Welcome to the Birthing Wisdom website
Birthing Wisdom has been offering the most comprehensive and in-depth Holistic Birth practitioner course in the UK for a number of years; our practitioners have prepared and supported many couples before, during and after the birth of their baby. Something that has become clear from the practitioners' feedback and that of the parents they have cared for, is the effects of the prevalent culture on the birthing couples and its implication on birth outcomes and parenting.
Childbirth practices have changed enormously in the recent years and it is now, for the first time, the norm for birthing women in Britain and America to have medical interventions.
Research has shown the importance of the right kind of preparation and support in preventing complication and interventions in childbirth and parenthood. This preparation needs to go beyond the intellectual knowledge or body based exercise offered by most antenatal preparation classes. It needs to include an emotional and mental preparation as well as look at the overall social and cultural climate the women and couples are birthing and raising their children into.
In other words what is needed is a holistic approach in preparation as well as holistic care during the childbearing year, such as the one pioneered in Birthing Wisdom's courses and events.
Despite their best intention, many practitioners in the mainstream as well as the complementary sector struggle to support women and couples to have a positive birth and parenting experience.
It can be such a challenge to work in a culture which does not support the kind of care practitioners want to offer and which they know would make a difference to the experiences and outcome for all involved.
Whilst changes obviously need to be made on the governmental level, can we just carry on watching babies and parents being traumatised at birth, and women and couples struggle unnecessarily to raise their families? We can act together, across different sectors, learning from each other and supporting one another. Whether we are midwives, childbirth educators, doulas, health visitors or complementary therapist, mothers or fathers, we all have the same aim, the well being of families and our world.
So what can we do?
By organising grass roots conferences and events in local communities Birthing Wisdom is creating a focus point where families and professionals can come together to explore ways to create a new culture of birth and parenting in their local area - moving away from the prevalent climate of fear and social fragmentation towards embodied presence, love and connectedness, the corner stones of positive birth and parenting experiences.
Such a radical change requires support, tools, time and finances. For seeds to grow, gentle and consistent nurturing is needed. Local networks for parents and professionals provide the safe space and support for healing to take place and the seeds of change to bloom; training provides the tools and the opportunities to un-learn, to remember and celebrate the wisdom we all share.
So come and join us! Come to one of our events, start or join a group in your local area. We are in the process of setting up Hubs in various part of the UK. Hubs are central points, physical as well as virtual, where women and men can access information, resources and holistic support and services, as well as be part of a like minded community during the crucial period from conception to 9 months after the birth. We have opened our first Hub in Totnes on November the 2nd in 2011. Its a great place to be, come and visit us.
For finances, we need your input. Help us make an impact by providing funding to support this work. We are wanting to reach all people including the ones who may have very limited access to resources. We have now started an active fundraising programme to support birthing women and their families. During 2011 we have raised money for the Doula UK hardship fund (to enable women on low income access to birth and postnatal support), for the African Birth Collective and their volunteers (who do wonderful work lowering the desperately high infant mortality rate in Africa), for the Joliba Trust to train more local Birth attendants in Mali and for the creation of local mother's support circles in the UK.
Could you contribute too? By supporting our fundraising efforts or making a donation for women & new mothers and their families in the UK and Africa.
Be part of the parents and professionals who can make a difference to how our next generation is born and raised.
Let's together create a peaceful and caring world,
for our children and for ourselves.