With this in mind, I am excited to announce the start of donation-based childbirth education workshops. I will be hosting these in Durango and surrounding areas once or twice a month (depending on responses) and on a totally donation and trade basis. Here’s what it will look like: Once (or twice) a month, I will offer my full childbirth education course in a condensed 8 hour session. We will go over the fundamentals of pregnancy and birth, natural childbirth methods, standard birth procedures and their alternatives, community resources, GBS test preparations, newborn procedures and their alternatives, postpartum preparation, and more. We’ll have a potluck lunch and short walk at the halfway point because, hey, 8 hours is a while. The class will alternate between concise and important information on childbirth and relaxation and movement techniques for pregnancy and labor. This will be an exciting way to learn more about natural birth whether you choose to deliver at home or in the hospital, with a midwife or OB. I hope it will also help you build community with families who are due around your guess date, too. Community is so important to new families, and it is often overlooked as an essential tool for a healthy and empowering birth. When I say donation or trade based, I mean it! My normal class fee is $200. If you want to pay that, fine. If you want to pay $10, that helps. If you want to trade for a subscription to Midwifery Today or one of my necessary books, awesome! Have some essential oils you don’t use anymore, I’ll take em! A bag of tea, you’ve got it! Want to donate a few moments of your time to write up a review for me to use on my website, that would be incredible! This is another way to build a true community. We exchange things from the heart and not with paper to make a difference.