Grounded in Birth: A Childbirth Education Series for BIPOC Birthing People

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) birthing people are invited to join us for a 9-week in person childbirth education workshop series, meeting at the West Berkeley Family Wellness Center. Over 9 sessions participants will:

• Explore their needs and desires around labor
• Learn about the process of labor, pain management techniques, comfort measures, common interventions
• Learn and practice advocacy skills
• Learn and practice grounding and regulation skills
• Build their personalized birth plan
• Receive items that will support the labor and birth journey
• Build a supportive community space with other pregnant folks

All BIPOC pregnant folks are invited to join us. Being gestational age 28 weeks or less is recommended, but BIPOC pregnant people of all gestational ages are welcome. Participants are welcome to join as many sessions as they would like; folks who would like to attend all 9 are welcome as well as folks who only want to come to 1 or 2 sessions (some informational is sequential so we encourage repeated attendance but that is not required).

Gift baskets with support items and educationl materials are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Session Topics:

Session 1 (9/10): Orientation + Exploring Birth Context

Session 2 (9/17): An Introduction to Advocacy

Session 3 (9/24): Anatomy + The Stages of Labor

Session 4 (10/1): The Stages of Labor, Continued

Session 5 (10/8): Comfort Measures

Session 6 (10/15): Interventions + Pain Management

Session 7 (10/22): Birth Planning

Session 8 (10/29): Postpartum + Support Network Planning

Session 9 (11/5): Series Closeout

Please note that this series is offered exclusively for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) people.

This series is led by Now You Know a Doula

Important Information

Advance registration is required.

Our classes are free and space is limited. To help ensure as many community members as possible can participate, we ask that you register only for classes you plan to attend.

If you can no longer attend, please cancel your registration through Eventbrite as soon as possible. This allows someone on the waitlist to take your spot.

No-Show Policy

A no-show is when a participant registers for a class but does not attend and does not cancel their registration before the class begins.

• Participants who have two no-shows within a 6-month period may be removed from future class registrations or temporarily restricted from registering for future classes.
• Cancellations made before the class starts do not count as a no-show.
• We understand that emergencies happen. If you were unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances, please contact us so we can take that into consideration.

Thank you for helping us make these free classes accessible to everyone in our community.

Questions?

Email phmailbox@berkeleyca.gov, or call us at (510) 981-5350.