Group Prenatal Care

Certified nurse midwives at the Center for Midwifery Care offer Group Prenatal Care. Group Prenatal Care allows you to actively participate in your own health care in a group setting. Each group is comprised of women who are due within four-to-six weeks of each other. Partners also attend Group Prenatal Care sessions. Contact Kate Bohne to learn more.

As a participant, you will interact with other expectant parents who are at roughly the same point in their pregnancies and who will have babies almost the same age as your own.

Group Prenatal Care is facilitated by a certified nurse midwife and a co-facilitator. This format allows you to share your ideas, pose questions, and explore topics about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care with your healthcare provider, as well as your peers.

At each session, you will participate in your prenatal care by taking your own blood pressure and weight. You will also have one-on-one time with the certified nurse midwife when she’ll perform the same health assessment that is provided during office visits. Once everyone in the group has completed their health assessment, the remaining time will be devoted to topics that pertain to the interests of the participants.

Group Prenatal Care runs for seven sessions, beginning at approximately 24 weeks gestation, with subsequent sessions at 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40 weeks. You will also be seen in the office between group sessions at 30, 37, 39 weeks and after 40 weeks gestation. Speak with Holly to schedule these office visits, preferably with the midwives who are not facilitating your group.

For more information about Group Prenatal Care at the Cooley Dickinson Center for Midwifery Care, please ask your midwife or contact Kate Bohne.

Childbirth and Women's Health Classes

Childbirth Basics and Deep Relaxation for Pregnancy, Birth, & Beyond ©

A unique and convenient combination of childbirth education and deep relaxation techniques await you in this informative class taught by Ann Buscemi, a childbirth educator, birth and postpartum doula, author, and certified hypnotherapist.

Participants learn how to create personalized deep relaxation/self-hypnosis routines to use before, during and after labor and birth and utilize two breathing patterns and incorporate them with verbal cues, massage and touch relaxation. The class covers childbirth topics including the anatomy and physiology of late pregnancy, labor and birth, and the physical and emotional elements of the labor and birth process. In addition, you'll receive a guided tour of the CDH Childbirth Center. Class participants receive a CD which includes positive language reinforcement and images for pregnancy, labor and birth; tips for breathing techniques; and a deep relaxation guidelines for labor and birth. Ann is the author of the program Deep Relaxation for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond.

Choose from a four week, Thursday evening series that includes Newborn Care and Breastfeeding or an all day Saturday class with the option of adding a Newborn Care and Breastfeeding class.  For class dates and to register online, click here

The Other Parent

A unique offering, this group focuses on issues specific to the non-birthing partner. The sessions are skillfully facilitated by experienced partners/parents, during which space is held for participants to share their thoughts on pregnancy and birth, parenting, and life changes. This discussion group is open to all partners, free of charge, and meets monthly on the fourth Monday. For more information, contact Kate Bohne. 

Prenatal Yoga & Labor Readiness

Tune in to the innate wisdom of your body and soul. Connect with other expectant mamas in a gentle and therapeutic yoga format.  Grow confidence in body and mind---learn how to breathe and relax deeply---build strength and flexibility---reduce discomforts (backache, heartburn, anxiousness)---practice movement, breath, sound, visualization for labor and birth.

Offered in six-week series on Wednesday evenings from 5:30-7:00pm.  Drop-ins are welcome if there is space.  Expectant women may join the class at any stage of pregnancy and with any fitness level.  Please bring a yoga mat.

Taught by Arden Sundari Pierce. Arden brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her classes. She has taught over 1,300 prenatal and postnatal yoga classes at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. Her approach is informed by her experience as a doula, certification in Structural Yoga Therapy, her dear students, and her vibrant birthing community.

For more information and to preregister, contact Arden at yoga@rcn.com or www.yogaforwellbeing.com



Parent & Baby Yoga

The first few months of your baby's life is a precious time. The class offers an opportunity for either parent and baby to explore the many dimensions of this time in order to bond, nourish, and connect with other parents. All practices promote postpartum healing and wellness in an atmosphere that encourages sharing challenges and joyful discoveries.  Babies can be gently and safely incorporated into the class through partner poses and practices that comfort and support their optimal development. Nursing, walking, bouncing, changing diapers, and soothing fussy babies are perfectly normal in this space.

Join this class as early as four weeks after a vaginal birth or six weeks after a cesarean birth, and continue until your baby is an advanced crawler.  Please bring a yoga mat, baby blanket, toys, baby-wearing wrap and whatever else you feel is necessary.

Offered in four-week series on Wednesdays from 1:30-2:45 pm.  Drop-ins are welcome as space allows. Taught by Arden Sundari Pierce. For more information and to preregister, contact Arden at yoga@rcn.com or www.yogaforwellbeing.com

Creative Movement for Birth

This interactive workshop draws on the body wisdom of yoga and dance, offering pregnant women the opportunity to learn practical techniques for a smoother, easier birth. In this class, women and their partners will learn how to use pillows, birth balls, chairs, birth dance, and the physical support of their partner and/or doula during birth.

Creative Movement for Birth is an ideal supplement to traditional childbirth classes, highly relevant for those planning a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), and an inspiring, practical refresher for those who have birthed before. This workshop is offered quarterly.

Michelle L’Esperance has supported families in having gentler births since 1996. She is a Certified Professional Midwife with Warm Welcome Birth Services. Her work includes homebirth midwifery and prenatal care, hospital birth doula services and teaching aspiring and experienced doulas. She can be reached at michelle@warmwelcomehomebirth.com.

Infant Sleep Classes

Sleep for Expectant Families: A Workshop for Expectant Parents

Sleep in the First Year of Life: A Workshop for Postpartum Families

Join other parents for this workshop offering a look into the world of sleep science and its implications for families. Share common struggles and learn concrete strategies to help children and families get better sleep. Offered bi-monthly.

Beth Grams Haxby, Ed.M, offers families advice and support in managing the sleep problems of infancy and early childhood. She frequently presents about sleep to a variety of audiences, including parents, educators, and medical practitioners. For more information, contact beth@sleepandparenting.com.

Women's Health Workshop Series