Thrive Birth & Beyond
For those based in or near Tauranga, Carla offers a FREE (thanks to generous funding from the Wright Family Foundation and The Village NZ) birth and postpartum preparation series, called
Thrive Birth & Beyond.
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Lessons are held in the Education Room at the bottom of the Bethlehem Birthing Centre. There is a mix of weekend courses and week-day evening courses (run over 4 weeks). These classes are for first-time parents, as well as for those who are pregnant again, wanting extra support and guidance around setting themselves up for a positive and empowering birth and postpartum.
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With a background in midwifery and education, and having worked predominantly in the field of birth trauma support and training since 2015, Carla has a wealth of knowledge about how to mitigate the chances of you having a traumatic birth experience (which is unfortunately the experience of at least 1 in 3 new mothers), and how to maximise the likelihood of your birth and postpartum being empowering and positive.
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Hot tip... You might want to join the following Facebook group which is aimed at serving the needs of expecting mamas who are seeking information, support and guidance to birth their way. It's called Aotearoa/NZ Mamas-to-be (due Feb-Dec 2025): Support to birth your way.
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Upcoming Classes
Week-day: Monday March 31; April 7; April 14; April 21, 6 - 8.30pm
Weekend: May 3 & 4, 9am - 3pm
Sunday evenings: May 18 & 25; June 1 & 8, 6 - 8.30pm
Weekend: July 5 & 6, 9am - 3pm
Weekend: August 9 & 10, 9am - 3pm
Weekend: September 6 & 7, 9am - 3pm
If you are interested in registering for a class, click the button below to send Carla a message. Don't forget to mention which Thrive class you are keen to register for
What we cover in Thrive Birth & Beyond classes​
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Exploring Our Beliefs - We discuss underlying assumptions & conditioned beliefs about birth, mothering, our bodies, our instincts & our intuition. We're often quite unaware of the unhelpful and misinformed beliefs we hold until we are invited to consider them!
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How Birth Works (aka Birthing Physiology) - We look at how our birthing bodies are designed to get our babies born in safe and rewarding ways. The strong links between mind and body are discussed and we talk about ways we can be supported to access all the helpful hormones in labour. Lots for the partners/birth support people to take away here.
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Birthing Your Way - Keeping Fear at Bay - Going into birth, some fear is absolutely normal. But too much fear interferes with our birth hormones and can make labour longer and more painful. We talk about how to create safety in birth, including the impacts of birth place, birth companions, and some commonly used, but often unnecessary, interventions. This equips you to make good informed decisions for yourself.
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Rights & Responsibilities - We discuss who is responsible for what, when it comes to decisions that affect your pregnancy, your birth and your baby. And we talk about what your rights are as a consumer of healthcare services.
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Pain Management - A lot of people fear that they won't be able to cope with the pain of labour, especially after the horror stories they've heard. We'll discuss how to get your natural painkillers (endorphins) onboard, and supportive non-medical ways to help with pain relief. Medical pain management will also be discussed.
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Preparing for a Positive Postpartum - We talk about postpartum needs and how to set yourselves up as best you can to ensure they're met. Breastfeeding and normal newborn behaviours are discussed as part of this section of the course.
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If you are interested in registering for one of the Thrive Birth & Beyond courses, send a message to Carla by clicking the button below (don't forget to tell her what course/dates you want to register for).
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What past attendees have to say...​
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"Carla's antenatal class was so informative and made us feel so much better prepared for birth as well as confident to make the right decisions for us. Her experience with birth trauma brings in a unique perspective which made us aware of things we never would have considered otherwise. Highly recommend!​"
Aileen
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"I loved it. I feel so so privileged to have come across this specific course and taken it. My favourite part was the physiology or birth and how different hormones impact not only the birth itself but postpartum too. Prior to the course for example, I thought that induction is just what starts normal labour and from there on everything goes on as normal - now I know that is not at all the case! I have so many friends who have given birth and I am sure they don’t understand the physiology of birth like I now do after taking the course. I think Carla is the perfect facilitator with all her experience in birth trauma - it gave us all the knowledge to do what we can to avoid birth trauma in the first place. I am recommending this course to all my pregnant (and not yet pregnant) friends!"
Valentina
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​"The course was great, it left me feeling empowered and ready to advocate for myself."
Harriet
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"Super grateful to have been able to attend this class. Carla is an excellent speaker and super informative and I felt empowered and confident and ready for the next chapter of my pregnancy - birth! My partner also realised how important it is to be supportive of keeping me feeling safe during labour, by making sure we give informed consent with interventions etc, drawing boundaries with family and friends before and after birth. I think before this class he would have just felt pressured by medical professionals; so I feel a lot more at ease that he now is confident in making sure what is offered is in my / babies best interest. He would not have learnt this with out Carla so I’m full of gratitude! Highly recommend."
Marcy
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"Very informative course, we enjoyed hearing what you had to say and learning from you. My husband says it has given him more confidence in the birth process."
Naomi
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