Childbirth Prep - 3 Week Series
with Michelle Gunderson
Three Sundays: Oct 12, Oct 19, Oct 26
2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
OFJCC - Jeff Center for Families, G106
Class Description
In our Childbirth Prep Series, we will guide the birthing person and their partner to develop tools and techniques in an interactive and engaging set of classes. While covering all topics of any comprehensive childbirth preparation, as birth doulas, we begin by imparting our knowledge and information gathered from a variety of resources such as: Lamaze, DONA, the Birth Coach Method, Pelvic Dynamics, and The Body Ready Method, in addition to our backgrounds in education, to guide you through birth’s journey. Lamaze’s three pillars resonate with our philosophy: 1. Evidence-Based. 2. Respectful, everyone’s journey to parenthood is unique. 3. Transformative, the journey from pregnancy to parenthood can be very transformative for many families. We strive to strike a balance between theory and practice allowing you and your partner to arrive at the day of your birth empowered, knowledgeable, and confident.
We look forward to being members of your birthing team as your childbirth educators.
Topics covered include:
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Lamaze’s 6 Healthy Birth Practices
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Stages of Labor
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Physical, Emotional, Hormonal Variations
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Common Procedures
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Creating Your Vision for Birth
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Comfort Measures
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Coping with Labor
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When To Go to the Hospital
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Assembling Your Birth Bag
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Postpartum Planning and Recovery
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Getting Started with Chest/Breastfeeding
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Shared Decision Making
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Navigating Birth's Journey and MORE
Meet the Instructor
Michelle is a certified Birth Doula, Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Educator and Placenta Specialist, serving San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.
She has always been fascinated with birth and babies and considered a career as a labor and delivery nurse in her 20’s; instead, by accident, she found herself working as a systems administrator. She enjoyed that work for 15 years, but knew it was not the job she was intended to be doing.
In 2005, she became pregnant with her first child. She remembers her family was anxious as they tried to support her during her birth; she was scared and had no one to ground her. After that, she learned about doulas and began to research all she could about who they were and what they did, and it struck a chord with her. Not long after that, her best friend asked her to support her during her baby's birth. The experience was amazing; she was hooked, and started down the path of becoming a doula.
In 2013-2014, she enrolled and trained with Cornerstone Doula Training and received her birth and postpartum certifications. Then 2017 she received her Childbirth Educator Certification.
She can't think of a better job than helping babies being born and to experience how incredible the birth of a child can be. A parent never forgets the birth of their children and she feels honored to support, encourage and be there for the beginning of a new life.