Let’s join together as like-minded women, and change the world one birth at a time!
Birth Institute is delighted to announce the first annual Birth Camp, to be held from October 8-10 at the historic Chautauqua Association in picturesque Boulder, Colorado.
Join us for two-and-a-half days packed with educational sit-ins, singing, hiking, farm-to-table food, hands-on activities, networking and friendship building among fellow birth advocates.
- Learn useful birth worker skills such as rebozo, acupressure, polarity technique, moxa and placenta encapsulation from esteemed Birth Institute faculty.
- Gain experience with the ancient art of belly henna, and learn to create your own herbal tea and yoni steaming blends.
- Experience joyous community through signing, story-telling, hiking and yoga alongside fellow midwives, doulas and birth advocates.
- Enjoy delicious breakfast and lunch prepared by Boulder’s Three Leaf Farm.
- Attend a welcome reception in beautiful downtown Boulder, hosted by our non-profit organization Midwife International.
- Receive a welcome basket filled with great products for birth advocates, moms and babies.
- A certificate of completion will be awarded at the conclusion event! The hours at Birth Camp are non-accredited contact hours.
Itinerary
October 7 (Arrival & Check-In)
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm Arrival & Check-In
We encourage you to arrive early so that you have time to meet your roommates, take a hike in historic Chautauqua park and settle-in.
6:00-8:00 Dinner On Your Own (cabins equipped with full kitchens)
October 8th (Day 1)
8:00 – 8:30 Breakfast Served at the Community House
8:30 – 9:00 Opening Meditation & Welcome
9:00 – 11:00 Acupressure
Acupressure points help the birthing woman to cope with labor pain; it can stimulate contractions and help increase labor efficiency. From a medical model acupressure can be viewed as: promoting the release of endorphins, blocking the pain receptors to the brain thereby increasing the production of oxytocin. From a TCM point of view acupressure increases the flow of Qi (life energy) and creates a balance allowing the body to function more efficiently.
11:00 – 11:30 Singing & Movement
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch by Three Leaf Farms
12:30-2:30 DIY Herbal Steams & Tea Blends for Women’s Health
Herbs are invaluable to midwives and doulas, as these healing botanicals lend physical and emotional support to our clients through pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum. In this session, you’ll gain an understanding of a few of our herbal allies, and have the opportunity to mix your own blends to bring home. Specifically, we’ll create a blend of herbal pregnancy tea, as well as a blend designed for yoni steaming (the Mayan postpartum practice also known as the bajo).
2:30 – 3:30 Story Telling
Circle the globe with midwife Brandi Lauer. Brandi will share her experience invite a discussion about international birth, traditional birth attendants & midwives, cultural differences in the care and treatment of laboring women, global customs around birth and the newborn. Slide show focusing on Vanuatu, Uganda and Indonesia.
3:30 Yoga
4:30 BREAK
5:30-7:00 Midwife International Happy Hour, Downtown Boulder
Network with local doulas, midwives, students and maternal health activists and join us in a toast to midwives.
7:00-9:00 On Your Own for Dinner (eat downtown or return to your cabin)
October 9th (Day 2)
8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast
9:00 – 10:30 Labor Progress Sit-In with Jacky Bloemraad-de Boer
Polarity Technique. This simple technique helps to progress a stalled labor. It is able to increase regularity of contractions, aid with relaxation, change position of the baby and help bring the woman into her parasympathetic nervous system.
EFT: Emotional Freedom Technique. EFT is simple and easily learnt self-technique that is used to release trauma’s or “self beliefs” hidden deep within the subconscious, which may delay or slow the onset of labor or cause labor dystocia.
10:30 – 11:30 Sit-In with Brandi
The Amazing Placenta. An in depth review on the life of the placenta, development and physiology, the important role it plays in pregnancy, and information about placental encapsulation, the benefits and the controversy.
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch by Three Leaf Farms
12:30 – 1:30 Story-Telling
Professional Collaboration. Midwife Julie Hughes will lead a panel discussion about the importance of professional collaboration, trust and community building for the benefit of mothers and families.
1:30 – 2:30 Body Henna
The ancient art of mehndi, or henna, is used to bless women for ceremonies, celebrations and rites of passages, including birth. In this session, you’ll discover the rich history and philosophy of this intimate fine art, and learn how to adorn your clients and friends. We’ll cover the process of mixing and applying the henna paste, as well as it’s healing properties, design symbolism, and after care.
2:30 – 3:30 Moxa Therapy
Research confirms that Moxa Therapy increases the chances of breech babies spontaneously turning & the use of Moxa Therapy prior to and ECV increases the success of the baby turning and reduces the incidence of babies turning back into a breech position.
3:30 BREAKOUT
Current Students: Sit-In with Jacky, Julie, and Brandi. Participate in team building activities and Q&A with your instructors.
Non-Students: Sit-In with Sarah, Lauren & MacKenzie – Having it all: How to promote your business and build the career of your dreams. Develop a matrix to map your goals/priorities and learn tactics for leveraging social media to share your vision and build community
5:00 BREAK (dinner on your own)
7:00 Round-Robin
Back to camp! Host a game or activity in your cabin. Sign-up during break on day-1.
October 10th (Day 3)
Breakfast on your own
8:00 – 10:00 Hike with Local Doulas & Midwives
Meet local midwives and doulas and talk with the Birth Institute faculty while exploring the Boulder Flatirons.
10:00– 10:30 Closing Ceremony
Lodging
If you would like to stay on-site, the Colorado Chautauqua Association offers beautiful cottages as a place to rest, cook and build memories with fellow campers between Birth Camp events. Historic cottage-style cabins are available in studio, 1, 2 or 3 bedroom configurations, each with fully equipped kitchens and screened-in front porches.
Please visit our accommodations page to learn more about lodging and transportation.
Registration
Open to doulas, midwives, students and birth advocates. Due to the hands-on nature of camp activities, space is limited to 80 participants so register today!