Childbirth Classes

"Thank you so much for a great course! We learned a lot, and I personally feel much more knowledgeable and empowered going into the birthing process."

"John and I wanted to share that we welcomed our baby on August 9! I had an unexpectedly fast labor and delivery - the knowledge we learned from your course definitely helped navigate an experience that looked nothing like my birth plan."

"I have now had 2 successful births med free! I cannot tell you how helpful your live classes and online sessions were. It was such a joy to be able to revisit all of our lessons that you had so wonderfully recorded for us to use in the future. I brag to everyone about our birth classes and recommend them to everyone I meet. I especially enjoyed the "ice training" and utilized it profusely leading up to both births. Our hospital birth class was.....a joke. We were required to take it in order to give birth at the hospital the first time around. I do not know how any of those moms did it. I credit all of my preparation to YOU! Thank you so much for your guidance, your help, and your hilarious wisdom. We will definitely be revisiting your classes again in the future."

"I have been thinking about how great your class was that I took about 9 years ago now! ... thanks for all you did for me and my husband. I will never forget the labyrinth you had us draw when you told us it would be years before we came out of that maze. You were right and it was a pivotal moment to get that peek into the future like that. You are a special woman and I wish you so much happiness!"

"We wanted to thank you for a wonderful and truly helpful class. We found the non-focused awareness and circular breathing most helpful for coping, though my labor progressed so quickly that we didn't have time for much else! John reports that the info about transition when mom-to-be becomes nonverbal was the most helpful of all since we had to hightail it to the hospital to make it in time! While nonverbal I distinctly remember thinking "I'll just go back to bed and we can call the paramedics to come here and deliver the baby," and then thinking "this is exactly what Holly said would happen!" All in all, the birth was spectacular and we were able to have the nonmedicated birth we wanted but feel confident we could have withstood a much longer labor with interventions, if needed. Thank you again for everything you taught us!"

"Thank you for sharing these great digital resources. Adam and I both loved the class and walked away feeling much more confident for the birth experience. Knowing a bit more about what to expect has eased some of our worries and allowed us both to feel some excitement about the process (maybe we're crazy?!). You knocked it outta the park - running a full-day workshop is no easy task. We both felt engaged and supported throughout the whole day. Thanks so much for all your hard work and encouragement!"

"My wife ended up having an emergency C-Section after 30+ hours of labor and if not for your class, I would have been completely unprepared for that event. In the moment that a thousand doctors suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and they were wheeling her into surgery while I waited alone wondering what would happen, I thought back on the 20 minutes you spent walking us through the ins and outs of the C-Section procedure and felt a little better prepared. I was still terrified, but at least I knew what was going to happen. It also allowed me to know that they would ask me if I wanted to watch the baby come out (I did, and I'm so glad I did!). Anyways, there were a lot of things we learned from you, but I wanted to say a special thank you for preparing us for the things that weren't even on our radar."

"THANK YOU! We got so much out of your class and it really helped in birth.  I was 4cm dilated in the office that day and they swept my membranes at the appt.  Here is where everything else in your class became useful! I knew exactly what they were doing, what the risks were and used my BRAIN. 🙂 I also knew that I had a good chance of going into labor that night, as many labors start at night.  I made sure to eat a good dinner and go to bed early.  I slept deeply until a contraction at 4am woke me up.  I also knew from your class that I was supposed to REST at this point, and I did!  By 9am I was in active labor and called my doula and the Midwives, both of whom suggested that we go to the hospital. I arrived and was at 7cm, 100% effaced, -2 station (again, we knew what all of that was thanks to you)! I was transferred up from triage into the birthing room, labored in the shower on the ball for a while, in bed for a while (the baby had rotated so I had to use the peanut shaped thing to rotate and get her turned back) and then finally into the tub.  Mind you, I have no idea what time any of this was because I was so out of it. This is another thing we took away from your class: how I would act during labor and what a contraction would sound and look like. Because of your class, I was able to give myself permission to make the noise I needed to and act how I needed to get my baby born. After 11 hour of laboring and hour of pushing (no pain medicine), Mabel was born! It was the most empowering moment of my life. I cannot believe I was able to do it and I credit the knowledge we gained in your class, my awesome doula (I think you know Veronica Stevens) and my rock star midwife for getting us there.  I am so grateful for it all. I will definitely be recommending your class to my friends as they get pregnant. Thank you for everything!”

"Adam and I wanted to let you know how much your class prepared us for our birth experience. We literally went through every scenario except forceps/vacuum that we learned about. My water broke in the early morning. I did not start having contractions or dialating so they gave me cytotec and pitocin. My baby was positioned OP and I had a large diastasis. My baby increased kicking and movement with increased pitocin. We tried dilaudid to let me relax without an epidural. I was finally able to get some rest and relax and my baby went to sleep. We transitioned to the bathtub that helped relieve pain but when they increased the pitocin he increased his movement again. I had to get the epidural to relax. They tried to turn him after the epidural but my sacrum didn't allow the positioning. They let me push for an hour but I did not make progress because my sacrum pushed him into my pubic bone. I ended up having to have a c-section in the end. We are grateful that we had been prepared by your class and Samantha was there to guide us through all the decisions that we had to make."

"I can hardly believe it all happened. It was definitely not written in any birth plan I would have written myself! I kept thinking as things were changing, "What does strong look like in this situation?" Jason and I took a lot from your class. It was one of the most important tools we brought with us to the experience, and fortunately, it was not one we lost along the way to the underworld. I also can't imagine what we would've done without a doula on our team. Thanks again for everything. Keep helping parents on their journeys!"

"We wanted to let you know about the birth of our son. I labored at home for 19 hours before I finally went to the hospital and got an epidural and pitocin. Blake told me I acted just like you said I would when the contractions got intense 🙂 I definitely couldn't have gone that long without the deep breathing and laboring positions you showed us. I was hoping for a natural birth, but when the midwife told me I was only 1cm and 80% after all that time I knew it wasn't going to happen. I didn't feel guilty, but relieved, also something I felt like your class helped me with. After another 14 hours of labor and an hour of pushing, our little guy arrived! Thank you again for offering such a helpful, honest, and fun class. It made such a difference in helping us feel prepared for the unknown and accepting things as they came."

"Most of my tears and frustration were because of feeling like I was failing to adequately feed my baby.  It's funny though, because just as you taught us about labor and birthing when you have to be prepared to let go of your ideal situation and say "Ok, the ideal is out the window, now what" the same has been true with the early weeks of parenting.  I thought for sure a bottle would not touch my babies lips for at least four weeks but then it's like, well i'd rather give him breast milk in a bottle than have to supplement with formula so i've had to adjust a bit. Let us know if there's anything else we can do or if we could offer any testimonial or review somewhere that would be beneficial to you.  We will be sure to send friends your way! I'm pretty sure we talk about you every time we tell the story of our little guy's birth. We felt as prepared as could be expected for birth and even so much for the post-partum period/fourth trimester from class so I couldn't be more grateful for having taken the class and all the knowledge you dropped on us 🙂 ."

"So I've been thinking the entire week, and Sam and I were talking last night, about how wonderful and magical your class was/is. Not only do we both feel a million times better about welcoming a new human into the world (again), but the makeup, pace, and content of your class was ideal. I know a bunch of people probably tell you this (duh), but I just wanted you to know. Sam, a man of few words-especially ones about his feelings- said ... I was really dreading it and was going because you wanted me to, but once Holly started and the rich discussions/information started, I was really into it. And spending time with you over a sweet treat was a really brilliant idea. It's true, I was afraid if I told you how much I enjoyed eating that slice of cake with Sam I might cry. It became one of the highlights of this pregnancy, such a special moment. You are amazing. Please don't stop doing what you are doing because that is your calling in life, girl."

"My husband and I took your course back in 2019 and absolutely ADORED it. I found the breathwork, the ice work, and the discussion of labor order so very helpful. I felt so prepared for labor, particularly after taking the hospital course and hearing about my friends' experiences. You truly prepared me in so many ways!"

"I watched your videos because my daughter asked me to be a support person (along with her husband and midwife) for the birth of her daughter 5 weeks ago. I personally gave birth to 2 of my own babies 34 (and 28) years ago, but doing it and supporting it are 2 very different things. And birthing philosophies have changed so I wanted to get up-to-speed on the latest thinking. I wanted to learn all I could about how to be the best support person I could be, and I found your videos extremely helpful. I'm so grateful for what I learned from them and I can confidently say that I was a kick-ass Mom support person. I will say though, that this job is not for everyone. It took all the strength I could muster to hold my emotions in check and just be there for her. Watching someone you love, in that much pain, is not easy. Unfortunately the COVID rules in my area changed the day before she went into labour, so I was unable to accompany her to the hospital for the final push, but I was there for 90% of the labour and got to see my beautiful granddaughter through Facetime immediately after she came out. Thanks again for all your thoughtful and relevant content.”

"I wanted to thank you and tell you how grateful I am for the work that you do. I gave birth to my second child in January 2019 after taking your course on coping with pain. When I gave birth to my first child four years ago, I was in labor for 48 hours. I managed to have an unmedicated delivery, but it was harrowing and I remember moments of feeling completely out of control. When I became pregnant with our second child, I was really anxious about the delivery process again, but had difficulty finding time to attend a childbirth course that would fit our family’s busy schedule. Your online course was perfect because it allowed my partner and I to go through it at our own pace (which we did in our 8-9 month of pregnancy) and revisit parts so that we could practice and internalize them. I'm someone who reacts to the unknown with preparation and by seeking out evidence-based information; I found that your course offered practical techniques and useful information through a nonjudgemental approach. I found it more helpful than the multi-hour asynchronous courses on childbirth and natural birth during our first pregnancy. When I went into labor, it wasn't any less painful than my first, but I felt less fear and more in control because I was able to use the techniques for visualization, breathing, and mantras to respond to the pain and the process. Fortunately, my labor was only 12 hours, but our doula, nurse, and OB remarked that the process was incredible and that I was a pro at giving birth. Though I am convinced that I am done with having kids, I'll continue to use the mindfulness approaches in the coming transition for our family and work-life balance.”

My husband and I both believe that your class was instrumental in providing us with the birth experience we had hoped for, so thank you so much for that! It wasn't exactly what we had expected (is it ever?). I unexpectedly developed hypertension in my last week of pregnancy ...and I made the decision that I would be admitted for induction. That was not the plan I had envisioned for my birth and I was pretty disappointed that things were unfolding the way they were, but I understood that it was best for my baby and myself to get her out safely. My hubby and I used a lot of the skills that we had learned and practiced in the modules. "Coping" is definitely the best way I would describe what we did. My room was quiet and dark, I was able to breathe and moan through all of my contractions and we joke about how deep I was into Laborland--I completely tranced out between contractions, almost reaching a sleeplike state at the end to "rest." When Barb told me I was 9 cm I just started bawling--I was so happy all my hard work was actually paying off. I got to labor in the tub for the last part of labor (amazing!) and then push for about an hour and half and little Charlotte "Charlie" arrived, beautiful and healthy and perfect just about 12 hours after the Cervidil was removed. It was truly the most magical, raw, emotional, beautiful experience and it turned out pretty much exactly how I would have liked it (except maybe having the IV in my arm I never ended up using). I truly had a kick ass birth! I really feel like the way you created the course was pretty perfect. And YOU are so called to this work, that is very clear. You're warm, funny, relatable and super freaking adorable, to boot.”