New antenatal materials and training for doulas and antenatal educators
Molly had been teaching her antenatal course “Moving for an Easier Birth” (MFEB), throughout lockdown as a short (90 minute) live zoom session plus pre-recorded material. It’s proved popular but since lockdown has ended she’s had so many calls on her time she can no longer keep up with demand. We've also had many requests for accreditation as Optimal Birth Instructors. We thought "with a bit of joined up thinking can make this work!"
Here's the plan: we are developing a fully online version of MFEB based on a Learning Management System (LMS). The online course teaches the theory and shows videos of the moves and positions, complete with Molly’s passion and fire. It will work as a stand alone resource but we believe it will be far more effective if the positions are monitored and refined “hands-on” to make sure they are carried out correctly. Hypnobirther trainers, yoga teachers and doulas can get on with the business of making sure their clients are fully confident with the practicalities, knowing they've access to the theory in the comfort of their own homes.
If you are someone who has held back from offering it to your clients because you don’t feel fully confident or you are a birth worker already comfortable teaching the positions but not so sure about teaching the wider issues raised in the course, this package is a perfect compliment to the work you are already doing. The course deals with all the pertinent issues Molly covers in the foundation and advanced course. Don't worry if you haven't attended the advanced course, we can bring you up to date during training.
How easy is it to get involved?
It depends on how you choose to use the course and your level of experience.
We would like trained instructors to be able to use our logo and be accredited. The route to accreditation will depend on current experience and we aim to keep training costs as low as possible.
- If you have attended the biomechanics foundation and the advanced course and are already using moves and positions with your clients accreditation is easy. An online assessment online is all it takes.
- If you have attended the foundation course but aren't quite confident enough to put theory into practice we will be offering hands on courses, including update of material, reasonably locally and we hope these courses will cost no more than £50
- Birth Educators who haven't completed a Foundation Course we will be creating a stripped down BFB designed for anyone not working in intrapartum care. Accreditation depends on completing both the online and the face to face training. This course is currently under development.
To deliver the training we will develop a network of trainers to run face to face sessions. Anyone with teaching experience who uses biomechanics in their practice, if you are interested in training to train instructors please add your details to register of interest.
How will it work?
We hate talking about money and almost wanted to call this section "what's in it for us?" - but we hope this is a true collaboration. The online course MFEB will be sold through the LMS - We haven't fixed a price yet but it's going to be no more than £25- 30. It will be offered to anyone gaining accreditation at a discount on the public retail price. You can opt to bundle the online element as a part of the package you offer your clients and pricing and delivery is entirely at your discretion.
With the LMS you can:
- Simply offer a link to the course as one of the options you make available to your women.
- Bundle the course into the package you offer your women with a pre paid voucher
- Anyone running antenatal classes for multiple clients can have an admin space on the LMS to manage bookings, and monitor each clients progress.
What next?
If you are interested in getting involved right now we would like to give you vouchers to offer to your clients. It will give them free access to the beta version of the course and both your and their feedback will help us refine content.
If you are interested in training or want to apply for accreditation now or simply want updates use this link to access the registration form - and we promise not to bombard you with time wasting mail shots.
For more details about training, costs and accreditation click here