womb to world workshop with anna verwaal in los angeles

we had 2 incredible doulas at our son's homebirth.  and they are both involved in this once-in-a-lifetime workshop!  danielle marie gutshall is hosting and organizing anna verwaal's workshop.  this is like anna's seminar that my husband went to 2 years ago (it was specifically for dads that day), and he called at the end saying, "we're having a homebirth!  done deal."

a little info:

Who are the workshops for? 

This profoundly transformational and highly informative course is designed for birth 

professionals, midwives, doulas, childbirth educators, birth related body workers and 

healers, prenatal yoga instructors, couples planning to conceive or currently pregnant 

and anyone seeking to understand, prevent and heal from birth imprints & trauma 

How are the workshop presented? 

• Audio-visual Power-Point presentations containing text and photographic 

  documentation of Anna’s clients and their babies experiencing all kind of birth 

  scenarios. (All stories told and photos used with permission) 

• Various current DVD’s on birth, breastfeeding and bonding. 

Do I have to attend all three days or can I just take one? 

Each separate workshop is about a different aspect to do with birth and can be taken by 

it self. How ever the workshop series is created to take the participant on a journey, 

from the past, through the present into the future. This will lead to an understanding of 

how all aspects of birth affect the journey. Where we are in our consciousness, 

emotionally and spiritually greatly influences and shapes the physicality and outcome of 

the birth journey whether you are a doula, midwife, or parent-to-be. 

Who presents the workshops? 

Anna Verwaal, RN, CLE, born and educated in the Netherlands is a Maternal-Child 

Health Nurse, Conscious Conception & Birth Consultant, Labor- & Post Partum Doula, 

UCLA Certified Lactation Educator and Birth Photographer. 

Anna lectures internationally and teaches workshops about the cellular memory of the 

birth experience, the physiological & hormonal blueprint for birth & bonding as well as 

the deeply psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects of giving birth. Her experience 

is based on working for more than 25 years in various countries as a nurse and doula 

along side perinatologists, obstetricians as well as (indigenous) midwives attending 

hospital, birth center, home, lotus- and nature-births. Currently Anna lives in Santa Fe 

and is working on a photo book of birth. 

Workshop location and directions 

Bini Birth Loft, 5355 Cartwright Ave. Unit 313, North Hollywood, CA91601 

www.binibirth.com 

Workshop Dates & Times 

October 9, 2010 from 9-30 AM until 5.30 PM 

photo from anna's website.

i had to laugh out loud at myself today....

....when my awesome o.b., paul crane (that's him above,  looking fresh right after my homebirth), showed up unexpectedly on a clip that i was watching online of a certain someone from a certain show birth her baby......it was kourtney kardashian from "keeping up with the kardashians".  the show i just ragged on 2 days ago---ha!

 i do not discriminate when it comes to watching births.  they pretty much all interest me.   and, shit, the girl has stellar taste in doctors, what can i say...

note to self...i still need to do a post about dr. paul crane, and my amazing midwife, and my amazing doulas (danielle and anna)....i think already did a shout out to the most amazing pediatrician ever.

an article that may make you want to stand up and cheer!

this awesome article was on the front page of cnn.com this morning (kudos, cnn) about a woman who REALLY did not want a c-section.  it was her fourth child, and her local hospital insisted that she have one because one of her other children was born as a c-section.  this hospital would not do a vbac (vaginal birth after c-section) because "they have a slightly higher risk for complications", so she moved 6 hours away in the final weeks of her pregnancy in order to have a vaginal birth.  and she had one!   wahoo!

this article is great, because it has a really smart list of questions at the bottom that all mothers should be knowledgeable of if they would prefer to avoid a c-section.  for example:

2. "Doctor, what would happen if we waited an hour or two?"

The vast majority of the time, when your doctor or midwife tells you it's time for a C-section, it's not an emergency, Flamm says.

In many cases, women just need more time to labor, he adds. In fact, he says the No. 1 reason for a C-section is "failure to progress" during labor. "If that's what we're talking about, then it's not an emergency," he says.

expect the unexpected...

....not to be confused with what to expect when you're expecting....


i recently came across a lovely story about a second time mom who desired a home birth VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarian).  i would like to share it in defense of women who end up in unwanted cesarians, yet make the experience as peaceful as possible.   click here for this well-photographed story.

what may help shorten your labor

i was recently speaking with my lovely friend danielle, who was my incredible doula (i'll post more on her amazing-ness later), and she shared with me the 2 things that the shortest first-time mom natural labors she witnessed had in common.  they were:

pre-natal yoga at least 2-3 times a week and acupuncture right around the due date to help induce labor.

danielle told me i was one of these short labor examples---my labor was 7 hours plus pushing.  i did pre-natal yoga 3 times a week.   i had acupuncture on my due date and a couple days later on the eve of my labor.  i delivered naturally 4 days late.

i just spoke with a first-time mom friend yesterday who walked around for weeks at 3cm, days at 6cm, and had about 20 minutes of labor/contractions until she quickly pushed the baby out!!  guess what she did?.....pre-nata....ok ok, you get the point....

my usual disclaimer....you never know how your labor will go, but there are things you can do that may likely help you stay ahead of the curve....

day one...labor day

this is the stuff that no one talks about.

do not seek counsel in what to expect when you're expecting------unless what you're expecting is a head injury that leaves you a total boob who finds tips like "don't do drugs while pregnant" insightful. with 279 one-star reviews on amazon, i know i am not alone.....

i don't remember reading in this the most popular pregnancy book that if you have a really long pushing session during your birth (mine was 3.5 hours unmedicated), you can expect to be nearly crapping your pants within a week unless you're the kegel champion of the world.  and did i miss the part in the pushing chapter about how your bladder can nearly fall out of your vagina a couple of weeks after birth unless you get physical therapy (don't worry moms-to-be, this is repairable)?  granted not everyone pushes as long as i did, but what about the chapter on your baby taking 30 minute naps every 2 hours----that's 5 naps a day, folks----for 4 months of his infancy? once my baby was born, i was certain i'd be getting everything done during his 2 hour naps that he would definitely be taking twice a day....yeah, no.  never happened.  hey, and why isn't he sleeping through the night?

why are we parents not talking about this stuff?  do we forget these several months following childbirth due to hazy sleep deprivation? do we feel inadequate when our baby doesn't sleep through the night, or when we mothers meltdown on a weekly (ok, daily at first) basis? do we not want to bum out parents-to-be with stories of breast infections and newborns that want to nurse for what seems like 7 hours at a time?

motherhood has been the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me....all of the cliches are 150% true.  there is nothing more in life that i want now than to have my 9-month-old son grow into a happy, well-adjusted, compassionate human being.  he gives me profound fulfillment on an hourly basis.  during this amazing journey this last year or so, i have met incredible parents, babies, pregnant couples, doctors, doulas, midwives, physical therapists, acupuncturists, and more.   and i have logged countless hours on researching everything from homebirth to cloth diapers---to all of the inevitable, and yet totally unexpected, physical and psychological components of becoming a parent.  what i have never come across was a forum for parents or parents-to-be with unique current information on all things baby--with a focus on what happens immediately after the baby comes.  i would like to attempt that here at baby manual.  please email with stories, photos, and questions galore....let's build a community together.

this is my first post, so here we gooooooooooo!!!!!!

this is what a homebirth looks like....

and this....

and this....

and this....

and finally....

instant amnesia....pure bliss....

and i will definitely do it again if i am so blessed....new baby poop all over me and all....

sepia photos by anna verwaal www.fromwombtoworld.com