Is Birth Work calling you?
The first question to ask yourself is what brings you here… Is it your own experiences of pregnancy, birth and the transition to parenthood? Were they brilliant, or were they hard? Are you left feeling like you want to spread the word of how empowering it can be, or instead that you just can't believe nobody told you so many things that would have helped you, and you don’t want another family to be left feeling the same?
Maybe you don’t have your own children but something fascinates you about the perinatal period and you know it’s your calling to serve families at this incredible time in their lives. People come to us all along this spectrum of experience and motivation – and they are all valid drivers that unite around a common passion: that new families deserve the best support we can possibly provide. Maybe you wonder if you are the right person to deliver this support. Is this a career change for you, or perhaps your first time teaching? Do you worry that your classes couldn’t possibly match up to a midwife or other health professional delivering content? Are you a midwife and wonder what independent training you could add to your offering?
We are here to reassure you that you are needed. If you follow the news on maternity then you will be aware that there is a current staffing crisis. A report by the Maternity All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) published late 2022 makes for sobering reading. In relation to antenatal care: health professionals, women and stakeholders all felt strongly that antenatal appointments are shorter and increasingly rushed, with lack of time to ask questions and discuss key issues. It was also noted that antenatal classes via the NHS, if available at all, are often subject to cancellations. Unsurprisingly this was found to impact negatively on women's experiences in labour and birth and postnatal care. Families are coming through the maternity system and leaving traumatised for a variety of reasons. So while the outlook from the NHS standpoint is troubling it should encourage you that independent birth workers are needed now more than ever!
New and growing families need authentic, caring and passionate people around them as they transition to life with their new baby. These qualities matter more than your education and career pathway to date. You being uniquely you, bringing all your life experiences to date, means you can offer parents a different and valuable addition to their NHS maternity care.
As independent birth workers we are able to offer a perspective from outside the maternity system, which is broadly based on a premise that birth is a medical event. We believe that pregnant women are not sick… far from it! This the most powerful and intuitive time of their lives. There is a desperate need to make a difference, one family at time, by teaching people about physiological birth and their rights and choices. We consider this to be the focus and underpinning of our whole course.
In our experience you are probably looking for two things in order to start a business in antenatal and postnatal education. Firstly, a thorough, modern, family-centered and evidence based training in antenatal and postnatal education. And secondly, the expertise and support to start running your own successful business.
And this is where we are truly confident that the Perinatal Academy is different, we are all practicing birth workers, living and breathing the content we deliver. We believe in birth, we believe in choice – and we can teach you about that too! You will leave the training course feeling totally confident to teach your courses, and crucially with the knowledge to ensure you are always up to date and able to reflect and develop to continually improve on what you are offering.
Finally, and we’ll be honest this is actually the part most people find the hardest, we also know how to set up and run a successful small business and we will share all this knowledge and experience with you. The fact is almost everyone needs expertise, encouragement and peer support to keep going, which we pride ourselves on offering you.
Book a discovery call with us today to chat through where you are at on your journey, and see if we are the right Academy for you to pursue this passion!