Preparing for Birth Course
Birth can be beautiful—and overwhelming. 1 in 5 parents experience postpartum depression or anxiety, and nearly 10% face birth-related PTSD. Studies show that prenatal education is one of the most effective ways to prepare and change these outcomes. This 10-hour on-demand course offers compassionate, evidence-based support to help you feel informed and empowered.
What you’ll get
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✺ 6 Thoughtfully Designed Modules
Each module builds on the last, includes video and written course material, as well as links to supplemental videos and articles, and closes with reflection questions for you to digest and integrate the material.
Modules include:
Module 1: Anatomy & Physiology of Pregnancy, birth & Postpartum
Module 2: Stages of labor
Module 3: Tools, Interventions, Advocacy, & comfort measures
Module 4: Basics of Feeding
Module 5: Perinatal Mental Health Prevention & Education
Module 6: Considerations, Recovery, & Support
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✺ 10 hours of video instruction
10 hours of video instruction from Maggie Saltel, LCSW, PMHC and Cali Machen, CD. You can watch these videos at your own pace and convenience, rewatch whenever you need with lifetime access!
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✺ Companion Ebook
Ebook version of our published book Preparing for Birth: Your Guide for Wellness in Birth & Beyond : your one-stop-shop & first line of defense for preparing for birth. This ebook includes all the research discussed in this course, helpful printouts, tips, exercises, resources, and journal prompts, as well as reading lists for where to turn next for more in depth reading on each topic.
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✺ 1:1 Support with Specialized Doula & Therapist
Email support and one free 30 minute consultation with Cali Machen, CD about your childbirth plan or questions related to your pregnancy and/or birth circumstances and one free 30 minute consultation with Maggie Saltiel, LCSW, PMHC about mental health concerns and questions.
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✺ Customizable Birth and Postpartum Plan
Taking everything you’ll learn in the course and applying it to your birth with a written up plan you can share with your providers
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✺ Professional & Community Resource List
Build your support network with ease before you need it- know where to start to find professional support and social connection.
K.G., April, 2023
"This was such a helpful class. I am having such a different postpartum experience this time and I think the class is a big part of the reason why it's so much better! So thank you for all the information you shared. It was such an empowering experience to learn from you two!"
SIGN UP NOW TO ACCESS
SIGN UP NOW TO ACCESS
Why take this course?
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✺ Reduce fear & anxiety about childbirth and postpartum
Learn about your body’s innate systems, functions, and capabilities that aid in childbirth and support wellness in postpartum.
Learn how to use these systems to reduce fear, tension, and pain during birth.
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✺ Improve birth outcomes
Research tells us that 9% of people experience PTSD symptoms following childbirth (Beck C. et al., 2011) But studies show that this has much less to do with what interventions took place and much more to do with how you felt during it (in control, listened to, and cared for) AND that prenatal education and doula support statistically improves birth outcomes.
Learn about birth settings, interventions, your choices, and practical advocacy skills so you feel in the driver’s seat during your birthing experience.
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✺ Know what to do:
Learn how to identify signs of labor and stages of labor, your options during each stage of labor, comfort measures and tools that assist with each of these stages.
Partners!- learn tangible things you can do to assist your birthing partner during childbirth.
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✺ Decrease risk for Postpartum Depression & Anxiety
More than 1 in 5 people struggle with perinatal depression or anxiety- in fact depression and anxiety are the number one obstetric complication (Wisner et al., 2010).
Learn about warning signs, contributing factors, prevention, and what to do if you are struggling, and get connected to resources before you struggle.
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✺ Feel Prepared
build an individualized birth plan with the support of a certified doula using the information you learned in this course
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✺ Feel supported from multi-disciplinary team
This is the only childbirth ed class that combines knowledge from a doula & midwife and a specialized therapist and the only childbirth ed class that includes an opportunity for individualized consultation with both of them.
Get individualized specialized support from a doula and therapist for a fraction of the cost
Meet your Instructors
Maggie is a perinatal-specialized psychotherapist licensed in the state of Colorado. Maggie has training from Postpartum Support International and the Seleni Institute in reproductive and perinatal mental health. She also has training from the Society for the Protection and Care of Children in Infant and Early Child Mental Health. She’s trained in EMDR and Somatic Experiencing.
Cali is a Certified Birth and Postpartum Doula and midwife assistant located in Philadelphia, PA. She has a BA in holistic health and psychology and is trained in Fertility Awareness and hypno-birthing. She also has a 200-hour Yoga Teacher certification and is trained in Pelvic Dynamics. She is the owner of Ovum Doula Care, and actively takes birth clients in all settings. She is also a childbirth educator for Lifecycle Womancare, one of the oldest still operating birth centers in the United States. In 2024, Cali started midwifery school and began the journey to becoming a midwife.
With a combined 14+ years of experience, training, and service, Cali and Maggie’s mission is to encourage body autonomy, body literacy, and educated consent in all birth settings and to provide people with the support they need to to have empowered birth and postpartum experiences.