At The Matrona, we believe that childbirth is a transformative event and pregnant women have access to altered states of consciousness that allow them to have an expanded perspective of life and of themselves.

This culminates in the birthing process.

We realize that many women desire to be witnessed, rather than managed, in this extraordinary experience. In our Matrona Doula Program we put a different spin on what it really means to support and witness a woman and we explore what it means to nurture a mom during her childbearing cycle.

The Matrona Holistic Birth Doula program is comprehensive in it’s scope.
We teach a practical and well rounded body of information about childbirth…
all the basics…yet the material is presented holistically and
with a balance of the intuitive and the clinical.
View the Calendar of Events for our next Doula classes
To register:
All registration information is on our Calendar page.

Please email the contact person for each class.

Dar La Luz ~ To give the Light

You will learn –

• Feminine A&P, the pelvis, the hormones of the reproductive system and the female cycles.

• How to compute the correct date of birth.

• How to understand birth as an organic process and how to support a mother’s choices in various places…home, hospital, birthing center.

• How to articulate and navigate through the cultural perspectives concerning birth.

• How to nurture a pregnant woman.

• How the baby navigates the pelvis during the process of labor

• How labor unfolds without interference and how to facilitate women in that process.

• Options in childbirth…choosing caregivers, waterbirth, positions for delivery

• Understanding the cervix…dilation and effacement, cervical lips, ruffling the membranes, Bishop’s score for induction.

• How to understand some of the controversial topics in childbirth…ultrasound, induction of labor, rupture of membranes,
Group Beta strep, cord clamping, neonatal jaundice…

• How to employ healing modalities that facilitate self-direction in mothers and families.

• How to tend placentas and offer Placenta Readings.

• How to create win/win and collaborative solutions when things do not go as planned.

• How to present yourself as a doula in the community and how to integrate your practice of woman care with the knowledge of birth.

We offer a family-centered perspective on birth and we expand the mainstream information found in many of the available books on childbirth.
We also explore some mind-blowing facts such as –
• Why and how women are the ancestral sex and exactly how fertilization takes places as a team event.

• The brain wave states and patterns of altered states of consciousness that are part of every childbirth experience.

• The journey of birth in a new language that represents childbirth as the mystical and transformative journey that it is.

Our entire class is dedicated to the exploration of the experience of childbirth and it’s ramifications on the soul and spirit as well as on the body.

The cost of the 4-day program is $650.
Certification requirement are easy and simple and involve no other costs than the $650 for the 4-day program.
We offer immediate certification to anyone who attends the 4 days, does the
requisite reading and who has either birthed a child or attended births.

If you have not attended birth in any capacity, we ask that you take steps in your
community to shadow a doula or attend a few births for certification. You can register by clicking the button below

Curriculum – STONE RIDGE, NY December 7-10, 2023

Day 1

Morning Session

Introductions – Hand-outs – Scope of the Class – Certification Requirements

The Role of the Holistic Doula and her Scope of Practice

Models of Care – Technocratic to Quantum

Quantum Caregiving and Creating Soul-level Connections

Afternoon Session

The Importance of the Correct EBD (Estimated Date of Birth)

The Endocrine System: Hormones as Messengers

Reproductive and Birthing Hormones

Birth as an Altered State

Day 2

Morning Session

The Caregivers Spiral

Ideas not Ideologies in Childbirth

Brain Wave Patterns and the Neurological Perspective on Childbirth

The Circle of Nurturing and the Caregivers Greatest Gift

 

Afternoon Session

Emerging as a Doula: Creating a Brochure, Creating a Lifestyle

The Journey Begins: Understanding Conception and Reproductive Cycles

Women as the Ancestral Sex

Day 3

Morning Session

Undisturbed Birth and the Work of Michel Odent

The Birth Atlas: Understanding the Uterus, Cervix and Dilation & Effacement

Cardinal Movements of Labor: How the Baby Navigates the Pelvis

 

Afternoon Session

The Holistic Stages of Labor: A New Language for a New Paradigm

The Work of Constance Benyon: The Two Stages of Second Stage

Vertical Birth…even in a hospital

Non-invasive strategies for checking the progress of labor

Checking the cervix on the foot!

Day 4

Morning Session

Facilitating and supporting a Woman in Labor

Non-pharmacological Strategies for Pain Relief

When Labor does not go as planned

Understanding Position and Posterior Presentation

 

Afternoon Session

Navigating Controversial Topics in Childbirth

Who’s in Charge of the Birth?

Techniques for Collaboration and Creating Win/Win solutions

Placenta Alchemy:

Placenta Medicine…Placenta Readings

Holistic Doula Reading List

Pregnancy and Birth (*books are recommended)

*’Natural Hospital Birth’ by Cynthia Gabriel (required for certification)
* ‘The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth’ by Henci Goer
* ‘Gentle Birth Choices’ by Barbara Harper
* ‘A Good Birth, a Safe Birth’ by Diana Korte and Roberta Scaer
* ‘Birth Reborn’ by Michel Odent, MD
* ‘The Birth Partner’ by Penny Simkin
* ‘Unassisted Childbirth’ by Laura Shanley
* ‘Birthing From Within’ by Pam England
* ‘Active Birth’ by Janet Balaskas
* ‘Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn’
by Simkin, Whaley and Keppler
‘New Natural Pregnancy’ by Janet Balaskas
‘Women Giving Birth’ by Limberg and Smulders
‘Special Delivery’ by Rahima Baldwin
‘Waterbirth: A Midwife’s Perspective’ by Susan Napierala
* ‘Back Labor No More’ by Janie King
‘The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth’ by Sheila Kitzinger
‘Mothering the Mother’ by Marshall and Phyllis Klaus
‘Nurturing Touch at Birth: A Labor Support Handbook’ by Paulina Perez
‘The Birth Book’ by Martha and William Sears
* ‘The Scientification of Love’ by Michel Odent, MD
*‘The Farmer and the Obstetrician’ by Michel Odent, MD

Breastfeeding

* ‘Nursing Your Baby’ by Karen and Gayle Pryor
* ‘Breastfeeding Your Baby’ by Sheila Kitzenger
* ‘The Nursing Mother’s Companion’ by Kathleen Huggins
‘The Breastfeeding Book’ by Martha and William Sears
‘Breastfeeding Naturally’ by Hannah Lothrop
‘The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding’ by La Leche League
‘Nursing Mother, Working Mother’ by Gayle Pryor

Postpartum and the Newborn

* ‘After the Baby’s Birth’ by Robin Lim
* ‘Natural Health After Birth’ by Aviva Romm
‘Mothering the New Mother’ by Sally Placksin
‘Nurturing Your Newborn’ by Jeanne Lindsay
‘Your Amazing Newborn’ by Marshall and Phyllis Klaus

Health in Pregnancy and Complementary Healing Modalities

* ‘The Natural Pregnancy Book’ by Aviva Romm
* ‘Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year’
by Susun Weed
‘Herbs for a Healthy Pregnancy’ by Penelope Ody
‘Prenatal Yoga and Natural Birth’ by Jeannine Parvati Baker
‘Mother Massage’ by Elaine Stillerman
‘Herbal Healing for Women’ by Rosemary Gladstar
‘Natural Healing for the Pregnant Woman’ by Elizabeth Burch
‘Healing Wise’ by Susun Weed
‘Herbal Remedies for Children’s Health’ by Rosemary Gladstar
‘The New Holistic Herbal’ by David Hoffman
‘Herbal Rituals’ by Judith Berger
*’Homeopathy for Pregnancy, Birth and Baby’s First Year’
by Miranda Castro
‘The Homeopathic Childbirth Manuel’ by Betty Idarius
‘Homeopathy for Birthing’ by Jana Shiloh
‘Teach Yourself Homeopathy’ by Gillian Stokes
‘The One-Minute (or so) Healer’ by Dana Ullman

Miscarriage

‘Ended Beginnings’ by Claudia Panuthos
‘Help, Comfort & Hope After Losing Your Baby in Pregnancy’
by Hannah Lothrop

Midwifery

‘Bush Midwifery: Childbearing Care in the Absence of Hospitals’ by Ashwagandha
https://www.bushmidwifery.com/
‘Heart and Hands’ by Elizabeth Davis
‘Book for Midwives’ by Susan Klein
‘Polly’s Birth Book’ by Polly Block
‘Tricks of the Trade’ by Midwifery Today
‘Christian Midwifery’ by Betty Peckman

Fertility and Family Planning

* ‘Taking Charge of Your Fertility’ by Toni Weschler
‘Your Fertility Signals’ by Merryl Winstein
‘A Co-operative Method of Natural Birth Control’
by Margaret Nofziger

Cesareans and Childbirth Advocacy

‘Silent Knife’ by Nancy Cohen
‘Immaculate Deception’ by Suzanne Arms
‘VBAC Companion’ by Diana Korte
‘Open Season’ by Nancy Cohen

Parenting

‘The Path of Parenting’ by Vimala McClure
‘Hip Mama Survival Guide’ by Ariel Gore
‘10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting’ by Mimi Doe
‘Natural Family Living’ by Peggy O’Mara

Resources

Birth and Life Bookstore — 800-443-9942 – Call for catalogue

Moonflower Natural Product Catalogue — 800-443-9942 – Call for catalogue

Mothering magazine

The Complete Mother magazine

Midwifery Today magazine

Midwifery Today e-news – www.midwiferytoday.com

For Certification:

In our Holistic Birthing Doula Program it is required that you read ‘Natural Hospital Birth’ by Cynthia Gabriel. We ask that you choose two other books from the Pregnancy and Birth section to read. Those marked with an asterisk are preferred. We also suggest that you enhance your knowledge with books from other categories such as Breastfeeding, Postpartum and Healing Modalities.

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