Hey amazing birth worker,

Are you feeling depleted? Are you looking for the spark that gave you meaning at work?

Welcome to:

Birth Professionals Deserve Doulas Too:

A 3 month virtual retreat to unwind trauma and gain skills for a sustainable professional practice.

You are a feminist. You are passionate about providing patient-centered care for birthers.

But…you are starting to feel overwhelmed:

-Maybe you have trouble “getting over” certain births. You go back again and again, analyzing what you did, decisions you made, doubting yourself.

-Perhaps you feel depleted, either avoiding going home, because you have nothing else to give, or feeling avoidance toward clients/patients.

-You notice activation, or trigger when talking/thinking about certain procedures, births, or experiences.

-Maybe you aren’t feeling as compassionate as you used to be, noticing a bit of disconnection/impatience with your patients/clients.

-You have started to see unhealthy habits forming as a way of coping with your work stress (disconnection, drinking alcohol, numbing with TV, binge eating…)

-You may also feel like there is no safe place to talk about how you feel. There is a culture of “sucking it up” or competition so you can’t be vulnerable with colleagues.

  • The thing is, these are signs of an overwhelmed nervous system. Birth is HUGE. Your body needs time to integrate these huge experiences. No matter your profession, your training did not change your human nervous system.

  • Maybe you want to launch a business

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  • Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more

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  • Maybe you have a creative project to share with the world

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You know that birthers deserve good care; and you know martyrdom is not the answer.

You deserve care too.

Imagine if:

You were able to put difficult birth experiences behind you when they were over.

You could feel present and compassionate with your family AND your patients/clients. Remember, just like you did when you finished your training?

You could feel fulfilled at work, and even had a sense of overwhelming pleasure to be doing your job.

You could have more capacity for the people in your life.

You could feel worthy, and accepting of yourself independent of how births go.

At the end of this retreat, you will:

-Have a community of like minded birth professionals you can connect to whenever you need.

-You will understand your unique nervous system and have an arsenal of practices that help you feel embodied in ALL aspects of your life

- You will understand what YOUR unique boundaries are and feel more comfortable asserting them.

-Understand how to debrief births in a way that benefits you too.

Hey, I’m Christiane,

I am the daughter of 2 doctors, a mother of 3, a perinatal therapist and a fierce feminist.

Growing up, I witnessed the toxic environments in which my parents had to work as they strived to provide compassionate care. And in my therapy practice, I work with care providers and birthers who are all suffering from the same culprits: patriarchy and capitalism. They make it really hard for humans to give and get good care in health care settings.

I created this 3 month program to help caring birth workers, like you, get tools to support their nervous system through the patriarchal and capitalist structures that make it so damn hard to keep doing their job.

YOU are so important. YOU change lives by offering safe spaces to birth. YOU help set the relationship bond between parent and child.

I want to give you what you need to feel good at work. To be able to keep doing your job well and with heart for as long as you want.

Here is what you will get:

9 Audio Modules:

(I know you are busy. These are no longer than 20 minutes each and can be done while doing chores, driving to work…etc)

  1. What is trauma?

    How trauma exists in the body vs the content of the experience.

  2. Structural Oppression in the Birthroom

    How work cultures and policies inhibit proper self-care.

  3. Your Resources

    Your strengths, how to draw on them. What protects you, what nourishes you. How to build resilience.

  4. Boundaries

    When “it’s your job” it feels like you can’t say no. How do we work with that?

  5. Your Trauma

    Your own trauma history and how it impacts your work today.

  6. Completing the Stress Cycle

    Practices to help you release pent up survival energy after being in a stressful situation.

  7. Debriefing

    How to debrief births with colleagues, clients, patients in a helpful way.

  8. Integration

    Integrating birth experiences so they serve and fuel you.

  9. Closure

    Practices to support the endings (of a professional relationship with a patient, the end of a difficult experience…)

9 Fun and Interactive Live Sessions

I have ADHD, I HATE passive listening. This is not how most people learn anyway. These live sessions are experiential so you can integrate what you are learning. They are meant to be fun and energizing!

Plus, these are short 1 hour sessions. We will NEVER go over time, because I know you have other things going on.

I also get that you might be on call, so these sessions will be recorded for when you can’t make it.

  • Are you more parasympathetic, sympathetic or do you jump between both? Let’s get to know you.

  • Create a priority wheel that allows you to see what you need and what you want to feel fulfilled at work and in life.

  • We all have a victim part and an oppressor part. In what ways do your identities impact your work?

  • An interactive activity to get to know what you need to feel regulated and safe.

  • After listening to the week’s module, you will be invited to reflect on your trauma history and how it impacts your work

  • Learn how to present birth planning to clients/patients in a way that helps prevent trauma for everyone

  • A chance to practice debriefing with a partner (You will never be forced to do any interactive activities, you always get to choose)

  • What helps you complete and close chapters. What rituals/practices support you?

  • This is our last live call where we will share what we have gained and will be taking with us in our practice.

Logistics

Investment

I am running this retreat for the first time, so I am offering it at a decreased fee. The fee will go up significantly next time it is offered.

900$ total

or

100$ per week

If you are racialized, you can choose your own fee and contact me at info@christianelafleche.ca to register your spot and set up a fee schedule.

When?

Thursdays at 9am January 18th-March 14th (Live sessions)

How?

-The modules are ~20 min audio recordings that you can access anytime and can listen to while doing other things.

-The live sessions are 1 hour each at the same time each week. They will be recorded for folks who couldn’t make it because they were on call.

Who?

The group will be between 4-8 individuals. Midwives, nurses, physicians, doula, mental health providers, physiotherapists and anyone who works with the perinatal population is welcome.

This is for you if:

  • You like understanding yourself.

  • You are interested in personal growth, development.

  • You are a feminist.

This is not for you if…

  • You aren’t willing to self-reflect

  • You have complex trauma that has not been healed/worked on

  • You aren’t willing to come in with an open-mind

Hope to see you there!

This retreat is not currently open for enrollment. Sign up for my newsletter below to stay updated on the next wave of enrollment.