The Silent Birthkeeper: An Introduction to True Midwifery

BOOKINGS FOR THIS COURSE WILL OPEN 3rd OF AUGUST 2023

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST TO STAY UPDATED FOR THE NEXT COURSE

9 N0VEMBER 2023 – 14 NOVEMBER 2024

A one-year online immersion and journey exploring a pathway of True Midwifery

In collaboration with Well Mama and Humanly, this is a one-year True Midwifery online course accessible via Teachable with once-a-month live 3-hour Zoom connection calls and regular personal contact via the private True Midwifery Silent Birthkeeper Telegram group where we connect and discuss the topics and offer support.

SEE FULL SCHEDULE OF CLASSES BELOW

The certification date for this course will be on the 14th of November 2024. Access to the course content also closes on this day.

This course is limited to 15 participants maximum.

I have put this course together to share my own journey, learning, stories, and findings on this path of studying midwifery and being a birth attendant and mother. I humbly invite you to come, listen, learn, and share together. Together we weave our threads together, keeping the tapestry of birth and birthkeeping alive.

This is a course for aspiring midwives, interested doulas, women, and mothers

who want to explore and investigate for themselves

whether this path is something they would like to consider further.

If you are walking this path already,

this is an opportunity to deepen your learning

and be part of a beautiful and supportive community.


What is ‘True Midwifery’? What does it look like?

A deep look at our collective and personal history as birthkeepers

Exploring and finding clarity on this path

Ceremony, dance, tradition, meditation, and song

Preparing an ideal learning environment for yourself and supporting one another

Listening skills

Self Care

Birth Stories, storytelling, and learning from birth stories

The Basic Needs of a Woman in Pregnancy, Labour, and Birth

Basic midwifery skills, terminology, and record keeping

Antenatal/Prenatal care 

If you are assisting at a birth, what is your role in labour, birth, and postpartum?

Immediate postpartum care of mother and baby

Introduction to care and assessment of the newborn

Breastfeeding

Cultural competency in childbirth and care of women

Sexual Abuse Triggers in Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Postpartum

Pregnancy and Birth Complications

Difficult outcomes, grief, and death

Homeopathy and herbs

Connection and support within your birthing community


Costs and booking

Registration Categories

We want to ensure that our courses are fairly priced and accessible to anyone in the world who would like to join whilst taking into consideration that we are not coming from equal economic spaces and countries. We also offer two scholarships with each course cycle to women women of colour and/or from marginalised communities. Information on this will be made available soon.

We have based our pricing on the registration categories provided by the GOLD conferences – an international online midwifery, birth, and lactation teaching platform. Countries are divided into categories – please check your country category before making your booking.

Please check your country’s price category here

If you are financially challenged please reach out – we do always endeavor to make a plan that feels fair.

Pricing categories are:

Category A: AWESOME AND ABUNDANT

Category B: BOUNTIFUL AND BEAUTIFUL

Category C: COOL AND CREATIVE

Please check your country’s price category here

We have a payment plan option as well!

Awesome and Abundant

(CATEGORY A)

USD 1100 Early Bird

(early bird until 30 September 2023)

USD 1500 thereafter

(bookings close 4 November 2023)

Bountiful and Beautiful

(CATEGORY B)

USD 950 Early Bird

(early bird until 30 September 2023)

USD 1350 thereafter

(bookings close 4 November 2023)

Cool and Creative

(CATEGORY C)

USD 850 Early Bird

(early bird until 30 September 2023)

USD 1250 thereafter

(bookings close 4 November 2023)

Payment Plan

Early Bird Payment Plan:

USD 125 per month for 12 months

(early bird until 30 September 2023)

Payment Plan after 30 Sep 2023

USD 165 per month for 12 months

(bookings close 4 November 2023)

Please double-check your country’s price category here

Please reach out if you are financially challenged – we always endeavour to make a plan

For more information write to me via the CONTACT FORM


Find out more!

Silent Birthkeeper Information Session

Are you interested in joining the one year Silent Birthkeeper Journey but you have some questions or would like to just get a feel for the course, the facilitators and the content?


You are invited to a free one hour zoom call on the 14th of September 2023 at 6pm SAST so you can immerse yourself in a beautiful circle and get a sense for the journey.

Previous information session

On the 19th of January 2023, we held a one-hour call to share about the upcoming Silent Birthkeeper Journey with our facilitators, some previous participants, and some who are interested to join the journey. The call was designed to answer questions but also to give participants a sense of the circles we create online. We sang The Grandmother Blessing and shared what it is we love about birth. I spoke about what the upcoming Silent Birthkeeper Journey looks like and two of our previous participants gave powerful and valuable feedback. We all left feeling lighter and more connected.


Some Testimonials

Meet Yatmidah – South African mother, barefoot doula, vegan chef, home birther and Silent Birthkeeper 2022.
Thank you for sharing your experience of your journey with us
“With each new circle that Ruth facilitates there will be a new elixir of sisters and birthkeepers to share stories and create new networks. And hopefully all of our networks will spiral together. Which is really exciting!” – Billie, student midwife and Silent Birthkeeper 2022 Thank you dear Billie for this beautiful sharing of your Silent Birthkeeper Journey.
Thank you dearest Ayisha for sharing so beautifully from the heart about your Silent Birthkeeper Journey. Ayisha is a passionate and devoted mother, doula and lactation consultant in India who joined us for the 2022 Silent Birthkeeper Journey. Where she lives home birth is illegal but she has carved out a way to meet the basic needs of the women she serves and continues to be in love with this work. Ayisha always brought such love and enthusiasm into our monthly meetings.

Recommended Reading

Books

The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour by Ruth Ehrhardt

Do We Need Midwives by Michel Odent

The Scientification of Love by Michel Odent

Primal Heath by Michel Odent

The Caesarean by Michel Odent

Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin and the Farm midwives

The Babycatcher by Peggy Vincent

A Book for Midwives by Susan Klein and the Hesperian Foundation

Heart and Hands by Elizabeth Davis

Practical Skills Guide for Midwifery by Pam Weaver and Sharon Evans

Reclaiming Childbirth as a Right of Passage: Weaving Ancient Wisdom with Modern Knowledge by Dr Rachel Reed

Birthworks by Jenny Blyth

When Survivors Give Birth by Penny Simpkin and Phyllis Klaus

Born Still by Malika Ndlovu

Websites

The Primal Health Research Database – http://www.primalhealthresearch.com/

Paramana Doula website (the doula course website of Michel and Liliana) – https://www.paramanadoula.com/index.html

Sara Wickham – https://www.sarawickham.com/

Dr Rachel Reed/Midwife Thinking – https://midwifethinking.com/

Evidence Based Birth – https://evidencebasedbirth.com/

DISCLAIMER

This course will not qualify you to practice as a midwife. This is purely an explorative journey for those interested in pursuing a path of birthkeeping, or deepening the learning of those walking this path already.