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Pregnancy & birth​ specialist training

Become a Certified Parent Consultant: Pregnancy and birth specialist


​Offer the BirthCalm Education programme.

Join a community of change-makers.

Change the world...

Help parents understand birth and make their own choices?

CPC pregnancy and birth specialists have a width and breadth of knowledge about pregnancy, birth and babies before birth, that is completely unrivalled with any training I have ever found.

You will be able to support and educate parents on birth from a thorough understanding of the biological, physiological, neurological, and psychological perspectives  You will learn about the history of birth, the politics of birth and will be taken through all the research around all the possible choices that can be made. We learn how to support parents through more complex experiences and those who have previously experienced these. We offer a full toolkit of birth management and calming techniques and provide solid foundations for having calmer relationships during pregnancy and birth and as a family in the future. You can read a full outline below.

You will have access to our frameworks that ensure that parents are given the tools to make individual choices for their family now and in the future. We are educators, consultants and specialists, but not experts. Parents are the experts in their own children.
With this knowledge you will offer bespoke consultations to educate and support parents in preparation for their birth, or with pre-natal bonding and calm, and a programme of workshops and courses under the BirthCalm brand (with membership of the community).

​These include:

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Select from the options below to find out prices, timescales, dates, how to book, and what membership is all about.

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Outline of the course

Core CalmFamily modules
Module 1: About calmfamily
A relatively quick module that takes you through the history, structure, values, approach and programmes within CalmFamily, including information about our projects in development.
Module 2: Childhood and families
In this module you will gain understanding of the social, legal, political, historical and anthropological concepts surrounding child-bearing, childhood and family life. You will also consider the complexity of the concept of family in our modern society and how this impacts practice.
Module 3: Neurological development
A brief introduction to developmental neuroscience, the evolutionary process that created the human brain and factors influencing the development of the brain, and how motivation works.
Module 4: Psychological development
This module provides the basic theories of developmental and social psychology including attachment, human needs, motivation and resilience.
Module 5: Sensory regulation
In this module we look in depth at the science of the senses, looking at the most up-to-date concepts of the 5 external senses, the 3 internal senses and the balance of regulation.
Module 6: Human sleep and relaxation
In this module you will study the neurological and physiological processes of sleep, what is normal for humans and the issues society faces in this regard.

​We will also look at the science of the different states of relaxation according to various schools of thought and research.
Module 7: Human nutrition
In this module we examine the basics of nutritional biology, human infant feeding, introducing solid foods, how humans intuitively eat, and the science of taste.
Module 8: The CalmFamily approach
This module covers the fundamental principles of the CalmFamily frameworks for:
  • Calmer relationships
  • Trouble-shooting human needs
  • Mental regulation
  • Sensory regulation
  • Emotional regulation
  • Repairing relationship ruptures
  • Learning and development
Module 9: Being a consultant
This module will take you through:
  • The role and limitations of a consultant
  • Planning and running consultations
  • Running the education programmes
  • Facilitating groups
  • Managing challenges
  • Membership of the CalmFamily community
Module 10: Running a business
In this module we will take a brief look at:
  • Setting up systems
  • Business operations
  • Legal and regulatory aspects of business
  • Business with authenticity
  • Avoiding common business mistakes
  • Marketing your business
Pregnancy and birth specialist modules
Module 0: Literature review
We call this module zero because you will dip in and out of this as you go along. This amount of reading is not possible for everyone so we do not insist that it is complete for certification. 

To complete this recommended, but optional module, you will read ten excellent books and answer specific, short answer, questions on them that will hopefully expand your thinking, understanding and learning.

If you aren’t able to read any of the books, it is a good idea to ask a colleague or friend to summarise it for you in a quick chat so that when parents ask about it, you have some knowledge and can talk about it.
Module 1: Growing humans
This module will cover:
  • Human development from conception to birth
  • The biological and physiological process of pregnancy
  • Experiencing pregnancy
  • The psychological transition to being a parent
Module 2: The context of birth
In this module we explore the culture of birth in modern society. how it is discussed, where that came from and how birth and care of birthing people has developed through history. We also consider the impact of the language we use, as a society, has on our personal experience.
Module 3: The science of birth
This in-depth module will ensure that you understand birth from every possible scientific angle to give us the foundations to support parents to have an informed experience. We cover birth physiology, its many biological processes, and the neuroscience and psychology involved in the birth experience.
Module 4: Birth management tools
In this module we look in depth at each possible option for managing birth, including all medical and natural options, including complimentary therapies. We look at the science behind each tool, when it might be useful, and the pros and cons. 
module 5: making choices about birth
The choices that parents are faced with when preparing for birth are quite overwhelming. In this module we look at the main types of birth, where these could happen, and what impact birth place can make on our choices. We look at those circumstances that could impact parents' experience and choices within pregnancy and birth, and we then consider what the science tells us about them. Lastly, we talk about how to support parents to make their own informed choices before and during the birth.
module 6: calmer birth
With the underpinning understanding from previous modules, we will explore how we approach having a calmer birth and supporting calmer relationships with our birthing team, our body and our baby.

Our frameworks support:
  • Ensuring our human needs are met
  • Calming our senses
  • Physical tools to manage birth
  • Mind tools to manage birth
  • Making choices before and during birth
  • Supporting the birthing person
module 7: complexities of birth
Module 8: birth recovery & new babies
We know parents love their babies even before they arrive and so we learn here about how to support parents to understand and connect with their baby during pregnancy, during birth and immediately after. We cover a slightly more brief look at the first few months, to prepare them for normal infant behaviour.

In this module we also cover those first weeks of being a parent including post-birth recovery. Supporting parents to understand what to expect during this time is important.
Module 9: Antenatal care and education
One of the things a birth specialist needs to educate and support parents with, is deciding on other education they might want to experience. For this reason we take some time to look at what else is on offer in birth preparation:
  • National Childbirth Trust
  • Hypnobirthing programmes
  • Active birth and yoga for birth
  • NHS Classes
  • Doula and independent midwife education
Module 10: Being a pregnancy & birth specialist
This final module, alongside your face-to-face training days, will prepare you for being a birth specialist consultant. You will gain a good understanding of the BirthCalm programme, of our principles and approach to facilitating learning for families, and you will have the chance to re-visit material covered in the face to face training.

Following completion of the modules (not including the literature review), and your training days, you will receive a certificate of basic training and will be bale to work as a consultant. You then have the choice as to whether you follow our recognition pathway to become fully certified.