Childbirth Educator Training

Background
Continuing Education Units
Course Description
Prerequisites
Course Texts
Instructors
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Background

Great Starts Birth & Family Education (formerly known as Birth Education Northwest) has been training childbirth educators for over 20 years, and has collaborated with Seattle Midwifery School since 1997, providing the curriculum and instructors for the Childbirth Educator Training.

Completion of the Childbirth Educator Training is the first step toward becoming a certified childbirth educator who is prepared to teach childbirth education, breastfeeding and newborn care classes in the hospital or the community.

Students in the Puget Sound area can become certified through Great Starts.  For information on membership and certification, call 206.789.0883 or visit Great Starts' web site. 

Continuing Education units (CEUs)

The course meets the standard for national certification through the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA).  It is approved for 24 ICEA contact hours.  For information on certification with ICEA, call 952.854.8660 or visit ICEA's web site.

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Course Description

The SMS Childbirth Educator Training is a 6-day course (each day is 8 class hours).  The curriculum includes:

· reproductive anatomy and physiology
· elements of prenatal care
· women's experience of pregnancy and labor
· nutrition and exercise
· massage, relaxation, and breathing techniques
· stages of labor
· comfort measures for labor, including pain medications
· birth-planning and informed choice
· medical procedures
· labor variations and complications
· the postpartum period, breastfeeding, and newborn care

Students learn not only what to teach, but how to teach it. The instructors model a variety of teaching techniques including lecture, use of audio-visual aids, role-playing, and small group activities.  Students apply their learning through practice teaching sessions, which offer each student a chance to give a short presentation to peers and receive an experienced childbirth educator's feedback.

Since most expectant parents plan to give birth in a hospital, most opportunities for childbirth educators involve teaching about hospital birth. Therefore, the class focuses primarily on how to teach about hospital birth, although out-of-hospital birth is also addressed.

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Prerequisites

This training is appropriate for a wide variety of students, from laypeople who wish to become childbirth educators, to birth professionals who wish to enhance the educational aspect of their practice,

Participants are expected to complete the reading assignments and the Study Guide, which will be mailed to you one month before the course starts.

For students without prior experience in the field, it may be helpful to attend a DONA-approved Labor Support Course or observe a childbirth education series as preparation for the class. It is also helpful if you have attended at least one labor and birth, either as a birthing woman or as a support person.

Required Texts

Where to obtain texts.

Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn (4th ed, 2001) by Penny Simkin, Janet Whalley, and Ann Keppler

Childbirth Education: Practice, Research, and Theory (2nd ed, 2000) by Francine Nichols and Sharron Smith Humenick

Maternity and Women's Health Care  (8th ed, 2004) by Deitra Lowdermilk and Shannon  Perry

Recommended Texts

The Anatomy Coloring Book (3rd ed, 2001) by Wynn Kapit and Lawrence Elson

The Breastfeeding Answer Book (3rd ed, 2003) by Nancy Mohrbacher and Julie Stock OR
The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers (2000) by Jack Newman and Teresa Pittman

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Instructors

Joni Parthemer, MEd, CCE, is an internationally-certified childbirth educator.

Melissa Shaffer, CCE, is an internationally-certified childbirth educator and lactation specialist.

"I loved this class.  It was amazing and far exceeded my expectations.  Since completing the class I have been teaching birth classes in Portland and was recently evaluated by my supervisor as 'outstanding.'  I owe it all to the great class and teachers at SMS.  I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to enter this field."
Barbara Buckner Suarez,
Portland, Oregon
Winter 1998 course participant

"Thanks for a wonderful experience that was life changing for me. It will make a big difference in the way I work with my teen parent program…"
Geri Harlan
Fall 2003 course participant

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