Birthwork Downunder Workshops
2 part workshop series with -
Jenny Blyth
About Jenny
Jenny is also project co-ordinator for Lao Birthwork, teaching hands-on and emergency skills to health staff in remote areas of Northern Laos.
She lives in the Australian bush with her partner. They are parents of 3 grown adults and have 3 grandchildren.
She is also an author - Birthwork , The Down to Earth Birth Book, The little book of Pelvic Jiggling: and filmmaker - A World of Birthworkers, The Big Stretch and The Big Stretch Sequel. www.birthwork.comwww.worldbirthhub.com
"The term ‘birthwork’ embraces all the different kinds of work and creative effort that mothers and their support people embark upon through childbearing. It acknowledges that birthworkers everywhere have the natural and necessary impulse to nurture mothers and babies, and share their experiences and wisdom. It also transcends the arguments about who should be caring for the mother, and helps us drop into the deeper process of understanding how to truly ‘be’ with birth."
About the Workshops
Birthwork Downunder® workshops present an extraordinary blend of body knowledge, body awareness, body work and profoundly attentive tender touch - that has been appreciated by hundreds of parents-to-be, midwives, doulas, osteopaths, chiropractors, physiotherapists and bodyworkers.
With a unique perspective, essential birth knowledge is shared in a relaxed style. Complex pelvic anatomy is creatively woven into highly effective hands-on body skills.This invaluable material is practical and do-able in any birth environment. It can be easily passed on and shared, and is fundamental knowledge missing from conventional (professional) midwifery, doula and birth education training.
Whatever your background, there is always more to discover. Don’t miss this precious opportunity to delve deeper into effective ways of facilitating birth and positively enhancing your practice.
Become better skilled and deeply fascinated with exploring and understanding women’s bodies in relation to birth and pelvic health. Help the women you serve and work with to connect with, understand, admire, prepare and heal their sacred pelvic space.
"Enlightening, awakening, inspiring, respectful, comforting, and most of all nourishing. The workshop was so moving. I feel it gave me not only skills for my birthwork, but skills for life!" Lisa
The workshops are run over two seperate weekends, Part 1 is a pre-requisite for Part 2, however you can attend Part 2 if you have already completed Part 1 at another stage.
Part 1 - Birthwork - Creating Amazing Space for Babies - 2 Days: 27 & 28th April
The Power of Your Touch & Tenderness
How do you feel about touching? Or intervening in birth? There are wonderful hands-on techniques that can help realise anatomical and physiological potential for pregnancy & birth.
They are an important aid to relaxation, the release of compensatory and unconscious tensions, and optimising the baby's position and pelvic dimensions. But when you use your hands, and use techniques, how do touch? What do you notice? What is your intention? How do you engage with a highly sensitive woman?
The way you touch can greatly enhance a technique and affect the nervous system. Important touch considerations lay a foundation for the practice of techniques and also a better understanding of the dynamics of giving and receiving.
Learn: respectful touch, noticing and intention with ‘Touch Awareness’
The Power of Utilising the Breath
Employing the breath appropriately will amplify any touch/bodywork, birth preparation, and birth. It enables presence, supreme focus, tension release and an increase of circulation and function to pelvic structures and systems.
Learn: ‘Focussed Breathing’ - a highly effective practice to share with pregnant women & a key skill to utilise in any simple or complex birth
The Bony Pelvis
How well do you really know your bony pelvis?
What is the true angle of the dangle? Why is the backside so intrinsic to birth? Have you everfelt your pubic arch and its relationship to your outlet?
Learn:
- How to map your own bony pelvis so you can support a woman in appreciating her unique bony pelvis.
- Understand the dynamic nature of anatomy and the need to be creative with body positions in labour.
Now that you know your pelvis and the bony landmarks…
Learn: highly effective techniques to open the pelvis for OP baby, ascynclitic head, slow labour, incoordinate labour, or big baby.
- ‘The Hip Swing’
- ‘The Sacral Swing’
- ‘The Sit Bone Opener’
The Pelvic Floor Complex including The Cervix and Her Support Crew
How many levels are there of this magnificent structure? Is it really a floor? What is its relevance to birth? Where does the cervix go in labour? Why is she slow to open sometimes? Is she really to blame for being thick, incompetent, rigid, posterior, unfavourable? Or is there more? What does it really mean to 'let go' in labour?
Learn to:
- Understand the interconnections of the Pelvic Floor and pelvic organs better
- Release the Pelvic Clock
- Let go all of the pelvic diaphragm with a 'Sploosh’
DAY TWO
Exploring the Difference between Tone & Tension
Learn about following the path of freedom, and how to address and work with conscious and unconscious tensions in the body.
Techniques to Release Tension
Jiggling is a highly effective and recommended way to release tension, synchronise body systems, prepare for birth, make more space for the baby, and calm the nervous system. It's also a highly enjoyable and easy to teach practice for couples preparing for birth. Become a jiggler extraordinaire!
Learn:
- Pelvic Jiggling of the bum, sacrum, legs using your hands
- Innovative ways to touch indirectly using a cloth or the traditional Mexican shawl ‘the rebozo’:
- to release tension in the pelvis and legs
- can be done when an epidural is in place
Postpartum Care
Too often post birth care is neglected or mis-understood. But the mother’s womb is heavy and in need of tender care; tissues are healing and in need of support.
Learn:
-Effective and practical ways to support the healing womb with a ‘faja’
- When and how to engage the tender pelvic muscles
Focussed breathing in reverse to support the vulnerable pelvic organs
Part 2 - Birthwork - Creating Amazing Space for Birth - Advanced Bodywork Skills for Pelvic Balancing and Comfort. 2 Days: 3rd and 4th May.
DAY THREE OF SERIES (Day 1 of workshop)
Common Discomforts
Discomfort in pregnancy is considered 'normal'. But it can create unconscious tension, influence the positioning of the baby, undermine confidence in birth, and affect the birth itself.
The Psoas & its Role in the Pelvis
The psoas is involved in the body’s flight/fight/freeze responses and it passes through the pelvis. Chronic contraction of the psoas can contribute to imbalances in the pelvis and contribute to malpositioning of the baby.
Learn: gentle releases/lengthening of the psoas.
Pelvic Balancing
When the pelvis is in a state of balance, all pelvic organs & tissues have effective nerve and blood supply. Additionally, when a pelvis is balanced a pregnant woman is comfortable and happy! Balancing the pelvis can relieve pelvic discomfort, tension and help align the pelvic structure for more optimal birth experience.
Learn:
- How to recognise pelvic imbalance
- A highly effective Pelvic Balancing Technique with Sacral Integration
Self-help techniques
Many of us love receiving care from another, but another’s hands, time and patience are not always at the ready. Luckily there are creative ways of healing ourselves.
Learn:
- Self-help psoas releases/activation
- Self-help pelvic balance
- Self-help coccyx release
- Self-help sciatic nerve release
DAY FOUR OF SERIES (Day 2 of workshop)
Round Ligament, Broad Ligament & Rib Cage Releases
Tightness and discomfort in these areas are very common in pregnancy.
Learn: gentle and highly effective release techniques
Working with Scars
Have you ever supported a woman in making contact with her caesarean scar or vaginal scar?
Learn: gentle scar release work & the benefits that come from it
An Introduction to Internal Bodywork
The pelvis is a unique sacred space with soft tissues interweaving and connecting to bone. Inviting the soft tissues to ‘sigh’ helps a woman reach her anatomical potential & so creates space for the baby. This is wonderful work to teach couples as preparation for birth. It can also support women to demystify curiosities and heal from past traumas.
Learn:
- About the nature of the internal soft tissues & what causes tension
- About unconscious tension and its impact on the birth space
- About cervical positioning and unwinding
- Signs of release in pelvic ligaments, muscles, fascia
- Ways to easily pass this practice along to women/parents
Important Considerations
Observe & listen to a demonstration of Internal Bodywork
Internal Bodywork Practice in pairs
WORKSHOP DETAILS:
Day 3: Friday 3rd May
Day 4: Friday 4th May
Location: Brunswick Heads
Investment: $570
