Offerings for Perinatal Professionals
Perinatal Professionals need support too! We hold people through the intense and transformational perinatal period and yet are often isolated in the work we do. We offer opportunities to connect within and across professions and also learn together to better support our communities and clients.
What: Bi-monthly and in-person meetups at EBBC for birthworkers who are seeking community, support and accountability.
In our first meetup of each month, we’ll connect in community to process our in-person work with clients, offer skills sharing including business support, and hear what we might need from one another to allow our work to be sustainable.
In the second meetup of each month, we’ll be intention setting for the month ahead, creating personal and professional road maps to create actionable steps to move towards our goals.
For Who: All birthworkers and postpartum doulas
By Who: led by birthworker and facilitator, Elyse Schroeder
When: 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month, from 10a-12p, dates below
Register: 2nd and 4th Tuesday mornings from 10a-12p. Please RSVP so we know how many folks to expect! A suggested contribution of $5-20 can be sent to Elyse via Venmo upon attendance at group. The upcoming dates are:
April: 2nd Tues, 4/8 + 4th Tues, 4/22
May: 2nd Tues, 5/13 + 4th Tues, 5/27
June: 2nd Tues, 6/10 + 4th Tues, 6/24
What: Calling all pelvic PTs/OTs, chiropractors, acupuncturists, body workers, yoga teachers and Pilates instructors who work with pregnancy and postpartum clients!
Many of us have private practices or work in silos where we are limited when it comes to connecting with other providers and practitioners and have questions related to the care and support for our clients.
Anietie (Tia) Ukpe-Wallace, DPT/PT, is excited to be facilitating this monthly meet up to socialize and also share and learn from each other. We will meet once a month. For the first hour we will mingle, enjoy some refreshments and get to know each other and your respective practice. For the second hour, we will dive into a journal article to discuss, share ideas on treatments and movement practices.
When: monthly on a Saturday
April 19th from 1-3pm
May 17th from 2-4pm **SPECIAL GROUP: we’re hosting Gena McCarthy for a workshop on supporting clients when trauma comes up on the table** Registration is necessary with suggested contribution to Gena for her facilitation and teaching.
June 28th from 10am-12pm
Suggested donation of $15 for the Monthly Meet Up, payable to Tia via Venmo upon attendance.
RSVP to Tia by email at tia@selfcarephysio.com! May’s Meet Up will require registration and suggested contribution of $30 to Gena via Venmo @Gena-McCarthy for her workshop on supporting clients when trauma arises on the table.
What: This workshop is designed to cultivate your confidence and competence working with triggers from old and/or current traumas in yourself and your clients while being in a nourishing community, flow of information and renewing practices. You will learn swift resources for yourselves and your clients which return people to somatic safety in the moment. We will cover specific examples of when and how you can resource yourself during a birth and when and how you can support your client to resource herself during birth. We will look at which resources are the most useful for people who have a history of sexual abuse, for people who have issues with their mothers, for people who have significant histories of PTSD and more.
To address a trigger or prevent trauma, you do not have to know why you are triggered, you just need to attend to the body to support it to return to a state of calmness. These practices are highly effective preventing triggered states from developing into full blown traumas. We will look at the long and short roots of perinatal trauma and why these resources are effective neurobiologically. There will be time for questions and examples. I am honored and grateful to support you to prevent and address birth trauma! Experience and research show us that when we address trauma and triggers we can reclaim our physiological innate capacity during the perinatal period for wonder and connection.
For Who: Birthworkers
By Who: Gena McCarthy, Retired perinatal nurse, perinatal psychotherapist, MFT #32708, certified EMDR (PTSD treatment) provider, a developer of integrative health programs, a 1-1 Healing Birth Trauma Model based on Bilateral Stimulation, and a Healing Birth Trauma Workshop Model and has been offering healing birth trauma sessions for the last 30 years. She has been a consultant and educator for maternity care clinic staffs in psychological/spiritual self care and growth for many years and is trained in cross-cultural Shamanic and Buddhist ways of healing, perinatal psychology and trauma healing. She and her partners currently offer renewal ceremonies for perinatal professionals and a Perinatal Ceremonies podcast. She also offers retreats at various spiritual centers, nationally and internationally on Beyond the Mother Wound ~ Reclaiming the Empowered Feminine.
When: Saturday, May 24th from 1-4p
Fee: Sliding scale suggested between $150-50. No one turned away for lack of funds, but please do register.
Register: Use this link or the ‘register’ button to sign up for Gena’s workshop.
What: A social and networking space for Perinatal Professionals to meet other folks working in the field across different modalities.
For Who: Any perinatal professional!
By Who: facilitation by the EBBC Team, snacks served!
When: quarterly offering - we will open registration for each subsequent Meet Up after the prior Meet Up completes.
Spring Session: Sunday, April 27th from 2:30-5:00 (FULL, but please email us if you’d like to be on the waitlist, as cancellations are likely)
Summer Session: Sunday, August 17th from 2:30-5:00
Fall Session: Sunday, November 9th from 2:30-5:00
Register: RSVP is required for this event. Please click the Register button to sign up. We hope to make space for all who wish to attend, so we will open registration for the subsequent meet up at the beginning of the season and will send out a note on our newsletter.
What: free, monthly student midwife skills discussion, practice, and support
For Who: Student midwives, at any point on their journey
By Who: BIPOC Student Midwives Fund
When: we meet the first Tuesday of the month unless it’s a holiday, 9am - noon (see the calendar for specifics)
Register: email bipocstudentmidwives@gmail.com to be added to the email list for details
What: After two wildly successful informational and co-working sessions, we hope to bring these back to support the Birthworker community ASAP. A full program for Birthworker support and community building is underway.
A two-part series to support Birthworkers through MediCal Doula registration and the new Kaiser Doula contract process.
PART ONE: ‘Navigating Medi-Cal’ (completed in Feb, spring session pending!)
Presented by Cornerstone Birthwork & Mika Cade
This meeting is an opportunity to connect, share knowledge, and strategize on making Medi-Cal services more accessible. We’ll start with a discussion on Medi-Cal, addressing common barriers and ways to navigate the system. Mika Cade will then lead a presentation covering key insights on the enrollment and reimbursement process.
Afterward, we’ll break into small groups to connect with others at the same stage of the process for a focused co-working session. We’ll regroup to share insights, outline personal next steps, and wrap up with a discussion on available resources to keep moving forward.
PART TWO: ‘Kaiser Doula Contract Informational Meeting’ (completed in Feb, spring session pending!)
Presented by Sannaz Keyhani & Mika Cade, support by Anya Rapoport & Cornerstone Birthwork
This meeting will be an opportunity to learn more about the Kaiser Doula Contract registration and claims process by a team of birthworkers who are ‘in it’ with you - figuring out the process and sharing information. With this new process, we know there are concerns, frustrations and grievances which we will do our best to collect in a survey to communicate directly with Kaiser and take any unanswered questions to them.
*given how new this information is and how many people need access to it, we will be taking RSVPs for virtual attendance for Part Two of this series for those who can’t make it in person or if we fill to capacity - virtual attendees may not be able to participate in live Q&A, but all questions will be taken down and responded to either in-session or in a post-session follow up*
For Who: All Birthworkers
By Who: presentations by Birthworkers of Cornerstone Birthwork, Mika Cade, Sannaz Keyhani, with support by Anya Rapaport
When:
Sessions completed in February. New session dates are pending!
Register: Click on the register button above to RSVP for one or both of the informational sessions. Suggested donation of $10-40 for each session, submitted via Venmo to facilitators after registration. No one turned away for lack of funds. You will receive a required survey to fill out after you RSVP.
What: A sacred space cast and held by Gena McArthy, Sandra Lloyd and Verana Faye Bailowitz for the nourishment of perinatal providers in their work and lives, and to create a more beautiful world.
For Who: All perinatal professionals
By Who: facilitation by Gena McArthy, Sandra Lloyd and Verana Faye Bailowitz
When: we hope to open this space once a season
Register: Please RSVP to Gena for planning
What: A class for providers who are interested in learning more about Perinatal Mood & Anxiety issues and how to better support the clients and families they work with.
For Who: Perinatal Providers (therapists, doulas, IBCLCs, midwives & other providers)
By Who: EBBC Creator and Perinatal Psychotherapist, Robyn Alagona Cutler
When: a 2 hour workshop, spring dates pending!
Register: please email us if you are interested in registering for this event when the dates are set