teaching childbirth ed

I don't know what lamaze really is but I think my colleague teaches childbirth education, because it isn't just about methods for coping with actual childbirth, it also includes "what to expect when you go home," "what to expect when you're admitted to the labor floor," etc.

I think it is a really great thing for families because they are then already educated on pain management options, timelines, what effacement/dilation mean, etc.

Sorry I can not offer more help - hopefully someone else shall! xo

It depends. If you plan to teach in the hospital, ICEA is a pretty safe bet. It's a great general certification program. Most hospitals require you to either be ICEA Certified or Lamaze Certified. Check with your hospital to see if they have a preference.

If you plan to teach outside of the hospital, then you really want to research which philosophy is most in line with yours. You'll be teaching their philosophy, so you'll want to agree with it. Going to the organization's website can help you figure out which organization is most in line with your beliefs. Many even have position papers or birth philosophies on their website that can give you a general idea. There are a lot of other options, depending on what your beliefs are. Here's a list of some:

http://www.icea.org/

http://www.lamaze.org/

http://www.bradleybirth.com/

http://www.hypnobirthing.com/

http://www.birthingfromwithin.com/

http://www.birthworks.org/site/

By the way, you can be a Certified Childbirth Educator by going through a number of organizations, including Lamaze. You would be a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator (LCCE), ICEA Certified Childbirth Educator (ICCE) etc. Let me know if you need anything else. I'm currently working through my Lamaze and ICEA certifications and can answer questions about those groups.

When deciding which group to certify with,check how easy it is to get the CEU needed to certify/recertify. I don't know if this is still true but ICEA used to only accept their CEU (or you had to pay a fee and do a bunch of paperwork to get retoactive hours). That was a problem for me because there were rarely any in my area. It was the primary reason I did not recertify last time my certification ran out. You can check their website to get an idea of current CEU offerings to see if they are offered in your area. Lamaze accepts a wider variety of CEU so you can go to a breastfeeding convention and use the CEU for certification/recert. They also have a tract for experienced instructors so I would go with them if I ever decided to get certified again.

My question is how much of a commitment does this require? Once you certify and become employeed through a company would you be able to work a fulltime job as well as an educator. and also is there cirruculum you follow or do you make up your own "teaching plan"?

You can give community classes, meaning you decide what to teach, who to teach, when to teach, and how much to charge. You would be responsible for finding clients and a class location, but you'd probably earn more money and be able to teach more of your own philosophy. You could also work in a hospital or other institution. They might provide the curriculum and teaching supplies for you, but you may have to sacrifice freedom in content. You can have a full-time job at the same time. Many educators only offer one class series at a time, so that would be a 2.5-3 hour commitment each week, in addition to preparation for class.

As far as curriculums go, I think there are some ideas and templates available online. I really like The Family Way, which isn't a curriculum, but they publish an educator's guide with lots of great teaching strategies and a handbook to give to your clients. Going through the certification program prepares you to write your own curriculum. There is a lot of discussion in the seminars about how to plan a class. This was the most terrifying part for me, but after the Lamaze workshop I feel prepared to create a class plan.

Thanks Noelani! This is just what I was looking for. I was terrified at the thought of coming up with a teaching plan all by myself too! I think I'll check out the Lamaze website.