Welcoming a child into one’s life with pregnancy and childbirth is a “threshold moment” for everyone involved. As practitioner, the continuity of care you provide, the space that you create and the quality of relationship you establish with birthing parents are all tools to for better outcomes. Doulas, midwives, maternal health specialists, obstetricians and others who attend pregnant and birthing families know that their presence means a lot in the process, whether it is explicitly named or not.
The science of safety is about recognizing the ways people feel safe on every level, implicitly and explicitly. This talk will present this science, often called the polyvagal theory, and help craft ways for professionals to better support birthing families based on knowing a unique map of the autonomic nervous system for each family. This understanding will help professionals create more resilience for birthing parents, and improve birth outcomes in the short and long term.
Kate White, MA, BCBMT, RCST®, CEIM, SEP, PPNE
Kate White is an award-winning prenatal and perinatal educator and an advanced bodyworker. She is trained in somatic therapies, prenatal and perinatal health, lactation, brain development, infant mental health, and has specialized in mother-baby dyad care using somatic prevention and trauma healing approaches for 20 years. She is a mother of two children, holds a BA and MA in Communication, a Registered Craniosacral Therapist in the Biodynamic Craniosacral method and a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner. Her work combines somatic therapy, birth preparation, recovery from difficult birth, breastfeeding support, trauma prevention and resolution and brain development to help give families with babies and small children the best possible start. She runs a private practice and offers seminars and training as the Founder and Director for the Center for Prenatal and Perinatal Programs, ppncenter.com, and the online school, Prenatal and Perinatal Healing Online.