The
Vision
(adapted from the Lamaze International vision)
For women and their partners around the world to be inspired to seek normal birth*,
igniting their confidence within, facing fears and celebrating strengths.
*normal
birth is defined as waiting for labor to start on its own, with its own rhythm and pace without routine medical interventions,
choosing upright positions to facilitate birth, having continuous skilled support and immediate skin-to-skin contact between
mom and baby.
The Mission
To stomp out boring childbirth classes by supporting
and mentoring a passionate team of creative, inspirational, and interactive childbirth educators around the globe who will
reach out in their communities to offer education to pregnant women and their support team. We envision all programs
being open, accessible and dynamic.
We are diverse and passionate.
We open our arms and hearts to non-traditional childbirth educators.
We
weave the Lamaze International philosophy into our work. We hold the Lamaze certifiation as the gold standard.
We aspire to spread the passion for birth.
Guiding Principles
Knowing is an active verb. According to Mary
Belenky and colleagues in Women's Way of Knowing, when a woman learns she moves
from accepting knowledge, to quesitoning how it fits in her life, to shaping the knowledge so that it has meaning and use
in her context.
We will design learning
tasks to facilitate that process.
All programs will focus on ideas/concepts (wisdom
- mind), feelings/attitudes (courage - hear) and skills (strength - body) and ultimately will tap into the inner wisdom/strength
each of us has. We believe that learning is most effective when we are actively engaged - cognitively, emothionally
and physically. We invite criticalthinking, demand reflection and stimulate creativity.
Learning
does not occur in a vacuum and cultrual awareness will be a foundation, supporting what we do.
