MaideN to Mother
Postpartum Care Training
Salt Lake City, Utah | July 29th - August 2nd 2024
Postpartum mothers around the world share the same needs for postpartum wellness, yet many are suffering due to a widespread loss of ancestral knowledge and wise traditions. The disconnection from ancestors, community, body and land have contributed to a collective amnesia—We have forgotten our humanness, our wild intuition, and our innate knowing. We have also lost our “villages” and ways of tending to the new mother.
The way forward is in connection and deep remembrance.
We must recognize the universal needs of postpartum mothers and restore the healing traditions that center the mother-baby dyad and honor the sacred transition from maiden to mother.
REMEMBER. RECLAIM. REBUILD. REBIRTH.
In-person postpartum care training for birth and postpartum professionals | July 29th - August 2nd 2024
If you feel called to sacred and intentional postpartum work, you are in the right place.
We invite you to join this work of remembering and connecting with your deepest roots. Learn and reclaim knowledge and practices that rightfully belong to women and mothers. Rebuild sisterhood within conscious community and witness the ripple effects of deeply nourished and resourced mothers.
This training emphasizes the importance of family and community involvement in postpartum care and offers insight into traditional postpartum care practices including extended rest, nourishing foods, warmth, bodywork, and ritual.
Whether you are a seasoned birth worker or postpartum doula or just getting started, if you share this vision, we invite you to be a part of the change. Come join our circle!
What is postpartum?
Postpartum usually describes the six-week recovery period after birth. During these weeks the mother recovers physically and emotionally and begins an integration process. The body replenishes blood, restarts digestive processes, heals tissue, and produces breastmilk. Mothers begin to process birth experiences, adjust to bodily changes, and reorient to new life and identity. Though postpartum usually refers to the initial six weeks after birth, postpartum healing and integration continues for months and even years after.
mother-centered postpartum care
People usually think of postpartum care as help with cooking and cleaning and baby care, but the traditional cross-cultural model of care centers the mother and includes much more. Rooted in deep cultural wisdom and practices, mothers are encouraged to take an extended rest, stay in bed with their babies skin-to-skin and pause regular work and responsibilities. Homes are kept warm and mothers are served warm, nutritious meals and beverages. Mothers receive gentle bodywork and herbs are used to ease aches and pains. Meaningful rituals help with birth integration and honoring the complexity of experiences.
“Feminine wisdom is not learned; it is remembered. It is the ancient knowing that stirs within each woman, calling her back to her true self.”
-Chameli Ardagh
RETURNING TO OUR ROOTS
Every time a child is born it is an invitation to reflect on our individual and communal paths—where we have come from, where we are at, and where we are going. Today, at least 1 in 5 new mothers experience anxiety and/or depression, two thirds of mothers don’t meet their breastfeeding goals, and more mothers lose their lives to suicide in the United States than any other cause. In Ayurvedic medicine they say “forty days for forty years,” meaning the quality of the first forty days postpartum dictates the quality of the next forty years. When we restore traditional postpartum care practices the impacts are far reaching and the effects are felt by all of us.
does this SPEAK TO you?
-You are a new or established birth or postpartum worker or you work with mothers in a different capacity.
-You are looking for a training that will offer you the resources you need to start a mother-centered business or add additional offerings or insights to one you already run.
-You feel a deep spiritual connection to the work you do and find meaning and purpose in supporting mothers through the postpartum journey.
-You are drawn to practices that honor the sacredness of childbirth and motherhood.
-You see the mother-baby dyad as the foundation of human health and well-being.
-You value a mother’s intuition and instincts as well as your own.
-You are passionate about creating structures and systems that are life sustaining and that honor the mother as the natural center of the family and community.
-You see food and herbs as medicine and life as a ceremony.
-You stand for health freedom and personal authority.
-You care for your own health and well-being and recognize that by nurturing yourself, you are better able to support and care for others.
we would love to meet you!
“How beautiful can life be?
We hardly dare imagine it.”
—Charles Eiseinstein
by the end of this training you will:
-Be familiar with the healing timeline beginning after birth through six weeks postpartum and beyond.
-Know how to support mothers and their families after vaginal and cesarean births with traditional healing practices and therapeutic modalities.
-Be prepared to offer in-home mother-centered postpartum care and support holistic baby care based on individual needs.
-Be able to guide parents in postpartum planning and creating plans for thriving life as well as navigating common problems and potential crises.
-Feel more grounded in your business as you become clearer and more intentional in your purpose.
-Feel supported by like-minded community as you rely on your intuition to create offerings from your heart.
“Postpartum care is so important for creating a better experience for mothers and their babies, and is so needed in all communities. It’s important that we as birth workers know how to help mothers create well-being in their postpartum journeys. This training is such a beautiful offering for those wanting to deepen their ability to care for mothers.”
-Sarah Braun, Traditional Birth Attendant
postpartum care training topics slc, utah | JULY 29 - AUG 2, 2024
module 1: the birth of the mother
-The transition from maiden to mother, symbolic death and rebirth
-The mother-baby dyad and the period of exogestation
-Living in harmony with biological design and the universal needs of postpartum mothers
-Herstory and the loss of knowledge and traditions
-An overview of world postpartum traditions
-Healing and integration through the first 6 weeks and beyond
-The impact of the birth experience and supporting recovery from vaginal and cesarean births
-The changing body and brain
-Social and economical impacts on birth recovery and well-being
-Postpartum mental health
-The role of the doula, the family, and other postpartum circles of support
-Responding to unexpected and adverse events including death and other experiences of loss
module 2: REDEFINING SELF AND RELATIONSHIPS
-Communication and intimacy in partnership after birth
-Balancing home, work, and childcare responsibilities
-The human energy field and self-regulation
-Navigating grief, depression, anxiety, and other heavy emotions
-The wisdom of the body and the significance of symptoms
-Brain wave states postpartum and parenting from a place of intuition
-Connecting with self, partner/family, and community
-Parenting babies and young children — creating a safe and nurturing home environment
-The role of the mother in the family and home
module 3: Holistic babycare
-Honoring the mother-baby dyad and awareness of challenges to modern mothers
-Co-sleeping relationships and baby sleep
-Bonding with infant after birth and infant massage
-Common breastfeeding challenges and troubleshooting, breastfeeding history
-When mothers can’t or choose not to breastfeed
-Emotions of breastfeeding and bottle feeding and healing breastfeeding grief
-Elimination patterns after birth, cloth diapering, and EC (elimination communication)
-Baby wearing
-Healthcare decisions and health freedom
-Basic baby care, the microbiome, and introduction to baby’s first foods
module 4: FAMILY AND COMMUNITY AS THE FOUNDATION
-Ancestral traditions for postpartum care and honoring individual practices and traditions in the home
-Essential relationships between maidens and mothers
-Bringing the village back and building intentional community
-The law of reciprocity and the balance of giving and receiving in community
-Holding women’s circles and gatherings
-Heart to heart connection and storytelling as medicine
-Community involvement in postpartum circles of support and setting healthy boundaries
-Community witnesses and completing rites of passage
module 5: For the love of food
-Cooking as a spiritual art, energetics of foods, and intentional preparation of food
-Nutritional needs of new mothers and cooking to support recovery, lactation, and full body health
-World postpartum food traditions that are warming in nature or temperature, nutrient dense, and easy to digest
-The importance of animal products, organ meats, fats, raw dairy, fermented foods, etc. and foods to avoid or delay
-How to source food, properly prepare grains, make your own ferments at home, and use bones and organ meats
-How to prepare traditional foods in your own home or your client’s kitchen
-Placental consumption and different methods of preparation
module 6: herbal allies for recovery
-Deepening your relationship with herbs and confidently using them in the childbearing year
-A deep dive into yoni steaming — how to steam postpartum, contraindications and special considerations, what herbs to use, how long and how often
-Preparation of herbal remedies including herbal baths, foot baths, tinctures, salves, infused oils, teas, etc.
-Remedies for after pains, mastitis, exhaustion, etc.
-Supporting lactation with herbs
-Helpful remedies for infants and families
-Preparation and use of castor oil packs for the womb and breasts
-The physiological importance of warming therapies
-Creation of plant profiles and making a list of helpful herbs to know and use
-Sourcing of herbs and responsible wildcrafting
module 7: tending to heart and body
-TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and warming moxibustion therapy for womb healing
-Ayurvedic abhyanga massage for mom and baby and other forms of self massage
-Partner involvement with bodywork after birth
-Tending to the womb with massage and belly wrapping (bengkung, faja, or rebozo)
-Cesarean section incision care and scar remediation techniques
-The abdomen and pelvic floor after birth
-Connecting with the root of the body and pelvis, stored emotions, and self care
-Reconnecting with the body after birth and establishing feelings of safety
-Movement and setup of home to support full-body health
-Increased relaxin in the body and the return of strength and return to exercise
-The benefits of therapies including acupuncture, chiropractic care, cranial sacral therapy, and pelvic floor physical therapy
module 8: rituals for life and integration
-The Closing of the Bones ceremony — history, significance, and facilitation
-Holding space for death, loss, grief, and life transitions
-Rebirthing ceremonies as a way of reclaiming, processing and integrating the birth experience
-Honoring the placenta with cord burning or burial
-Honoring the c-section scar as a second portal
-Herbal baths for mom and/or baby after birth or as part of meaningful ritual
-Blessing ceremonies for mother and baby
-Creation of altars in-home and/or for ceremony and the four elements and directions
-Birth story medicine — revisiting/telling our stories and the importance of the witness
-Creating meaningful rituals for integration and healing
-Creativity, movement, and sound as healing
-Daily practices for grounding and renewal
module 9: PLANNING FOR POSTPARTUM
-Supporting parents in their postpartum preparation and planning
-Planning for extended rest and gradual return to life and responsibilities
-Identifying wants and needs and financial management
-Preparing the home, stocking the kitchen, and gathering supplies
-Family sleeping solutions
-The needs of the partner and other children in the home
-Communication with family and community about inclusion during postpartum recovery
-Crisis prevention and response
-Preparing for the unexpected — different birth outcomes, loss, illness
-Plans for returning to work
module 10: business from the heart
-Exploring your story and values
-Running a family-centered business
-Establishing and/or expanding your business vision
-Knowing yourself and your ideal client
-Attracting clients and establishing trust
-Recognizing blocks and living in abundance
-Offerings from the heart and energy exchange
-Bartering and trade in the gift economy
-Building a network of support and referrals
-Practical case studies and applications of postpartum care
“We are all here to contribute our gifts toward something greater than ourselves, and will never be content unless we are.”
— Charles Eisenstein
Hi, I’m heidi
The inspiration for this training was born back in 2019 after an intense birth experience and my journey as a new mother. I found myself struggling due to life situations and in a very dark place, and when I visited with my midwife weeks after birth and opened my heart up to her she asked me to take a depression questionnaire, and I ended up leaving her office with a prescription. I felt like my story and circumstance had so much depth and complexity, yet the solution she offered was simple. I needed a balm, but the only thing she had was a bandaid. Deep down I knew that my body was wise in sounding an alarm because I needed change in my life and I needed deep healing, but I didn’t know how to make that happen.
I determined then and there to do everything in my power to listen to my symptoms and emotions and follow the roadmap my body was giving me. I would learn all that I could about caring for myself as a woman and a new mother so I could do the same for my daughters and other mothers.
I began learning new ways of connecting with myself, building intentional community with other women, and learning from books, teachers, and trainings. After finding the ground again and still learning so much, I found myself in the birth space supporting other women in the journey from maiden to mother. My emphasis on postpartum care has grown over time. I have had to look in so many places to find pieces of the traditional mother-centered postpartum care that I now offer. It has felt a little bit like finding crumbs and following lost trails of information and practices and intuitively filling in the gaps. I wish I had had access to a single training that taught the what, the why, and the how of traditional postpartum care and for someone doing the work to model it for me in daily life. I have woven all these pieces together and created this training to be just that—a place to connect more deeply with ourselves and each other and reclaim knowledge that rightfully belongs to each one of us and put it into practice.
I have spent years now learning about nutrition and making traditional foods, getting to know plants and using them, learning the language of the womb and how to support our cycles and healing. I have learned ceremony and found meaningful ways to use ritual. I have leaned into the wisdom behind symptoms and emotions and learned about the body and nervous system. I have learned from Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic traditions. Most importantly I have learned at the feet of mothers, listening to stories and witnessing many journeys.
“Heidi has the skills and insight to hold space for women who have experienced a wide variety of birth and postpartum scenarios. I’ve witnessed her advocacy and care for clients both immediately postpartum and later in their postpartum healing. And, I am struck by her ability to hold space for authentic expression, create ceremony, and support physical healing. If you have a chance to experience her care in your postpartum journey, it would undoubtedly be a gift to you, your family, and whatever your own work is in this world. She gets what our selves and our communities need during major life transitions, and I look forward to seeing the impacts of this training spread through our communities.”
-Analiesa Leonhardt, CNM-DNP
What Is Included:
-5 day intensive in-person training
-10 comprehensive modules
-Nourishing meals and snacks each day
-Training documents
-Herbs and recipes for creating your own herbals (teas and salves and a sitz bath, yoni steam, infused oil and tincture)
-Other training materials including a genuine Mexican cotton rebozo and TCM moxa rolls
-Access to kitchen with fresh ingredients, postpartum recipes, and participation in cooking demonstrations
-Hands on bodywork and skills practice
-Meaningful rituals and opportunities for sharing and facilitating
-Guest speakers
-Self care activities
-A certificate of completion at the end of the training and optional certification
INVESTMENT
$1975
Training limited to 12 participants, payment plan available at checkout, contact for individual needs
Last day to register July 25th
FAQs
-
You are welcome as you are. You don’t need to have taken a birth or postpartum doula training before, though if you have it will certainly provide meaningful context and insights. I will provide a recommended booklist to attendees as well that you may read before or after the training.
-
Everyone who attends the training will receive a certificate of completion and will have gained valuable skills to apply to or start their practice.
Training attendees also have the opportunity to complete additional requirements after the training for certification. There is no extra cost to certify at this time and the requirements will be discussed more in depth at the training.
-
After attending the full training, participants interested in becoming certified will be asked to complete the following requirements:
Apply the teachings of the training to your life and practice what you learn on at least 3 people.
Read at least 4 books from a recommended reading list.
Compile a list of local referrals and resources.
-
You are welome to sell your spot to another attendee or apply the funds to a future training if one is offered.
-
There are no refunds or cancellations once you have signed up for the training and claimed your spot. If you know you will no longer be able to attend you are welcome to sell your spot to another attendee or apply the funds to a future training.
-
Babies in arms are absolutely welcome! Please leave older babies and children with a caregiver, but they are welcome to visit during class breaks.
-
We will have lunch and snacks available each day. We will also eat dinner together on Friday. The foods we will be eating are the foods we prepare for a new mother—nourishing and so delicious! We will even make some of the food together. All participants are asked to bring their own water bottle.
-
Yes! I have a built in payment plan on the registration checkout page.
