CHILDBIRTH EDUCATORS


Why take a class?

By now, you’ve probably surrounded yourself with articles on childbirth and heard countless labor stories from friends and family. But do you really know what to expect during labor and birth and do you know your birthing options? Are you an informed consumer feeling like you can participate in you and your expectant baby’s care? A childbirth education class can make all the difference.


Because you
  • Learn things you never knew about labor, birth and postpartum care. You’ll find out what happens to your body as your baby makes his or her way into the world. Knowledge is power. You’ll feel less vulnerable during labor and birth if you understand what’s happening and reassured of the “normalcy” of this process.

  • Address your fears. What if I don’t make it to the hospital in time? What if I lose control during labor? During class, you’ll have the chance to talk about your fears and have discussions with other couples who share the same concerns. The instructor can dispel myths and help put your mind at ease.

  • Connect with your partner. A class offers your partner the chance to learn about childbirth, too — as well as how to support you during labor. Many feel the experience brings them much closer together.

  • Camaraderie of interacting with other couples. Often, friendships continue even after the class is through.

  • Exploring your pregnancy, labor and birthing options. Find out more about various interventions in the hospital, like electronic fetal monitoring, IV’s, being “induced”, artificial rupture of membranes, episiotomies, instruments like the vacuum extractor and forceps. Knowing about these things, in advance, can reduce anxiety and empower you to make informed choices.

  • Discuss options for handling pain. You’ll practice various methods for coping with contractions, such as breathing, relaxation, labor positions, birth balls, massage and visualization. Explore the benefits and risks of medications, such as narcotic analgesics and Epidural & Spinal anesthesia.

  • Get the basics on Caesarean and VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean

  • Brush up on newborn care and breastfeeding

kitty

Kitty Harding, MA, LCCE, FACCE
EMAIL
PHONE 808.843.1841 or 808.222.4047

As a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, I have taught over 4,000 couples over the past 33 years, both on Kauai and Oahu. My husband and I together gave birth naturally to four beautiful, healthy children, three sons and a daughter. (My daughter is so healthy; she became Ms. Fitness USA twice!) Each childbirth experience brought my husband and me closer together, empowering us as a strong parenting team. My goals as an educator are to answer your questions about birth, eliminate any fear of the unknown, and give you the tools to help your childbirth be as positive an experience as possible. I teach classes at Queens Hospital on weekends, and I am also available for private sessions.


katja

Katja Bajema
EMAIL
PHONE 808.366.0230

I am a childbirth educator in The Bradley Method® and just at the beginning of my journey to help women and couples find and embrace the power within. I have been teaching small groups how to prepare for a natural, unmedicated birth experience. Class content covers: physiology, pain management techniques, information on variations and options, nutrition, exercise and more. Classes are held in small groups in an informal encouraging setting.

I am the mother of two young children and we are expecting an addition to our family in June 2012. My personal goals are to also become certified as a breastfeeding consultant and postpartum doula. I hope to reach many families to inform, support and empower them during their childbearing years.


Janice Bush

Janis Bell Bush, BA, ACCE, LCCE, FACCE
Lamaze Breastfeeding Support Specialist
President/Normal Birth Hawaii; call 808.26.BIRTH
AHA BLS/Infant/Pediatric CPR Instructor
P.O. Box 182, Kailua, HI 96734-0182
EMAIL
PHONE 808.263.2229/aka 808.863.BABY
Private/Couples Lamaze Instruction in Kailua and KMCBH
Infant Instinct Breastfeeding Class
Infant Care, Happiest baby on the Block and Infant CPR
Lamaze Teachers’ Training Programs

I am certified with Lamaze International and have been teaching family-oriented, consumer based, partnercentered∗ Lamaze Prepared Childbirth since 1977. I have given birth to 3 children joyfully smiling as they slid out into my arms. My heart and methods are embedded in the Women’s Wisdom Model of Birth rather than the Medical Model of Birth; however because Lamaze is Prepared Childbirth, both models are thoroughly covered. You will learn that birth is normal, every woman knows exactly how to give birth to a baby, labor starts as painless tightening, childbirth is not an illness, pushing feels good for most women and babies are born knowing how to breastfeed. My classes include a 7th lesson in Infant instinct Breastfeeding (as supported by the baby and the Australian Breastfeeding Association).

I teach classic, out of the 70’s, good old-fashioned earth-mother, Psycho-prophylactic Method of Lamaze Childbirth Preparation the kind that works and always has. I teach Lamaze at many local hospitals but recommend my private couples’ class as it is smaller and more intimate, + the content is never dictated by protocols of medical facilities.

Pregnant teens are a specialty of mine as I was the coordinator and teacher for the Kailua High School Pregnant Teen Center from 1991–2010. I teach “Baby-Instinct Breastfeeding” once a month in and out of hospital setting and I will hold bi-annual Lamaze Teachers’ Training Programs for women aspiring to become Lamaze teachers starting in 2012. Home-birth and VBACS are totally supported. For a larger fee I teach one-on-one in the home. My courses qualify for doulas in training who need classes in childbirth education and breastfeeding courses.

My 8,000+ couples have made my life a joy. To see people enter my program scared from birth horror stories, myths perpetuated by TV and movies, and turn their fears to confidence and excitement is what I live for. I actually call the birth partner the ∗“Guardian of Courage,” the ∗“Guardian of the Birth Place” and at home, the ∗“Guardian of the Nest.” In other words, I empower the birth partners to become doulas and have trained birth partners in this way for over three decades!

My educational philosophy is: “If we aren’t having fun in class, we should be at the beach!” So please trust me to help you birth the authentic Lamaze way which prepares you for all outcomes birth can present to you!

Me ke aloha, Janis


Patty Goding

Pat Goding, RNC, BSN, ICCE
EMAIL
PHONE 808.677.8554

I am an ICEA certified childbirth educator, teaching for 31 years. I teach Childbirth Preparation classes at the Kaiser Waipio Clinic and I do private classes in the client’s home. I’ve been an OB nurse, both Air Force and civilian, for over 10 years and I am also a Labor Doula. My husband, who is retired Air Force, and I live in Waikele, and have lived in Hawaii for 17 years.

I feel honored to be with women and their families during their most vulnerable, impressionable, courageous and tender moments, while allowing themselves to open up to the sheer force and unpredictable nature of labor and birth. I believe that if women are nurtured and respected during pregnancy through birth, they can gain a new sense of self and can discover more things about themselves that they ever thought possible. This strength and empowerment can sustain them throughout their lives as a woman, Mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend and human being, and they can teach their children, that ANYTHING is possible.


Pamela Duncan

Pam Duncan, LPN, ICCE
PHONE 808.263.2500

I am certified to teach childbirth classes through the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA). I have been teaching childbirth education classes for twenty years. I am a mother of four children and believe pregnancy, giving birth and parenthood to be the most important tasks we undertake as adults. Class topics include anatomy and physiology, body conditioning, breathing in labor, stages of labor, coaching, pain relief, newborn characteristics, breastfeeding and parenting. Join other pregnant couples as we explore the unique challenges and learn amazing way to work with your body to relax and ultimately prepare for an extraordinary experience. Your birth will change you forever! I offer empathetic and compassionate support. My goal is that you feel respected and empowered as you enter parenthood. Please contact me for current classes.


     joanie

Joan-e Rapine, BS, CCE(BWI), CLC, CLE
EMAIL
PHONE 808.497.3712
WEBSITE MohalaBirth.com

I am a certified childbirth educator (BWI) and a certified lactation counselor. I am also the Director of Education and faculty for Birth Works International (BWI), as well as the BWI Chair of the Trainee Review Committee. I have received training in Bereavement Counseling After Perinatal Loss and consider it an honor to work with mothers and families through their grief journey. I am also certified in Ayurvedic Healing, Nutritional Therapy, and Reiki (II), and hold a BS degree in Maternal and Infant Health and Human Lactation. I have had the pleasure of serving pregnant and breastfeeding families since 1999.

I believe that birth is instinctive and that the knowledge of how to birth and parent already exists within each woman. BirthWorks classes are unique, experiential, and innovatively designed to empower women and help them tap into that knowledge. Classes are for anyone preparing for birth, new parents and those with a previous vaginal or cesarean birth, at a hospital or at home, and are best attended early in the pregnancy or even prior to it.

I live with my husband, Tom, and our daughters, Mia and Shani, at YMCA Camp Erdman on the North Shore.


     brook

Brooke Saltsman, ACBE
EMAIL
PHONE 808.398.5992
WEBSITE hnhbirthservices.com

I am certified with the Academy of Certified Birth Educators (ACBE) and have been teaching private, small group childbirth classes for two years now. I am also a DONA-trained birth Doula, and I am in the process of completing a bachelor’s degree in Health and Nutrition Counseling. I have had the privilege of giving birth to one son, who was born in Hawaii at Tripler Army Medical Center. I consider it an honor and a blessing to be a childbirth educator and my goal is to provide you with the information needed to build your confidence in pregnancy, the birth process, and your new role as parents. My desire is for you to be empowered to make choices that will maximize your health and the health of your baby, your ability to bond with each other, and your overall satisfaction with the outcome of your birth. Please contact me for more information!