Laboring together
Work together with your partner to find comfort during labor! This class focuses on skills, strategies, and support for the labor period. Labor at home for longer and lessen anxiety with this workshop for expecting parents.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT A BIRTH EDUCATION CLASS!
Dates and booking
Please use the buttons below to select your Laboring Together workshop booking.
Course Breakdown
Get ready for hands-on learning!
This popular class includes a variety of ways to assist birthing people to cope with and find comfort during labor. This workshop is great for all birth types (hospital, home, natural, epidural, etc) because it focuses on improving the birthing person’s experience of labor.
This is a supplemental workshop to create and hone skills for laboring positioning, pain management and partner connection.
We recommend it for first time parents, and as a refresher for second+ time parents.
This class does not cover: birth education, pregnancy education, or medical interventions in labor. If you’re looking for a one day class that covers all of these things, please consider our One Day Childbirth Immersive.
This workshop covers:
Touch/massage
Acupressure
Breath work
Visualization/imagery
Laboring positions
Professional services
and more!
Meet the Instructors
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Throughout her entire life, Heidi has been a reassuring voice to others. A leader and supporter, a woman and a friend. Heidi earned an associate degree from Northern Arizona University in Environmental Sciences and a Dual Masters from the University of California Berkeley in Urban Planning/Environmental Sciences. After working for several years and earning a high-level management position in the solar power industry, Heidi had a life-changing realization. She became a mom and immediately realized that support is a fundamental need during pregnancy, labor and birth.
Heidi left her degree and career to pursue becoming a professional, certified doula. Heidi knew that with her passion for providing support, her commitment to education, and her ability to encourage and reassure others, becoming a doula was an obvious choice. It was almost as if the position was created specifically for her!
Heidi is certified to teach HypnoBirthing and Lamaze Childbirth classes. She has trained as a birth doula through DONA, CAPPA, Cornerstone, ProDoula, and Dynamo Doula. Her additional focus of study includes Spinning Babies and Evidence Based Birth. Heidi has also earned her Master rebozo credentials and placenta certification.
With a passion for vaginal birth after cesarean section, Heidi has supported and celebrated more than 50 clients as they reached this powerful goal. Her deepest desire is for her clients to know that they are cared for, that they can feel confident in their choices, and that they have the information they need when they need it.
Heidi married into a 4th generation Bay Area family and has resided there for the past 13 years. Together she and her husband raise their three children. When Heidi is not working, she loves spending time with her extended family, living an eco-friendly lifestyle, reading, watching BBC period dramas and doing seasonal canning.
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Keira comes to the birth world after a career in public health and social services research, evaluation, and consulting. That work also focused on supporting people as they navigate life transitions, social challenges, and the systems and institutions that support us as we all move through these moments. She has a passion for deep learning and listening, connecting to people, building communities, and being an advocate and a resource.
Keira is also a parent to two young people who are heading off to college, which inspired a search for change and a return to pursuing a passion for women’s health and empowered birth. She is grateful for the support, opportunities, and connections made during her own pregnancy, birth, and early child-rearing years. She now enjoys helping others find the connections, information and support they need to build their confidence, make decisions, grow, and thrive as they build their family.
Keira has a Masters in Public Health. She trained as a birth, postpartum, and full spectrum doula with Cornerstone. She is also a certified Cornerstone and Hypnobirthing Childbirth Educator. She also just started additional training as a lactation counselor!
When not teaching, learning, supporting births or helping families postpartum, Keira is a mountain bike coach for the Berkeley High School team, grows veggies and keeps chickens in her backyard, sings and dances with MoTor Dance, and gets into the mountainous backcountry (on ski wheels, or on foot) as often as she can with her partner, two kids and friends.
Save up to 15% with a package!
Our most popular classes, paired with our most popular workshops. Save on both by buying together!
Frequently Asked Questions:
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This class is designed for birthing people and their birth partner.
First time parents should not take this without also taking a childbirth education class, as this is NOT a substitute. Second+ time parents are encouraged to take this class to refresh or learn labor skills!
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This workshop covers two people, so make sure to bring them along!
This class is hands on. Please wear clothes you can comfortably move around in.
We offer water, tea, snacks, and beverages for purchase in our space, but some people also like to bring their own snacks and a water bottle.
Overall, bring your positive attitudes and curiosity! We're excited to have you with us.
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This is considered a supplementary workshop, not a true birth education class, because the curriculum does not cover all the information you would want for birth.
This workshop covers finding comfort in labour and coping with the discomfort of birth, including how a support person may offer comfort to a birthing person. It offers a chance to learn and practice teamwork and comfort strategies before the big day.
We offer explanations of what stages of labor these strategies may apply to, and why these strategies work, but we do not give an in-depth education on each stage of labor and what is happening in the body. Our expectation is that students taking this workshop have either taken (or will take in the future) a birth education class, or have given birth before and are looking to improve their experience and teamwork.
We recommend our One Day Immersive for an in-depth birth education in a short period of time.
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This workshop is priced as "per couple", or for a pregnant person and their support person. If you would like to sign up as an individual or add an additional person, please contact us! We're happy to help.
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For the health and safety of our students, Brilliant Births requests COVID-19 vaccination. Masks are not required but welcomed, and are provided in-studio.
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We do not offer cancellations, refunds, or exchanges for workshops.
If your chosen date no longer works, please contact us to reschedule up to 12 hours before the class start time. An administrative fee will be charged for rescheduling a class, charged to your card on file. If rescheduling doesn’t work with your needs, you will be issued a credit towards a future class.
We aim to fill our workshops, but if there are less than two sign ups for this workshop, it may be rescheduled or cancelled. If the rescheduled date doesn't work with your needs, you will be issued a code for credit toward a future class. No monetary refunds are given.
In the event of unexpected events (including but not limited to: pandemic, fire, excessively poor air quality, or general safety concerns), the format may change from in-person classes to virtual classes if required by public health guidelines or at Brilliant Birth's discretion. No change in fee will be issued, and no refunds will be given outside of the allotted cancellation policy.
More Information
Have questions about a workshop?
Feel free to get in touch and we can answer any and all questions you might have!