Dear Aspiring Midwife,

Thank you for your inquiry about Wise Womanhood Midwifery Training. I began teaching classes for aspiring midwives in 1987 because there were so many women hungry to learn more about birth & their own womanhood. And now you find such a hunger inside yourself. Because this hunger is not just for "book knowledge" and the art of midwifery requires more than just technical knowledge, the classes I offer now include both the technical knowledge expected of student midwives & ways to grow in yourself and to hone your inner skills.

The core midwifery class I offer is the Beginning Midwifery Course. This monthly class meets for 13, 3 hour meetings beginning Thursday, February 3, 2005. The course also includes 10 extensive study modules and a copy of my book of contemplations, Giving Birth to Ourselves.

These classes are ideal for people interested in knowing more about childbirth from a midwifery perspective : you might be considering midwifery training, preparing for or currently in an apprenticeship OR thinking about or preparing for attending midwifery school. (This training does provide a basis for completing the CPM through the Portfolio Evaluation Process. ) Others take the class as an adjunct to doula training, pregnancy massage, or other work with pregnant women or newborns.

You will be included on my Wise Womanhood mailing list/email list unless you let me know otherwise. Be sure to contact us with any questions or concerns so that we may tailor the course to your situation. To receive my free email newsletter, just send me an email indicating you’d like to be on my list.

Blessings on your journey,

Terra Rafael

WiseWoman Healer & Midwife
WiseWomanhood
Wise Womanhood llc 720.628.5015

WiseWomanhood Midwifery Training

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of WiseWomanhood Midwifery Training is to offer aspiring and practicing midwives information and experiences that will allow them to be resourceful midwives - having many sources to draw upon, knowing how to do so, and being skillful in doing so with the guidance of the Wisewoman traditions and steps of healing.

The purpose is to assist the birthing women to be as healthy, empowered, & conscious as possible in their process of bringing their babies into the world, which in turn, results in healthier babies & families.

PHILOSOPHY

-Birth is a highly successful process which has enabled us to continue on the Earth for millenia. It is a part of Nature, as we are. We can cooperate & participate with the guiding force of Nature, yet it is beyond the full understanding & control of the small human mind.

-Each individual birth is unique. Models of birth (i.e. stages of labor, Freidman's curve) are not real. They are useful imaginary "averages" for explaining or teaching. The integrity of mother & baby are guides to the health of the process.

-Midwives traditionally support & assist the mother to care for herself through pregnancy, birth & postpartum, using means available to them to promote the health of mother & baby.

-Birthing women & their babies benefit from skillful use of appropriate technology. "Appropriate" technology means that it is used to benefit the health & integrity of the mother & baby. The Steps of wisewoman healing are useful guides in appropriateness. "Technology" includes medical, herbal, body work, energetic, psychological & spiritual knowledge & technique - whatever may work at the appropriate step for that particular person/time/place. The steps of wisewoman healing (as outlined by herbalist Susun Weed) are helps in deciding when & what interventions to make :

0. Do nothing; return to the creative void & do not interfere with the process as it unfolds.

1. Collect information; retrieve from mother's wisdom, ask questions, consult oracles, read books.

2. Utilize energy or environment; engage elemental forces, walk, bathe, move, breathe, acknowledge & release emotions, use aromatherapy, flower remedies, homeopathy, energy work, ritual.

3. Nourish & tone; optimally nourish mother & baby - mind, body, & spirit, open to compassion

4. Stimulate & sedate; use herbs to facilitate desired effect, initiate and move forward, slow down and reset the clock.

5. Use drugs; vitamin & mineral supplements, immediate results.

6. Break & enter; use invasive technology that forcefully enters the physical, emotional or energetic body.

-Being a midwife - "with woman" & thus, with baby - goes beyond physical care. It includes caring emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. For midwives to care in this way requires them to be conscious and loving of themselves . It requires being conscious of using power-within & power-with, rather than power-over.

Wise Womanhood llc 720.628.5015

resourcing@earthlink.net website:http://www.wisewomanhood.com

Beginning Midwifery Course

The Beginning Midwifery Course has been enjoyed by over 100 students as a way to:

-explore the inner workings of midwifery

-know better the womanly art of birthing

-prepare for apprenticeship examinations

-study in conjunction w/ or preparation for midwifery school or apprenticeship.

A wisewoman approach relates information directly to your own life and includes a strong personal growth component, & learning how to think in a holistic, woman-centered way.

The TEN MODULES are the core of information & cover these areas:

Groundwork - introduction; history & definition of midwifery; birth philosophy

The Inner Cradle - human anatomy & physiology topics related to reproduction

Nurturing Mother & Baby in Pregnancy

Recognizing & Nurturing those with Complications in Pregnancy

Understanding & Cooperating with Labor & Birth

Difficulties of Labor & Birth

Nurturing the Newborn

Recognizing & Caring for Newborns with Difficulties

Nurturing the Postpartum Family

Preparing to Apprentice

Required texts are: Midwifery by VarneyOR Holistic MidwiferyVol 1 & 2 by Anne Frye, ; Maternal Newborn Nursing by Olds, etc., & Pregnant Feelings by Baldwin & Palmarini Richardson; optional texts - Heart & Hands by Davis, Wisewoman Herbal for the Childbearing Years by S. Weed

Thirteen Thursdays 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Begins- February 3, 2005

Covers the materials of the class with lectures, stories, songs, birth videos & sisterhood

Instructor: Terra (Richardson) Rafael,RM I have been involved with homebirth since 1980 as childbirth educator, midwife, & author. This course has been offered since 1987.

Cost - $1000, $350 deposit to register. 10% discount for payment up front.

For more information or registration:

Beginning Midwifery Course Outline

Beginning Midwifery Course, 40+ hours class time plus at least 200 hours study module completion. This course is an overview of midwifery information about the childbearing year from conception to postpartum. Use of the Wisewoman Steps of Healing by Susun S. Weed & inner work for awareness of practice & decision making as a midwife is an integral part of the course. This is a basic course from which midwifery training proceeds. Instructor – Terra Rafael, Registered Midwife

Module 1: GROUNDWORK

Learning Objectives - Begin the student-teacher relationship. Provide information about midwifery as a profession in historical, political & personal contexts. Share my background & philosophy of birth, especially the wisewoman steps of healing. Inform students about MANA & other birth organizations, journals, & sources of books & other information. Inform students about WiseWomanhood & training available. Begin student contact with inner resources & how to develop them. Begin student development of self care as a helper. Encourage development of a study plan. Begin student development of birth philosophy.

Module A: PREPARING TO APPRENTICE

Learning Objectives - Considering aspects of apprenticeship relationships. Confidentiality. Keeping records of experience. Being apprentice at visits & births. Intro. to skills. Processing feelings about births. Intro. to herbs. Self care as apprentice, midwife.

Module 2: THE INNER CRADLE

Learning Objectives - Provide information & assist basic understanding of human reproduction, including basic anatomy, menstrual cycle, fertilization, baby development. Begin acquainting student with the pelvis in human form - feeling it on herself & others and beginning understanding of pelvic body work. Begin comfort with female genitals by exploring her own. See video of the beginning of life for visual understanding. Understanding of basic human genetics, including some genetic defects which occur. Knowledge of what a teratogen is and its effects on the developing baby. Understanding blood types and how blood incompatibilities happen. Begin knowing the marvelous placenta.

Module 3: NURTURING MOTHER & BABY IN PREGNANCY

Learning Objectives - Understanding determination of pregnancy, presumptive, probable & positive signs, what causes them. Know basic physiological changes of pregnancy. Discuss importance of pregnancy care & what is truly important about it. Discuss risk factors & rationales for commonly followed standards. Understand why history taking is important & common concerns. Understand why physical assessment is important. Beginning understanding of basic pregnancy lab work. Understanding common forms of pregnancy visits. Understanding & helping with common discomforts of pregnancy. Knowledge that the baby already senses & learns during pregnancy.The importance of nutrition in pregnancy, nutritional guidelines, and information on nutritional counseling. Knowledge of substances to avoid during preparations for labor & birth -kegels, massage, perineal massage. Recognizing women who are abuse victims or survivors & working with them.

Module 4: RECOGNIZING & NURTURING THOSE WITH COMPLICATIONS IN PREGNANCY

Learning objectives - Address feelings in the mother & midwife about unusual or difficult conditions of pregnancy. Understand what complications mean. When to consult & with whom. Danger signs of pregnancy, Terra's protocols for various difficulties of pregnancy. Other readings & discussion.

Module 5: UNDERSTANDING & COOPERATING WITH LABOR & BIRTH

Learning Objectives - Vocabulary. Theories about the cause of labor. Physiology of uterine contractions. Labor & warm-up labor. The four powers of labor & the Higher Power. Birth stories & videos as a way to become at home with birth. Medical model stages of labor, including the Friedman curve & what it means. Variations of labor & birth. Mechanisms of labor- definition & why bother with them. Understanding causes of pain in labor and relief measures. Model labor scenario including care & monitoring of mom, her mate, & baby.

Module 6: DIFFICULTIES OF LABOR & BIRTH

Learning Objectives - Begin recognizing & processing grief & fear about handling complications - how these feelings may effect the care giving. Understanding the wide variation of labor & birthand how we look at variation. Medical definitions & treatments and midwifery care of the most common & important to recognize complications - Terra's protocols & other readings. Supporting the family during transport & postpartum when there have been complications. Medical pain relief in labor.

Module 7: NURTURING THE NEWBORN

Learning Objectives - How our own experiences as a newborn can effect our care giving of newborns. The newborn's experience. Maintaining a space for the baby to stay connected or reconnect to Spirit. Adaptations to the outer environment. Appearance of newborns. Bonding. Nutritional needs & early breast feeding. Newborn habits. The cord & placenta. Medical care & the healthy newborn - Apgar scoring, newborn exam, cord blood, newborn screen, Vit K, eye prophylaxis, circumcision.

Module 8: RECOGNIZING & CARING FOR NEWBORNS WITH DIFFICULTIES

Learning Objectives - Being with a newborn with complications. Anticipating a baby who may need resuscitation. Infant resuscitation - what it is and methods. Other difficulties of newborns - Terra's pre wisewoman steps of healing protocols & other readings & discussion. Danger signs of the newborn. Stillbirth. SIDS. Recognizing abuse & neglect of babies - what to do.

Module 9: NURTURING THE POSTPARTUM FAMILY

Learning Objectives - Recognizing the mother's experience & needs pp. Assisting the mother to process the birth & early mothering experiences. Physical changes of pp. Common difficulties. PP experience & needs of father & siblings. Cultural expectations - our culture & others. PP depression. Basic anatomy & physiology of breast feeding. Intro. to breast feeding counseling. Family planning info & counseling.