Online Antenatal Classes for Women with Higher Risk Pregnancies
PREPARING FOR A VBAC
The online program that gives women the best chance to achieve a successful VBAC
Worksheets, videos, checklists, tools and techniques - helping you understand what's ahead and have great two-way communication with your Health Care Provider
Are you planning to have a vaginal birth after a caesarean section?
Want to do everything you can to achieve success?
Many women can safely have a Vaginal Birth after Caesarean (VBAC), but sometimes it can be hard to know if it is the right thing for you to do. Women choose either option for lots of different reasons: personal preference, medical issues, pressure from family, social circumstances and fear.
It isn't always easy to know where to start. Sometimes you need to knock on a few doors before you find the person and the place that is right for you. It can take courage and persistence.
National and international research shows that 63-94% of women who attempt a VBAC are successful... so with the green light from your Health Care Provider, the odds are good!
But how can you make it happen?
Well the truth is, there is no guarantee of achieving a VBAC, but there are plenty of things you can do to prepare, and to increase your chances.
Our program will take you through all the elements that can contribute to a positive birth experience, show you how you can influence how your body works in labour, help you understand your choices and communicate clearly with your Health Care Providers.
Three Great Options Available!
This is another one of the pre built ones we could use. all colours can be changed.
ONLINE COURSE (Best Value)
- Unlimited access to the Online Course for 6 months
- Unbiased - we will help you to plan your labour and birth as YOU would like, not how someone else thinks it should be
- Specifically tailored for women who want a successful VBAC
- Work through the Online material at your own pace, at a time and place that is convenient to you
- For women who want to feel empowered during labour and birth
ONLINE PLUS (Most Popular)
- Unlimited access to the Online Course for 6 months
- Additional four week structured program
- 4 x Weekly group Zoom session with our expert Jodie Adams
- Talk through your questions and concerns in a supportive and closed environment
- Limited numbers for each intake
- Experience everything that is in the Online Course, but with extra support from Jodie who has worked with hundreds of women who are having their next birth after a Caesarean
ONLINE + PRIVATE (Exclusive Access)
- Unlimited access to the Online Course for 6 months
- Work through the Online material at your own pace, at a time and place that is convenient to you
- 1-1 support as you prepare for your labour and birth experience
- 2.5 hours Private Consultation to work directly with Jodie at a time that is mutually convenient
- Individualised approach to the course content, tailored for your experience
Need a custom plan? Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, get in touch consectetur adipiscing elit.
So you've had a previous caesarean section.
Perhaps it was planned, or maybe your labour didn't progress as it needed to. For most women, the reason they needed to have a caesarean section during labour was not because their body is intrinsically unable to birth. In fact, that is really rare. Usually, it is a combination of events that lead to either the baby becoming distressed or the labour slowing down, which ultimately results in the decision to go for a caesarean section.
Basically, for most women, just because you've had one caesar doesn't mean your body can't birth and that you shouldn't try again.
With preparation and a good understanding of how all the elements of labour work together, you can positively influence how your baby and your body work together on the day.
Our program focuses on four essential elements of labour and birth.
We will show you how these elements influence labour and how to work with them. You might be surprised by how much control you have and with the right preparation, how much you can impact the outcome.
Our program is unique because it is structured specifically for women planning a VBAC. Understanding how you will be cared for differently is key to preparing for success.
Who developed this program?
Jodie Adams
Jodie is a Clinical Midwifery Consultant who has worked with hundreds of women preparing for their next birth after a caesarean section.
Years of working with women with high risk pregnancies who desperately wanted a normal birth was the inspiration for starting the Prepared for Birth business.
Jodie was constantly frustrated by the lack of information in traditional birth classes for women with a complicated pregnancy, and how they didn't prepare women for the reality of what they were going to experience during labour.
Knowing how different the experience of labour is for these women, over the years, she collected and developed specific strategies for these women.
With so much positive feedback from women in her care she wanted to find a way to share this knowledge and experience more widely. To help women, wherever they were, to work with their own Health Care Providers to achieve the same successful outcomes.
Jodie has two children of her own and continues to work as a midwife.
Emmalee Pepar
Emmalee has years of corporate, consulting and small business experience.
She has run her own strategy consulting business and built the website and online learning platform for her husband’s coaching business.
In conversations with Jodie, she could see an opportunity to use her skills and experience (and her 'inner geek') to create a learning platform that would bring together Jodie's strategies for helping women with high risk pregnancies.
This business was a great opportunity to use her creativity to build all the online learning material and to stretch herself by learning new skills, including some coding!
Emmalee is thrilled to be working with Jodie bringing women with higher risk pregnancies a set of tools and strategies to help them have the best birth experience possible.
Emmalee's first experience with birth was being present for the arrival of her nephew many years ago - what a privilege! Since then she has had three children of her own.
We have worked together every step of the way to build our programs which are all about helping women with a more complex pregnancy prepare for the reality of their labour and birth.
But not only that, we want them to have a positive birth experience. This happens when a woman is feeling safe, listened to, she understands what’s going on around her, she is clear about the choices available and feels supported in the decisions she makes.
When the birth is over, she can look back with no regrets. It is not so much about the actual choices made on the day, or the type of birth she had.
Most important is that she felt informed, safe and prepared for the birth of her baby.
In the video below, we talk about why we created the program.
What do we cover?
We understand this isn't your first birth, and you've probably done some type of antenatal education in the past.
This program focuses helping women planning for a VBAC to achieve success. To understand how is it different, what to expect, and how to prepare with this in mind.
We do not have a bias towards any particular approach to labour and birth. We accommodate all preferences for managing labour from using positions and mindfulness techniques all the way through to epidurals.
The Modules
But what about...
We know this program isn't for everyone.
We have summarised below some of the discussions we've had about the program and who it might help.
Scroll down for our downloadable checklist that will help you talk with your Health Care Provider to see if you are a good candidate for a VBAC.
What will you learn?
⇒ What do we mean by Health Care Provider
⇒ How the 4 P's influence labour and how to work with them
⇒ Understanding what Feeling Safe means and why it is important
⇒ Understanding how fear affects labour and what you can do about it
⇒ Preparing for ongoing conversations with your Health Care Provider(s) about your specific choices in labour and birth
⇒ Why is labour different after you have had a caesarean section
⇒ How to prepare if you've had a previous difficult birth
⇒ Tools for communication and decision making
⇒ Tips for partners and support people
⇒ What to do if your baby is overdue
⇒ What are the stages of labour and what to expect in each
⇒ What is a posterior labour
⇒ How to help get your baby into the best position for labour
⇒ Understanding your own perspectives on pain and how this influences your choices
⇒ Strategies for managing pain in early labour
⇒ What are the pharmaceutical pain relief options and when's the best time to use them
⇒ Using different positions in labour to help with both pain management and labour progress
⇒ The benefits of using mindfulness and breathing techniques for birth
⇒ How you might use massage, heat and water in labour
⇒ How all these techniques can work together and when you might use them
⇒ Creating a birth plan that you and your Health Care Provider will actually use
⇒ Breastfeeding - setting up you for success
⇒ Tips for feeding your newborn with a toddler in the house
⇒ Tips from mums for coping with a new baby in the house
Got a question?
Three Great Options Available
This is another one of the pre built ones we could use. all colours can be changed.
ONLINE COURSE (Best Value)
- Unlimited access to the Online Course for 6 months
- Unbiased - we will help you to plan your labour and birth as YOU would like, not how someone else thinks it should be
- Specifically tailored for women who want a successful VBAC
- Work through the Online material at your own pace, at a time and place that is convenient to you
- For women who want to feel empowered during labour and birth
ONLINE PLUS (Most Popular)
- Unlimited access to the Online Course for 6 months
- Additional four week structured program
- 4 x Weekly group Zoom session with our expert Jodie Adams
- Talk through your questions and concerns in a supportive and closed environment
- Limited numbers for each intake
- Experience everything that is in the Online Course, but with extra support from Jodie who has worked with hundreds of women who are having their next birth after a Caesarean
ONLINE + PRIVATE (Exclusive Access)
- Unlimited access to the Online Course for 6 months
- Work through the Online material at your own pace, at a time and place that is convenient to you
- 1-1 support as you prepare for your labour and birth experience
- 2.5 hours Private Consultation to work directly with Jodie at a time that is mutually convenient
- Individualised approach to the course content, tailored for your experience
Need a custom plan? Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, get in touch consectetur adipiscing elit.
"I'd like to have a VBAC"... how to start a conversation with your Health Care Provider
Many women are not sure if they are safely able to have a VBAC. Maybe this is something you have given a lot of thought to, or perhaps you are just wondering if it is possible...
Download our checklist to take to your next appointment with your Health Care Provider. This list of questions will help you to understand:
→ how your specific circumstances will impact your chances of success, and
→ how they can best support you in the process
For more information, we also have a blog post that outlines 5 strategies to help you increase your chances of a successful VBAC.