My Journey to Becoming a Certified Childbirth Educator

When the year started, I laid out a set of goals that I wanted to accomplish for 2010. Some were easy pleasey, and others were more difficult, or a process that may span longer than just 2010, but as long as I got some effort made towards them, I would feel comfortable checking them off as part of my 2010 goals.

My biggest goal that I included was starting the process of becoming a certified childbirth educator, and there are a ton of reasons this is the path I want to take at this point in time. One being time and availability. Because of my fail safe childcare plan crumbling mid summer last year, it kind of put my plan of going back to taking on doula clients on hold. Which for me is not completely heart breaking because it is enabling me to further my education during this time.
But there are so many reasons really why taking on this challenge is important to me :

• The lack of reasonably priced childbirth education classes.
• I am able to schedule classes around childcare availability.
• I already have a location in which I can teach.
• There is a HUGE need for childbirth education nationally, and recent studies on patient education on pregnancy and birth show this.

Ok, so it all sounds pretty cut and dry right?  WRONG! There are so many different programs with so many different options, approaches, and prices!  It almost makes my head spin when trying to narrow down which option I want to look into and commit to!  It is hard enough getting me to commit to spending a large sum of money (you would have seen my hysterics and buyers remorse over our recent sectional purchase, as well as my digital SLR.) but when I have a half dozen reasonable options to spend the money on, all within the same general price range, it is like watching a chicken with its head cut off in my decision making process.
And I don’t dare approach my husband about this before making a final decision on which program, path, and price!

So what am I looking into?

• Passion for Birth weekend Workshop – If I get 8 people to commit and take the workshop with me, it is free for me, which is a huge selling point, along with the fact that Lamaze training and teachers in my area is really numbered. I would love to work as a Lamaze teacher because I really like their approach. But the only worry I have is the 8 people. In this area, it doesn’t seem as though there is much interest in spending money to further training in things like the birth field.
• CAPPA Distance training – $600 and a do it myself course. I like the option of being able to do it myself, on my own time (two year period to complete the training) but two steps in the certification process are more out of reach than I would like to admit, and those happen to be the required birth hours (childcare issue again) and recording 2 hours of teaching time, which I do not have a way to record something like that (my digital camera cuts off at about 2 minutes making that a really long 2 hours).
• Birthing from Within – I was talking with a local midwife here about becoming a CBE and we really agreed that there is a serious lack of Birthing from Within teachers and that would probably the best route. The only problem is finding a workshop that I can actually drive to. It seems like the next year they are all booked on the other side of the country, or way too far for me to make a weekend trip.
• ICEA – Short for International Childbirth Education Association, problem?  The price.  My husband would probably keel over and have a heart attack if I told him I needed $1300 for my certification when the majority of these other programs are $600 or less.
• Birth Works International – The only hang up on this is actually having to make my way out of state to a workshop. It may be the cheapest option as far as the workshop itself, but in the long run it may end up being more work than I can put into it at this time.

So, you can see what a pickle I am in.

If you have any suggestions, recommendations, or input I would really appreciate it all. This is a choice I have been thinking about since the start of January, and I still have no idea what to do.
At this point, I am leaning towards the first option with Lamaze, mainly because I can easily book a date with the awesome Robin Elise Weiss to come out and teach, and be able to actually meet her since we have worked together for about 6 months now. She invited me to write for Birth Activist last year and she has been an awesome mentor.

But please, if you are a CBE, chime in!

Click to add your comment

Trackbacks

1. Passion for Birth Training | Momotics
2. Life Changes, Decisions and the Passion For Birth Workshop — Giving Birth with Confidence

Comment Guidelines
We all come from different backgrounds, and hold different opinions and beliefs...

While I understand and respect that, I expect the same respect from my readers. This website is “mine” and like my home, I expect respect, and reserve the right to “kick out” anyone who doesn’t follow the rules, just like I would in my home!

1. Trolls will automatically be deleted and banned
2. If you feel the urge to be disrespectful, or start a fight... move along.
3. No name calling... PERIOD

Happy Commenting!

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Twitter ID

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail