Note: The late Penny Simkin's classes have been a staple in the Pacific Northwest for over 50 years. Penny's long-time assistant, Katie Rohs began teaching for Penny in 2021, and is thrilled to continue Penny's legacy of practical, evidence based childbirth education. Katie has been a doula and childbirth educator for over 14 years, and is overjoyed to carry Penny's wisdom forward to expectant families. 

Join us on Wednesday nights for a comprehensive eight week series to fully prepare yourself to give birth in an out of hospital setting. 

Weeks 1-3 will meet in conjunction with families who are planning a hospital birth, and go over all the topics of late pregnancy, the onset of labor, and working with physiologic birth. Week 4 will meet on Tuesday, and break out the home birth families to talk about hospital interventions in the context of a transfer. (The hospital class will meet on Wednesday.) Week 5 will have a special bonus class on Tuesday that is devoted just to practicing comfort measures, to thoroughly prepare you for working with labor contractions. Join the full cohort on Wednesday of Week 5 for a discussion about pain medications and cesarean birth. Wrap up your time with us on Week 6 discussing postpartum topics, and having a labor rehearsal. Weeks 7 & 8 are taught by a breastfeeding and newborn care specialist. 

You will come away from your series feeling confident and prepared with skills to work with labor outside of the hospital, ask key questions about your care, communicate your preferences for birth, and transition to your new role as parents of a new tiny human!

Note: This class has breastfeeding & newborn care earlier in the series on weeks 3 & 4 to accommodate instructor schedules.