Creating Space: Pelvic Dynamics, Fetal Positioning, and Use of the Rebozo: A workshop for clinical and non-clinical birth workers to explore movement in labor and develop techniques for decreasing intervention in all births. 

This workshop for birth support professionals will benefit prenatal and birth workers—doulas, midwives, obstetricians, childbirth educators, chiropractors, massage therapists—both new and experienced. Emphasis is placed on better understanding the relationship between pelvic biomechanics and fetal positioning and the movement and positions that facilitate labor progress. Information is presented in a dynamic hands-on format that encourages participation to facilitate anatomical understanding, the development of skills and techniques for encouraging clients to feel empowered in their bodies, and the positions, techniques, and concepts for birth professionals to feel confident in supporting labors both medicated and unmedicated, in any setting.

Discussion begins with the role of the birth worker in both educating the client about and encouraging the client to understand their pelvis and their baby's movement through pregnancy and labor in relation to pelvic space and in supporting the client in taking advantage of this knowledge during labor. Common position-related labor complications throughout the labor process will be covered in depth, along with support measures for releasing pelvic floor tension to encourage descent and rotation. An in-depth discussion and hands-on practice of positions for facilitating optimal positioning of the baby—pelvis-dependent—and encouraging descent and rotation through all stages and phases of labor provides birth workers with insight and tools for working with clients to reduce interventions and the risk of cesarean sections. Common myths surrounding pelvic shape and fetal positioning are debunked through research-based exploration and evidence based resources. The Rebozo is introduced from a perspective that leaves participants with an understanding of its rich history and role in traditional Mexican and Meso American culture. Rebozo techniques to relax the muscles and ligaments of the pelvic floor, uterus, and lower back are practiced in addition to a discussion of ways in which the Rebozo has been traditionally used to help facilitate the labor process. Participants will leave feeling inspired, knowledgeable, and full of information to start sharing with clients right away!

In this workshop we will…

• Analyze and reframe the idea of “optimal fetal positioning” from a research based perspective

• Understand fetal positioning as pelvis dependent

• Demonstrate and participate in pelvic bodywork exercises

• Explore pelvic release techniques

• Learn how to assess common fetal position-related labor stalls

• Practice positions for encouraging descent and rotation based on fetal station

• Gain an appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of the Rebozo and its traditional role in Mexican and Meso-American midwifery

• And so much more!

Participants are encouraged to bring a birth ball or peanut ball and a long scarf or a Rebozo with them to the workshop. 

Continuing Education: ICEA has approved 6 contact hours for this workshop. Contact hours through ACNM are in the application process. If you would like the credit, you will be able to pay $10 directly to Brittany at the event, and then receive documentation via email.

Cancellation Policy: Refunds available for those who are attending births when they email the Host info@birthwaysinc.com before 7am the day of the workshop.

About the Presenter: Brittany Sharpe McCollum, CCE(BWI), CD(DONA) is the owner of Blossoming Bellies Wholistic Birth Services in Philadelphia PA, providing childbirth education classes, birth doula services, and dynamic labor support and pelvic biomechanics training workshops for clinical and non-clinical professionals and expectant parents. She has been offering birth-related services since 2007 and continues to work towards change in the maternity care system by providing expectant parents with the tools to be actively involved in their care and through her work facilitating evidence based fetal positioning and pelvic dynamics workshops and webinars to birth workers. Brittany is honored to speak at international childbirth related conferences, including the Evidence Based Birth conference held in Kentucky this past September, and to facilitate workshops privately for obstetricians, midwives, nurses, doulas, childbirth educators, and chiropractors around the country, as well as present a bi-annual training for the general Philadelphia birth community, of which she is a part.  Brittany lives in Philadelphia with her partner and three children. Check out her website for upcoming webinars, classes, workshops, conference events, and more at http://www.blossomingbelliesbirth.com, follow her on Instagram @blossomingbelliesbirth, and stay in touch on Facebook at Blossoming Bellies Wholistic Birth Services.

What Makes Blossoming Bellies Pelvic Dynamics Workshops Unique?
People have often asked what makes the Blossoming Bellies workshops different from other trainings. We are incredibly lucky as a birth community to have amazing resources for education and training in the greater Philadelphia area. From workshops on the rich history and use of Rebozo, to bodily alignment, prenatal yoga, incredible doula trainings offered through many different organizations, trauma informed care workshops, postpartum mental health support, and more, we are part of a diverse fabric of opportunity that allows us, as birth workers, access to some really incredible education. In the context of these workshops, it is fairly easy to see how the Blossoming Bellies pelvic dynamics trainings bring something different to the table. However, when it comes to continuing education workshops like those offered by Spinning Babies, it may seem a bit harder to distinguish the differences. My honest answer, for a long time, when people asked how my workshops were different than those facilitated by Spinning Babies trainers, was "I don't know!". I had been facilitating workshops on anatomy, pelvic bodywork and biomechanics, fetal positioning, and movement in labor and birth for years yet had never attended a Spinning Babies workshop. So I decided to go. Not only would it offer me opportunity to expand my knowledge - something we should always be open to—but it would also allow me to easily clarify what makes my workshops unique. 

In the Blossoming Bellies pelvic dynamics workshops (including the shorter one hour sessions all the way through our longest seven hour sessions), the perspective focuses on the pregnant and laboring person's ability to use dynamics and biomechanics to create the space their baby needs to descend and rotate through the bony pelvis.  Although anatomy, fetal positioning, and fetal presentation are discussed to create shared foundational knowledge, the conventional idea of “optimal fetal positioning” is not applied to the content or encouraged by the techniques in the Blossoming Bellies workshops. Some positions for labor, of course, are covered in both workshops, as would be expected in any training geared towards labor progress. However, Creating Space is a dynamic movement-based approach to supporting pregnant and laboring people both with and without pain medication, emphasizing the role that each individual's unique pelvic space plays in the positioning, descent, and rotation of a baby throughout labor and birth and the importance of and options available for mobility in labor.

Blossoming Bellies pelvic dynamics workshops combine anthropological research with resources from anatomy, kinesiology, physiotherapy, and perinatal education to explore alignment and positioning in pregnancy, labor, and birth and incorporate an understanding of biomechanics into the way clinical and non-clinical providers support birthing people. In addition, our workshops aim to provide education to support people that can help restore their client's confidence and trust in the birthing process by breaking down myths that perpetuate anxiety and emphasizing the adaptability of the body. 

Our workshops are similar to those of Spinning Babies in that we both aim to decrease intervention, morbidity, and mortality through an understanding of the  physiological labor process and an offering of ways clinical and non-clinical providers can support that process. However, although fundamental information may be similar and the workshops complement each other, the focus and content of the Blossoming Bellies approach to reducing intervention differs. 

So - just a reminder! Brittany Sharpe McCollum and Blossoming Bellies Wholistic Birth Services are not affiliated with Spinning Babies and do not provide Spinning Babies workshops or workshops based on Spinning Babies principles. What Spinning Babies does is awesome and what we do is awesome and both are great opportunities for education, empowerment, and support!

Hosted by Birthways Inc.