"[My husband] and I thought
there was no way we'd end up in surgery- but when we DID, I was
well-prepared because of the time you spent talking about it in class-
especially the suggestion of telling my baby the details of what was
about to happen and that it would all be Okay. That "dialog" with [my
baby] really helped me emotionally, and was the beginning of good
communication between mom and baby. It really "saved" me, in a way,
because I felt active and empowered, talking us both through it." -
B.M.
"You, your approach to
birth being so individual, and so perfect, and so uniquely you are
just a few things i discovered in your class. I also realized that
everything i was thinking and feeling whether expressed or unable to
be expressed was ok. i walked away feeling like all the important
stuff was answered, and what was left was to just be... and be
comfortable in not knowing everything, and that what i needed to know
would present itself when i least expected it and often when i needed
it most. You are a tremendous educator, you made me feel the safety of
letting go!" - M.H.
"In the midst of our busy lives, our Birthing
From Within class was a way for my husband and I to put other things
aside and focus on the upcoming birth of our child. It became our
weekly “date night.” One of the most useful lessons I learned
from Carrie’s class is the method of handling situations with medical
personnel—she had a list of specific questions to ask any care
provider, like: What can we expect from this procedure? What are the
risks? And my favorites: What if we wait? What if we do nothing?
THE ICE!!!! How can I forget the ice? I love
Carrie for that!!! Having previously been to a different childbirth
class with our first pregnancy, where the moms laid out on comfy
pillows and practiced relaxation, I can really appreciate the effort
Carrie took to make our “contractions” as real and as annoying as
possible, plus the fact that she encouraged us to try different
methods to handle each one was a great relief. There’s nothing like
trying to deal with a contraction while simultaneously wondering, “Am
I doing this right?” The “ice” portion of the evening always had a
somewhat experimental flavor to it, which I carried right into the
actual labor and delivery of my daughter. How freeing!
The Birthing from Within “method” is by far the
best out there because it draws from all the other methods like
Bradley and Lamaze and lets the pregnant woman decide which works for
her." - P.M.
"Your Birthing From Within
class helped prepare me, not only mentally, but, more importantly,
emotionally for birth. It helped me find where my strengths and
weaknesses were. I remember after the last big ice/water bath
test, if you will, that I
really finally believed I could give birth, that I didn't need to be
afraid, that I was strong enough, that I could find it within myself
to deal with what was coming my way.
I also met some of my now
best friends through your class. We had similar desires for our
births, parenting styles and our children. Becoming close to my
classmates, during your class, and maintaining a relationship with
them has helped make me so
much more confident in parenting my daughter. ' - E. P-P.
"I feel so fortunate that J and I were introduced to your birthing
class. It opened up so many doors for us during our pregnancy, and
even today, 17 months after V's birth. I think, like a lot of
parents, when we first ventured into the realm of parenthood, we were
not thinking of the practical aspects of birth and child rearing, we
weren't aware of the many of the options available, and we didn't know
about all the many choices would have to make by the time our child
was born. V was barely the size of a dime when we started your class,
and we were still happily overwhelmed with the high of knowing we were
pregnant.
Although we think of ourselves as progressive and open minded
people, there were still many things we hadn't thought of. We had
already chosen to have a home birth, but your class helped to work out
our concerns and help us further explore our options to prepare us for
wherever our birth took us.
I remembered that one of my big concerns was that I would get
irritated with J while I was in labor. You helped our class to fully
explore fears like these, so that we could confront them, and in doing
that, move forward to learn coping techniques so that when I was in
labor, I knew I had many options to express myself. I feel this
helped me to allow my body to take over while in labor, and not have
pent up worries that were exposed at a vulnerable time.
With the help of the other couples in the class, your class became
a venue for new ideas and information that we could look into further:
Elimination Communication/diaper free, vaccination choices, attachment
parenting, baby wearing, infant massage, baby sign language, cloth vs
disposable, breastfeeding. We continue to incorporate all of these
things into our lives, and it has been so enriching! We are so happy
that we are raising our daughter using these methods.
Carrie, thank you so much. You bring families together in the very
beginning stages, and offer tools to communication that can be carried
through to the birth and far beyond. Your class is not just about
birth, but about setting a foundation for parenthood.
Thank you for being there as an educator, and also for being our
Doula!" - N. L.
"carrie's class was so
crucial to our pregnancy. my husband and i had so much other stuff
going on that it was just so wonderful to enter that room and feel so
supported and calm and able to really focus on what was important!
we had a ton of questions
and carrie answered every one- it is amazing that we actually got
other stuff done! and we did get a lot done. at the end of our
session, i really felt like i had options for my birth. that if one
thing didn't work, another
would. and that i'd be able to get through anything. thanks, carrie!"
- A.A.
"We (my husband and I)
really enjoyed this weekend class. It was the perfect opportunity to
open up conversations about pregnancy, childbirth and our relationship
as new parents that we hadn't talked about before. We were able to
get "outside" ourselves and learn great techniques for dealing
with/assisting with labor and childbirth. And after our reunion
meeting the Mothers have formed a group where we get together
bi-weekly with our babies to check-in with each other and be a support
to one another." - E.G.
"The childbirth preparation
class did an excellent job of preparing me for my long labor
experience. It
afforded me the knowledge
and terminology to be able to accurately communicate to my doula and
midwife what
I felt my body was
experiencing at the varying stages. The pain management practice
was essential! With that experience I was able to go right to
the tools (also learned in class) that worked best for me during
times of peak pain with confidence instead of playing around with a
lot of things that would not have worked." - J.D.
