In-House Birthlight Training for Obstetric and Maternal Health Nurses

In-house Training Report, Lisbon, Portugal (by Kirsteen Ruffell, Perinatal Yoga Tutor)

The aim was … to share relevant practices with the women in labour… but also … simple practices at work and at home to take care of themselves and combat some of the stresses and strains of shift work

Nearly the whole team joined me to understand how to use Birthlight yoga to support natural birth in this busy state hospital. Some of the nurses had had some experience of yoga but for many these two days were an opportunity to try some yoga for the first time. The aim was that not only will they be able to share relevant practices with the women in labour in their care but also that they will be able to use some simple practices at work or at home to take care of themselves and combat some of the stresses and strains of shift work and great responsibility. As we usually experience with the women in our classes most of the participants did not want to move after the relaxation each day! However, they also found it very informative to explore the breath, sound, movements and positions in relation to anatomy for labour and birth and some had already used some of the movements with women in labour in the time between the days of training.

Thank you to ‘enfermeiras’ Lucinda Carvalhal (head of the team) and her colleague Ana Genebra for inviting me and to all the team for their patience with my far from perfect Portuguese!

The team of 27 were split into 2 groups with 2 sets of training days to allow everyone to attend around the shifts. An accompanying short manual in Portuguese was provided.

Testimonies from the Nurses