Virtual Birth & Parenting ClassesJoin From Anywhere!
These classes are offered as on-demand videos that you can watch at your convenience or as live Zoom gatherings. Families who hire a Birth First Doula get access to all virtual classes for free. Check out our class options below!
Stages Of Labor Crash Course: The Birthing Process
On-Demand Video Class
This 75 minute childbirth class is taught by one of our amazing Birth First Doulas and provides expecting parents with an in-depth understanding of the entire birthing process, including everything you need to know about early labor, active labor, pushing, birth, and the immediate postpartum. If you’re looking for prenatal classes, birthing classes, or a crash course on what to expect when you go into labor, this is the class for you!
Teacher: Birth Doula & Educator
Fee: Free for Birth First Doula clients; $80 for all other families.
Labor & Birth Techniques: Balancing Progress, Comfort, & Relaxation
On-Demand Video Class
This 90 minute birthing class is taught by one of our amazing Birth First Doulas and provides expecting parents with information and insider tips on everything you need to know about birthing comfort techniques, methods for progressing labor, and ways of creating a calmer and more relaxed birth experience. If you and your partner are looking for prenatal classes and birthing classes, or want to learn practical ways to improve your labor and birth experience, then this is the class for you!
Teacher: Bri Dewey
Fee: Free for Birth First Doula clients; $80 for all other families.
“What’s A Doula?” Q&A Session
FREE – Offered Live On Zoom
This hour-long Q&A session is a free event that’s open to the public and offered once a month. It’s a chance for anyone who is curious or interested to learn more about what a doula is, what doulas do, and how a doula might support you and your partner through the childbirth journey to help create a more positive birth experience and better birth outcomes
Facilitators: Birth First Doulas
Upcoming Sessions: July 13 @ 6pm, August 17 @ 6pm
Join Via Zoom, Meeting ID: 826 4342 9764, Passcode: 935685
Newborn Care 101: The First Month
On-Demand Video Class
This 2 hour parenting class is taught by an experienced postpartum doula and explains how to care for your newborn baby including diapering, swaddling, soothing, infant bathing, babywearing, and much more! While there is no official handbook on babies, this parenting class is our best attempt at a cliff notes version.
Teacher: Krystal Gard, Bridgetown Baby Doulas New Parent Classes
Fee: Free for Birth First Doula clients; $40 for Bridgetown Baby clients; $80 for all other families.
Newborn Feeding Basics
On-Demand Video Class
This 90 minute parenting class will prepare you to feed your baby with confidence! An experienced International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) will cover the basics to get you and your baby off to a great start, including: the biology of making milk, learning your baby’s feeding cues, positions and techniques for feeding at breast/chest and by bottle, introduction to breast pumps, when to get professional support, and all the most frequently asked questions we hear from new parents. Taught by Bridgetown Baby IBCLCs.
Teacher: Sarah Longwell, Bridgetown Baby Lactation New Parent Classes
Fee: Free for Birth First Doula clients; $40 for Bridgetown Baby clients; $80 for all other families.
Nurturing Circle For New & Growing Families
FREE – Offered Live On Zoom
Birth First Doulas and Bridgetown Baby have collaborated to bring you a virtual version of Nurturing Circle For Growing Families which is a cross between parenting classes and a new parent support group. These parenting classes/group classes offer a soft place for new parents and pregnant people to land and be in community with others. While the primary focus is on getting answers to questions about newborn care and breast/bottle-feeding, families who are pregnant are also welcome to join in to learn, get support, and be in community with others! The new parent classes/groups are facilitated by professional postpartum doulas, lactation consultants, and sleep consultants from Bridgetown Baby. Latecomers are welcome, just log in when you can.
Free for Birth First Doula clients and the entire Portland community!
Facilitators: Bridgetown Baby postpartum doulas, lactation consultants, and sleep trainers along with some help from of our Birth First Doulas
When: Every Tuesday 10:30am-12pm and Thursday 1pm-2:30pm
(Join via Zoom: Tuesdays, Meeting ID: 899 5508 4644, Passcode: 916409; Thursdays, Meeting ID: 814 2839 6086, Passcode: 570270)
Private Childbirth Education Classes
Offered In-Person Or On Zoom
This is a private, customized childbirth education class, taught by Rebecca Durlin Smith, co-owner of Birth First Doulas. Its content and length are tailored to fit your birth location and unique birth wishes. Course topics to be selected include: relaxation tools, the birth partner’s role, birth preferences/plan, the stages of labor, birth advocacy, comfort touch and massage, which positions help when, labor rehearsal, pregnancy physiology, navigating birth challenges, and postpartum planning. Each class includes videos and electronic materials. If you are looking for a birth class crafted just for you, taught by a seasoned pro, you’ve come to the right place.
Teacher: Rebecca Durlin Smith, Birth First Doulas, co-owner
Fee: $75/hour, held over Zoom. $90/hour in-person, held at the Birth First Doulas Wellness Center (in-home option, add $50). Two-hour minimum. Strict in-person COVID protocols apply.