How to Provide Hands-Off Labor Support During a Time of Social Distancing?
In light of the current social distancing imposed on us due to COVID-19, Birth Coach Method is giving away free access to lesson #4 of the Birth Support Coaching Course-‘Prenatal Coaching’! We hope that it will help you as you keep providing valuable and necessary support for expectant individuals using online communication platforms (Facetime, Zoom, etc.)
Birth workers are mastering strategies that relieve fear and doubt!
Our lives have been changing rapidly lately. In the past few weeks, the whole world has been reacting to COVID-19 with our fight-or-flight (FOF) response. Being alert and living every day on our survival mechanism might be as dangerous as the virus itself, if not more dangerous. We, birth workers, are experts in preventing or reversing the FOF response that leads to labor arrest. We are experts in managing the fear of pain and of what’s unpredictable or unknown. Psychotherapists might help their patients cope with anxiety and fear in a process that lasts weeks, months or years. However, we, birth workers, are first responders specializing in saving people from fear and doubt.
We are fight-or-flight first responders, trained to relieve and reverse this response to prevent labor arrest. But we are also a hands-on community. Now What?
Thinking you can’t provide hands-off labor support? Here to help!
In a time when the best thing for our global community is to physically isolate, birth workers are challenged. We are fight-or-flight first responders, trained to relieve and reverse this response and prevent labor arrest. But we are also a hands-on community. We establish an intimate and physical relationship with our clients. Of course, you can continue informing and educating, but the challenge we face is this: On one hand, we are mastering the strategies that will help relieve the fear and doubt our clients and the whole world is experiencing nowadays. On the other side, we must serve them while being hands-off. Whether you are a childbirth educator, a doula or a prenatal yoga instructor, you can adjust to the situation and find new ways to serve your clients while complying with the social distancing needed to protect the community as a whole.
Here is how to take labor support online!
Choose an online platform that you are most familiar with(don’t waste time on mastering a new one). Here are some options:
- Phone video (i.e. Facetime)
- WhatsApp video
- Facebook Messenger video
- Zoom video
- Facebook Live video
Know that sometimes individuals resist practicing. Here is how you can convince them of the value of this practice: Are you familiar with the saying “fake it till you make it”? Studies show that our attitudes often follow our behaviors, as opposed to the other way around. Our body and mind are connected and by behaving in a certain way you are inviting the mind to follow. This is exactly what we do when we use labor support tools. That means assuming the body language of a powerful person can make you feel confident.
The next thing is to have a meeting plan
Take labor support online! Serve your clients while complying with the social distancing needed to protect the community as a whole
Now that your clients understand the value of practicing, you may inquire with them how often do they want to meet with the goal of supporting a calm and positive mindset. You may choose to provide your support services for your clients as a community or individually (depending on the platform you chose).
Create your own meeting plan using some or all the following supporting strategies
- Lead your clients to begin every day by stretching and lifting their hands up in the air in a V shape. The V is a symbol of victory and this pose was found to be natural for humans when they celebrate a victory, overcome a challenge or celebrate success. Even people who are blind and have never seen anyone do that, lift their hands in a V shape when they feel successful or victorious. Suggest that your clients repeat this exercise when they feel anxious.
- Lead a 15-minute breathwork circle and end it with gratitude to our lungs.
- Lead a 15-minute visualization taking a tour in nature. Imagine creatures that clear and clean the air, plants, roads, surfaces and everything around us from viruses and other harming particles.
- Share guidelines for writing a positive affirmation with the topic of staying healthy and connected. (On the right side of the screen you will find the sign-up boxes to download the free coaching materials including the guidelines for writing an affirmation).
- Lead a daily 15-minute dance circle with movements that release negative feelings and fear and increase confidence. You may integrate some empowering poses in the dance, such as hands in the air in a V shape pose, or the “Wonder Woman” power pose – you stand with your feet apart, your hands on your hips and your chin tilted upward. Spiraling your body is very freeing. You may consider integrating the spiritual warrior yoga position in the dance as well.
- Tapping on one’s chest or on one’s ribcage from both sides of the body is known to reduce anxiety. Monkeys tap on their chest and ribcage to feel confident and to communicate the message of being powerful to a potential enemy.
- Vocalization: Encourage your clients to vocalize the exhalation or combine vocalization with tapping on one’s chest. Vocalization is used as a release mechanism. Combine the idea of tapping on the chest while groaning and you got yourself a winning release mechanism. Once the negative emotions are released, they give way to the positive ones.
- Demonstrate or share printed guidelines for nice and gentle massage couples can give each other and their kids. We know the miracle of touch.
- Share the fairy hypnosis poem with parents. Find it in the PDF at the bottom.
- For clients with sleeping difficulties, suggest that they will massage the area of the third eye, where the pineal gland is, in order to release melatonin. The same effect can be achieved when they practice the child’s pose in yoga and press their forehead to the mat.
Download the PDF and join our course to learn how to provide hands-off labor support, now and thereafter
What’s should you do next?
- Download the PDF I created with all these wonderful ideas.
- Sign-up using the form below to receive the free coaching materials, including the affirmation guidelines.
- If you are enrolled in the Birth Support Coaching certificate course, watch lesson 4 again!
- If you are new to our community – I am giving lesson 4 of the Birth Support Coaching Course away!
Watch lesson 4 of the course and use any of the online platforms to conduct prenatal coaching conversations in order to elicit your client’s readiness for their nearing birth. - Enroll in our course now for only $350 instead of $820.
If you are not already enrolled, we just released a one-time discount coupon OVERCOME-19 to make it easier for you to join the Birth Support Coaching Course. Use it at checkout in order to join the next session of our course for only $350 (instead of $820). Still not in your budget but you are very interested? Contact me for a partial scholarship.
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