A workshop series for Midwives, Doulas, Birth Professionals and Therapists working within the pre,perinatal and postpartum period.
Pregnancy, birth and postpartum encompass profound rites of passage that often become standardised and considered solely as medical events to manage. We believe they are sacred, emotional, relational, and transformative experiences for mothers, babies, partners, and the professionals who accompany them.
The needs of a mother, newborn and a partner are both basic and fundamental. But do we truly see them? Are we able to fully listen with all our senses to what is unfolding with attunement and presence?
As birth professionals, often without knowing, our undigested stories, fears, pressures, stress responses, and limiting beliefs can influence our clients' space, impacting the relational connection, coherence and safety needed within this period. Because we are not fully able to listen, to attune and be present. Instead what we may want is to ‘do’, ‘to fix’ and be useful. This need to do, is driven often unconsciously by our own internal drivers. The function of that ‘doing’ can serve as a relief from our discomfort but it can also be an interference within this most important process.
The intention of this workshop is to remember that birth is sacred and the only way to honour it is with our embodied presence. We will explore in depth what presence means and how it can significantly influence pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
Through body-based exploration, experiential practices, we will unpack how we inhabit ourselves, deepen into the layers of listening, and what happens within us when we encounter our own world with greater presence and how this changes the space we enter in relation to pregnancy birth and postpartum.
What We Will Explore
Each session will include:
Teaching and reflection
Somatic and regulation practices
Small-group discussions
Experiential exercises
Q&A
Participants will receive resources and suggested practices to support integration between sessions.
Session 1 – Presence
Welcome and Introductions
What is presence?
Why presence matters within ourselves, in life, in birth
Tuning to the field and the felt sense
What gets in the way?
Explore our impulses to act, intervene, fix
Session 2 – Listening beyond the story: our Parts
What are our inner parts?
Listening and attunement beyond words
Tuning into the heart electromagnetic field
What gets in the way?
Making space before responding
Session 3 – Fear, Intuitions, Gut
Tuning into fear, intuition, gut feeling
Recognising bodily signals
What gets in the way?
What happens when we override our signals?
Cultivating curiosity
Session 4 – Coherence and Intention
What do we mean by coherence?
What do we mean by intention?
Why are they important?
Exploring boundaries and resources
How do we then present ourselves to the world?
Who it this for?
Midwives, student midwives, doulas, birth educators, maternity support workers, obstetric professionals, maternity leaders, perinatal therapists, and anyone supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and the early postnatal period.
Facilitators
Laura Latina
Independent Midwife, International Speaker and Certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner.
With more than 17 years of experience supporting women and families across Europe, Africa and Asia, Laura has worked as a community midwife, consultant midwife, maternity manager and Women’s Health Advisor with Médecins Sans Frontières. She is passionate about respectful maternity care, trauma-informed practice, and supporting birth as a sacred rite of passage.
Beth Sanderson
Integrated Baby Therapist, Cranio-Sacral Therapist and Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner.
Beth specialises in birth integration work with babies and families, exploring how prenatal and birth experiences are held within the body and nervous system. Alongside her private practice, she has spent over eight years teaching at the College of Cranio-Sacral Therapy and is deeply committed to helping professionals cultivate presence, attunement and compassionate care.
Follow-Up
Participants will be invited to an optional online integration and reflection session approximately one month after completion of the series.
Participants will be invited to a 2027 residential retreat that invites them to go deeper in their practice