Your Empowered Birth
This comprehensive childbirth preparation course will support you in becoming an informed decision making participant in your labor and birth experience, regardless of how one chooses to give birth. Developed to provide you with tools for effective communication with your provider, invaluable knowledge of pelvic bodywork and baby positioning usable in both unmedicated and medicated births, and the support to approach your birth with excitement, this course will leave you feeling confident, excited, and knowledgeable for your labor. Blossoming Bellies online class provides a supportive space for developing your own birth priorities while exploring and practicing hands-on techniques, navigating through interventions and medical pain relief options, figuring out the comfort measures that may work best for you in labor, becoming knowledgeable about cesarean birth and understanding the options available, and building up your resources and skills for having a birth that leaves you feeling positive about the experience. And once you've become informed about birth, the class moves into the postpartum period including physical and emotional expectations, breastfeeding/chestfeeding, infant care basics, and creating a plan for a healthy and positive postpartum experience!
Your Instructor
Brittany Sharpe McCollum, CCE(BWI), CPLD, CLC is a Perinatal Pelvic Biomechanics Educator and the owner of Blossoming Bellies Wholistic Birth Services based out of the greater Philadelphia PA area, providing childbirth education classes, birth doula services, and dynamic labor support and pelvic biomechanics training workshops for perinatal professionals and expectant parents. She has offered birth-related support for expectant parents since 2007 with an approach focusing on developing advocacy skills for effective communication, utilizing movement in all labors to support progress, and understanding the importance of an individualized person-centered approach to childbirth.
Brittany also creates and facilitates continuing education workshops for clinical and non-clinical labor support providers on evidence-based fetal positioning, pelvic biomechanics, and labor physiology and is honored to be a sought after speaker at trainings and conferences, including the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association Summit in 2018, Evidence Based Birth Conference in 2019, NNEPQIN Winter 2022, the ACNM Midwifery Day conference, the New Jersey Midwifery Education Project, Somos Raices: Maternal and Child Well-Being Conference, and more. She is also a contributing author to the book “Baby Got VBAC: An Inspiring Collection of Wisdom for Better Births After Cesarean,” the creator of the anatomy and reproductive structure curriculum of the ICEA childbirth educator training, and the facilitator of pelvic biomechanics and labor positioning training of the labor and delivery staff orientation for Vermont Medical Center in Burlington VT.
Brittany's goal in all the work she does is to provide families and professionals with evidence based information in a way that inspires excitement, confidence, and collaboration. She believes firmly that all deserve to come out of birth recognizing that they did something amazing and having the support to make that a reality!
Course Curriculum
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StartBasic Info Form and Responsibility Acknowledgment
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PreviewIntroductory Video (4:34)
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StartEmbracing Your Pregnancy Journey (2:07)
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StartChoosing Your Clinical Support
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StartDeveloping Your Birth Priorities
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StartNutrition During Pregnancy
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StartMovement During Pregnancy (3:20)
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StartFunctional Breath
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StartAnatomy Basics (18:03)
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StartOrgans and Structures of the Lesser Pelvis (9:29)
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StartInside the Uterus (8:49)
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StartPelvic Bones and Joints (4:57)
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StartThe Labor Dance (7:15)
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StartLate Pregnancy, Contractions, and Cervical Change (6:11)
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StartCOVID-19 and the Childbearing Year
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StartWrap Up with a Birth Video: Noah's Gentle Birth
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StartImportant Reminders!
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StartRelaxation Exercise: Tension Release
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StartMoving Past Fear and Anxiety
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StartUnderstanding Pelvic Dynamics and Your Baby's Positioning in Pregnancy and Labor (23:39)
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StartActive Involvement in Labor and Birth Decision-Making (1:54)
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StartInduction and Common Medical Interventions
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PreviewChoosing Your Non-Clinical Labor Support
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StartLabor Overview (12:52)
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StartImportant Reminders!
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StartRelaxation Exercise: Directed Breath
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StartBirth Balls and Other Labor Tools (6:00)
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StartCesarean Birth (33:35)
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StartBlossoming Bellies 5/4/3 Rule (13:17)
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StartAffirmations
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PreviewLabor's First Stage: Early Phase (20:43)
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StartLabor's First Stage: Active Phase (38:39)
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StartLabor's First Stage: Transition Phase (15:38)
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StartLabor's Second Stage: Resting and Pushing (141:45)
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StartLabor's Third Stage: Resting and Active (8:02)
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StartSpecial Considerations Regarding COVID
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StartWrap Up with a Birth Video: Birth Day
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StartImportant Reminders!