written the first book on Postnatal Yoga and the first Baby Yoga book. Her books are translated in several languages and their popularity has led to the international development of Birthlight and Birthlight Yoga with teaching centres in Zurich, Moscow and Singapore.
In the UK, Francoise is as a trainer’s tutor with an extensive experience and ongoing creativity in developing applications of yoga for pregnancy, birth and beyond.
Wendy Gadsden
A few words from Wendy Gadsden, who pioneered Birthlight Yoga in the Northampton NHS Trust with success and has now taken it to New Zealand. Wendy is now a Birthlight tutor and she organized the first teaching course for midwives in February 2009 in Auckland, where Francoise joined her to launch the course.
‘A friend of mine had commented some years ago, that I had been blessed. And indeed I have been blessed with two sons, Sam and Luke, my parents, my friends and Midwifery. I thank my Mum for giving me my pre-natal qi, or energy, and my father for his endless advice about coping with life.
My two sons were born in a calm and secure environment in hospital. Due to ideal circumstances, breathing techniques and the skill of my colleagues, I was able to say that I had birthed my sons. I have always been grateful for this.
I have always had an interest in sport and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which guided me towards Qi Gong and Yoga.
Meeting Françoise during the Birthlight Pregnancy & Postnatal Yoga teacher training course in 2002 gave me an insight of how to use Yoga in Pregnancy, Birth and in the post-natal period. Everyone benefits, the woman the baby and the family or whanau (which is the name for family in New Zealand, where I am working as a Community Midwife within the Public Health Service).
Yoga is such an ideal form of exercise and physical preparation for birth and it was with response from the women in our area that a group of qualified Midwives in Birthlight Yoga implemented this service within a NHS hospital. The team of Complementary Therapists, with clinical support, produced a business plan, enrolment/evaluation forms, lesson plans and asana workbook for Midwives. A teaching assessment module was also produced for the compulsory yearly updates.’
Midwives working on a roster system would take a set of classes to fit in with their normal working hours, without compromising or fragmenting existing areas of practice and care. Keen to incorporate Birthlight Birthing Lightly Yoga within the NHS and District Health Boards within NZ, Wendy has first hand knowledge of how to present business plans, and of how to implement a sustainable, worthwhile service, for Women, Midwives, Childbirth Educators, and Management.
Birthlight Values
Women still desire to birth naturally and breast-feed their children.
The aim of this course is to raise awareness of bringing birth back to basics. How yoga and breathing can bring awareness of the powers of the body and mind, and how this can aid towards a more natural birth, for the woman and family to celebrate.
The course develops confidence and self-expression in supporting, educating, and offering self-help to women and their partners.
Some of the women that come to classes may never have performed yoga before, these classes can help them realise the potential of their bodies and how they can self-heal some of the aches and pains of pregnancy.
Birthlight Yoga incorporates the principles of stretching, breathing and postures which can be adapted as the pregnancy progresses, and in the postnatal period. The classes look in depth at the mind/body association, and attention is drawn to the importance of the Birthing environment.
The muscles associated with pregnancy and birth is discussed during every class, and relaxation is practiced, along with breathing techniques.
The classes can be an effective forum for meeting other pregnant mums and providing preparation for birthing classes, and postnatal support
Today, the principles of Birthlight Yoga are becoming more widely accepted, and actively encouraged, within Birthing Units, which contributes to create a better Birthing Environment
As a Maternity Professional, with your expertise in maternity care, you are in a unique and cherished role to impart this awareness to women. Even for inexperienced women, a few weeks’ tuition during pregnancy is sufficient to have a more effective labour and an easier, less traumatic birth for both mother and baby, with minimal damage to the perineum and, in many cases, little need for analgesia. However, the more Yoga is practiced, the more confident women will feel in preparation for labour and better able to enjoy mothering their babies as well as nurturing their own well being through life.
Testimonials
Testimonials from delegates on the 2009 Auckland Birthlight Yoga course:
I was able to implement my learning immediately and practiced exercises with several post natal women the following day. Their complaints included sacrum pain, inability to rest during the day, hemorrhoids and incontinence and for every individual complaint I suggested one yoga therapy.
I felt I had made a positive input and the women responded enthusiastically.
I had a student midwife working with me and she was most impressed with the advice given and demonstrations of exercises.
FAQs
1.
Would I be qualified to teach a yoga class for pregnancy?
With the Birthing Lightly Diploma you are qualified to teach
prenatal classes, birth preparation classes, one to one sessions with
women before and after birth.
2.
What type of class would I be teaching?
The type of class Diploma holders will teach depends on their
professional activities: either prenatal or parentcraft classes, in a
hospital or Sure Start centre or surgery or private venue, or one to
one sessions combined with other therapies (we have several teachers
who combine massage or cranio-sacral therapy with Birthlight Yoga).
Doulas and community midwives can apply Birthlight Yoga in their
general work.
3.
What would be the differences for a pregnant woman attending a
Birthing Lightly class and a Perinatal Yoga class taught by Birthlight
teachers?
A pregnant woman attending a Birthlight Lightly Yoga class will
expect to be taught practices that are more focused on pelvic anatomy
and the physiology of pregnancy and birth, from the perspective of a
maternity professional who has already gained experience of caring for
pregnant women, labouring women and very new mothers. In a Perinatal
Yoga class taught by a Birthlight Diploma holder, a pregnant lady can
expect the professional expertise of someone who is qualified to teach
Yoga and to adapt classic yoga practices to the needs of pregnant
women. There is less focus on intra-partum care.
Of course there is quite a lot of overlap between the two courses:
some Perinatal Yoga teachers are also qualified midwives, and some
Birthing Lightly teachers have years of experience in practising yoga
and immersing themselves in yoga philosophy. It is more a matter of
special expertise: Perinatal Yoga is Yoga + Maternity while Birthing
Lightly is Maternity + Yoga.
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