Soulful Birth Online Group Course
This online pregnancy circle is designed to guide parents towards a positive and empowering birth and postpartum experience. There are 8 weeks of themed lessons held via Zoom, where I share my knowledge, tools and resources, and invite your input & questions.
Our live Zoom sessions take place on Wednesdays at 6.30pm NZST. They will be around 1.5 hours long. All the lessons will be recorded & available for you to watch, so it's not a problem if you miss being there in-person or if the time zone is not a good fit for you.
The 8 weeks of lessons will be a continued rotation that will take place 4 times per year (February 7th - March 27th; May 1st - June 19th; July 24th - September 11th & October 16th - December 4th in 2024). You are welcome to attend as many repeat lessons as you wish and all previously recorded lessons will be available for you to watch. There are also guided meditations and journal prompts for you to utilise as you please.
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What we cover in Soulful Birth​
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Week 1: Exploring our beliefs - We discuss underlying assumptions & conditioned beliefs about birth, mothering, our bodies, our instincts & our intuition. Unpacking this is a vital first step on the path to an empowering birth experience.
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Week 2: Understanding how birth works - we look at how our birthing bodies are designed to get our babies born in safe and rewarding ways. The strong links between mind and body (largely ignored in medicalised birth) are discussed and we talk about ways we can be supported to access all the helpful hormones in labour.
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Week 3: Birthing your way by keeping fear at bay - too much fear interferes with our physiology. We talk about how to create safety in birth, including the impacts of birth place, birth companions, and lots of common (and unnecessary) interventions, and ways to manage pain. This equips you to make good informed decisions for yourself.
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Week 4: Guest speaker - we hear wisdom from other birth workers on whichever topic they're particularly passionate about.
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Week 5: Rights & responsibilities - we discuss your rights and how the birth system often tramples all over them! And we talk about ways to navigate this. We also talk about your responsibilities as a mother and the challenges we sometimes feel surrounding this.
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Week 6: Birth as a rite of passage and a celebration - birth is a profound initiation into Motherhood. To meet our baby in love is not only beautiful, it has important longer-term implications and it is your (and your baby's) right! We talk about ways we can honour our birth as a powerful rite of passage and a celebratory event.
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Week 7: Preparing for a positive postpartum - we talk about postpartum needs and how to set yourself up as best you can to ensure they're met. Breastfeeding and normal newborn behaviours are discussed as well.
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Week 8: Q & A and discussion - this last session is an opportunity to explore any questions or topics that the group wants discussed.​
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The investment is $189 NZD (with the option of a $24/week plan over 8 weeks)
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This course would also be brilliant for birth partners, childbirth educators, or anyone who is interested in learning more about birth and reducing the amount of needless trauma that many new families are facing. It is an excellent course for those planning their first birth, as well as for those who have birthed before but want a more positive and empowering experience this time around.
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Please also be aware that there is the option of 1:1 birth and postpartum preparation with me, where we work together in a uniquely curated way to ensure your specific needs, fears, hopes and desires are addressed. Click here to read more about Soulful Birth For You. Or if you're ready to join the group cohort, register by clicking the button below. PS. it doesn't matter if we are partway through a round of the programme as you'll have access to previous recordings and you can stay for the full next round.
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Feedback from the Soulful Birth tribe...
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"Attending the Soulful Birth circle was pivotal in me doing the work to achieve my beautiful home birth after two previous cesareans. I was learning information, for the very first time, on the physiology of birth! The circle helped me to gain a better understanding of birth, strengthen my connection with baby and my body and more importantly supported me to build trust that my body was designed to birth. Beautifully facilitated by Carla Sargent, who delivered so much educational information packed with a burning passion for birth."
Tania Jones
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​"The Soulful Birth Circle was a safe space to ask questions and share any and all fears, it was all received with reverence and openness by Carla. Carla has a wealth of knowledge and experience and shares her confidence in the capabilities of every woman to birth her baby. Carla held space for meditation to help us connect with our bodies and tune into our intuition. I left the whole experience feeling informed and confident in what my body was able to do. Thank you Carla, it was a magical journey."
Nicole Cowley
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"I gained so much trust in the process. I loved to have a space that was just for me to connect with my pregnancy, and other mothers to be. I also gained a lot of helpful information about how pregnancy and birth work, and I loved hearing real stories of births in the circle and from Carla's book. It was the perfect mix between the science and the spiritual sides of birth. I felt so empowered and excited to give birth after the circles"
Ines Silveyra
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"I think every mum (new or not) needs this information in their ears. It is so surprising to me how much information is lacking in standard antenatal classes/ within the system and Carla's course opens up some evidence based dialogue, to really change your line of thinking. Carla has years of experience behind her and a safe, supportive, balanced way of delivering all of the content (with a woman centric approach - there are no agendas!) I really enjoyed the weekly meditations, that helped me ground into my intuitive knowing and truth. I have sat with fears, journeyed deep into my subconscious and have left the course feeling more empowered to enter this epic rite of passage as a first time mum."
Tessa
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"The Soulful Birth course is the antenatal education that you actually need! 8 weeks of support & guidance along with on-going access to revisit the material if you wish. The weekly journal prompts & guided meditations are a great resource to support you along your pregnancy journey. Carla is a wealth of knowledge in all things birth. She provides a supportive & empowering space for women & their support people to gain evidence based information and make informed choices for their birth."
Donna