Childbirth Educator Training

The Childbirth Educator Training includes 14+ modules in an online classroom platform in addition to 9 weekly remote live classes. 

Students learn the basics of how to teach childbirth and newborn care to adults.  Instructors model a variety of teaching techniques including lecture, use of audio-visual aids, role-playing, active learning methods and small group activities. Students apply their learning through practice teaching sessions, which offer each student a chance to give a short presentation to peers and receive an experienced childbirth educator's feedback. 

Topics include: 

• The History of Childbirth Education 

• Scope of Practice for the Childbirth Educator 

• Art and Science of Learning and Teaching 

• Reproductive anatomy and physiology 

• Fetal Development 

• Physical Changes in Pregnancy 

• Emotional Experience of Pregnancy, Labor and Postpartum 

• Nutrition and Exercise in Pregnancy 

• Prenatal Care and Prenatal Testing 

• Complications and Interventions in Pregnancy, Labor and Birth 

• Stages of labor 

• Comfort Measures for Labor 

• Pain Medications 

• Birth-Planning and Informed choice 

• Cesarean Birth 

• Postpartum, Breastfeeding, Newborn Care and Safety 

• Transformation of Birth, Postpartum and Early Parenthood 

• Learning Objectives and Developing a CBE Curriculum 

• Dynamics of Group Learning 

• Teaching Strategies 

• Curriculum Development 

• Understanding Research and Evidence-based Practice 

• Designing Evaluations 

• Certification and Job Opportunities 

Since most expectant parents plan to give birth in a hospital, most opportunities for childbirth educators involve teaching about hospital birth. Therefore, the class focuses primarily on how to teach about hospital birth, although out-of-hospital birth is also addressed. 

NOTE: Completion of two online learning modules is required before the end of the 9-week course. Depending on your current knowledge and experience, this will take between 20-40+ hours to complete.  This time-range estimate includes several hours of prerequisite (prior to the start of class) module review in Canvas and Injoy’s “Understanding Birth” e-class. 

Required Texts 

• Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn by Penny Simkin et .al. 

Recommended Texts 

• Maternity and Women's Health Care by Deitra Lowdermilk and Shannon Perry 

• The Breastfeeding Answer Book by Nancy Mohrbacher and Julie Stock 

• The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers by Jack Newman and Teresa Pittman 

• Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy and Childbirth Edited by Julia Chinyere Oparah and Alicia Bonaparte 

This course fulfills the requirements for: 

• International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA) certification and/or recertification and includes 16 ICEA contact hours. 

• Great Starts Birth and Family Education recognizes the CET as one step toward certification as childbirth educator. 

It also fulfills the childbirth educator training prerequisite for the Bastyr University Department of Midwifery. 

Cancellation 

Cancellation requests made prior to the release of the online modules are eligible for a full refund minus a $100 processing fee. 
Once the online modules are open and students are given access, any cancellations made 30 days before the start of class are eligible for a 50% refund. 
Once the online modules are open and students are given access, any cancellations made less than 30 days before the start of class are NOT eligible for a refund. 

Transfers 

Transfer requests made PRIOR to the release of the online modules (Canvas and InJoy) are eligible for a transfer with the addition of a $100 processing fee. 
Once the online modules are open and students are given access, any transfer requests made 30 days BEFORE the start of class are eligible for a transfer with the addition of a $325 fee. 
Once the modules are open and students are given access, any transfer requests made less than 30 days before the start of class are eligible for a transfer, with the addition of a $425 fee.