Birthlight Forums

 Hi , just to add my bit from Cornwall regarding costs of classes.

I did for many years run my pregnancy class through adult ed, and received just £30 per 2 hour class.Teaching for them involved lots of extra paper work etc, so I thought I'd run classes privately. I can hardly cover costs with charging girls £6.50. I am a well-established teacher, and there is no -one in this area with accredited training. However NCT tutors want to attend my classes for observation as they are now being given training in pregnancy yoga. So the competiton is hard. I am recommended by midwives, doctors and nursery managers and health visitors for all my classes and for baby yoga too, but this last year especially I have struggled.

-so well done to whose whose work and study and experience is financially recognised. The midwives and health visitors wish they could pay me for classes, but just do not have the budget. We do not have Sure Start in Truro as it is regarded as a well-off area, and there is no funding at all.-All a bit tough !

best wishes  Alison  

hello all

 Reading this thread, one question keeps popping into my mind and I find my temper rising, so I thought I'd join in! Several people have mentioned midwives and NCT tutors etc being trianed to teach pregnancy yoga. Are these people already fully qualified British Wheel yoga teachers? becuase I was told that I couldn't teach pregnancy yoga unless I was a yoga teacher. (hence I am training to that end and it's going to take me quite a few years and a lot of endeavour!) Who is training these people? and more to the point who is insuring them to teach yoga?

 :>)

Jo

Hi Alison

It sounds tough in your area. £30 per 2 hour class is poor considering that you are a well-established teacher, the time one puts in to planning lessons/courses, emotional, mental and physical effort, etc. There is a difference between those who are in a vocation/full time employment such as midwifery and train in yoga, and those whose vocation is purely yoga and have to cover the self-employed costs that go with that. I find it difficult to make a living, but persevere. Today I was asked to cover for another SSCC at £35/hour, which is a fine rate in my opinion. I turned down £25/hour because I don't want to undervalue myself or undermine other teachers by taking a low rate (we should form a Pregnancy Yoga Teachers' Union!).

Incidentally, why didn't your piece appear in the 'getting going' thread?

Good luck with your classes, I hope something suitable fitting appears soon for you

kind regards, Marin

Wow ladies!

it seems like we have our work cut out for us, to actually have enough work!

I have read both your posts with some trepidation as they do bring up fear in me that what we do is simply not validated.

The question I come to is are we validating ourselves? I have been teaching pregnancy yoga now for 4 years at least (cant remember) and setting up my own business has been a real test of my belief in myself and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

One door opens, the other closes, and I am hoping this year to break even which obviously doesnt say a lot about becoming financially afluent!

I am a single mum and have managed to (legally) stay on income support whilst building my business. The key has been to get a good accountant and keep my expenses high. I have also learned something about appealing to all ends of the market, from offering free places when there is no other option, to leafleting afluent neighbourhoods, and charging full rate and reduced rate  so that classes  suit everyone.

I really do beleieve that it doesnt matter what competition is around- if you love what you do and are confident in what you teach, and take the time to create a warm and nurturing space with props that are pleasing to the eye, people want to come and be in the space you create.

I teach general, pregnancy, birth rehearsal, postnatal, baby yoga and kids yoga, but only teach a total of 7 classes a week and do one offs as required.

As far as midwives being taught to teach pregnancy yoga- I know this is part of what birthlight is doing, but, I would find it hard to beleive that as most midwives are overworked and underpaid, they are going to have a lot of time to put in to nurturing themselves and the women that come to them!I totally endorse the idea that midwives can support us in the work that we are doing, when women are in labour, but there are hardly enough midwives to go round and plenty of yoga teachers!

 perhaps we should all think of retraining as midwives?!!!

 Through lots of not living by example I have come to accept that unless I am taking care of numero uno (ME), I am no good to any of the women I wish to teach self nurturing to.

If things are looking bleak where you are right now, be open to some lateral answers- there are always niche markets to seek out and fill, and as you stay in your truth women will be drawn to you for it.

What do you want out of your teaching right now? what direction do you feel you want to branch out in? Life always supports us for our courage and if we are each willing to embrace the lessons from our perceiced failures we can only get better and better at what we do.

It seems to me that SureStart is a bit of a no start at present. Funding is very low and the Primary care Trust is pretty uncreative in how they see the benefit of what we do. there are other ways though. And in time this will change, if we are willing to find backdoors in to the centre of the big archaic machine!

I am currently looking into giving freebies at my local hospital to teach midwives core strength and how they can ease out back ache, and process all the emotions they absorb from the labour ward/birthing centre. This way they get to know me, and perhaps may even come to my general class! If nothing else, seeds are planted that blossom into fruit when the time is right.

And round where I am (Croydon), GP's just wont recommend me for fear of litigation! I've fallen apart a few times, but my classes are full.

 I hope to have been of some encouragment and wish you success in all you put your hearts into.

love rosanna xxx

 Dear Marion, just to say thank you for your supportive reply, Don't know why it didn't appear in the 'getting going' thread, but I'm not so good at this computer stuff-too old !

many thanks,

Alison  

 Hi Jo and everyone,

 There is a difference between pregnancy yoga and yogacise.

As midwives, physiotherapists and health visitors we can teach yogacise after doing the Birthlight yogacise courses. We do not call ourselves yoga teachers

There is a difference between the pregnancy yoga training and the yogacise training for health professionals. By doing the Birthlight yogacise training this means they are qualified to teach yoga based movements, show how these connect to the breathing, with movement and how to give women the tools to use these skils before and during labour and postnatally

 In my yogacise training, I learnt so much that I didn't know as a midwife and isn't in their current training.

However, midwives, physiotherapists and health visitors are used to looking after women during preganancy and  before and after labour which other people are not. They also have completed at least 3 years of training and are knowledgeable about basic anatomy and physiology

They are insured through Birthlight and also their own professional organization 

So surely the appproach of getting the midwives involved and maybe doing their yogacise training as part of their continual professional developement has to be a good thing and beneficial overall for women during pregnancy and birth which is, after all, the Birthlight approach.

This will mean there are more women around who know of Birthlight and who will come to other classes locally.

Bye for now

Chris 

hi again everyone!

 Sorry chris, I certainly wasn't bashing Birthlight trained midwives and I totally take your point about yogacise!  Surely the NHS isn't sending midwives to Birthlight though is it? If it is, fantastic! although I agree with Rosanna about full time midwives having enough on their plate and not having the time to dedicate to their nurture own and practice. I think there is maybe a danger of becoming a jack of all trades and I certainly don't intend to train to become a midwife!

Thanks Rosanna for your lovely positive reply to this thread. You are absoloutely right. The truth is in the yoga. I have now managed to fill 2 classes a week and actually have my bank account in the black!! I am also thoroughly examing my life to see where I can save money - what do I really NEED? Moneysavingexpert.com is a lifesaver!

I have found a possible lateral leap for my classes -  I am training as an Integral Yoga teacher and have approached my priest to see if he'll let me run a relaxation and (christian) meditation class in the church. He seems OK so far! After some other birthlight teachers experiences with christianity and yoga I decided to do some pioneering! Wish me luck!

 love and light

 Jo

 Hi Jo,

 Good luck with all your ideas for promoting your yoga. Well done.

In Northern Ireland, where many of the Birthlight yogacise courses are taking place, there are lots of midwives and health visitors who are being funded for their Birthlight yogacise courses and are allowed time to run their classes in their working week. Hopefully this will soon catch on in the rest of the UK although little sign of it here in Chelmsford yet.

Bye for now

Chris XX 

As Chris says many midwives in N. Ireland are trained and using yogacise daily with wonderful results.  They have all been trained by Francoise, who is also very pleased with the results from this work.  The glory about training health professionals who are already working with birth is that they can incorporate it into their daily work.

It should not matter what our background is.  We should all be in this work for one reason --whether perinatal yoga trained or yogacise trained -- to make birthing a more enjoyable exprience for mother, baby and father.  if we loose sight of this I feel it is then time to discontinue with this work.

Liz

Dear JoJo

I felt I should let you know of a situation I am involved in at the moment. 

I spoke to the organiser, NCT teacher who seems a delightful and enthusiastic teacher who is clearly inspirational to her students.  However she is not a qualified Yoga teacher and her students aren’t either.  I suggested it would be more appropriate if she called her classes something along the lines of Yoga Style NCT Breathe and Stretch.  She agreed to alter her website to read NCT Yoga for Pregnancy classes, but feels they are Yoga classes and that the title must stand.  Ironically, on her website she states  quote: 'Please note, these are relaxation and breathing for labour classes rather than actual yoga classes but most people seem to think of this as yoga hence the name!'

 Hi Chris,

Thanks for your clarifying message.  Yes, I have batted for YogaCise because I have always passionately believed that an alliance between Yoga Teachers working in the area of pregnancy and birth and Midwives is the best way to increase women's chances to have fulfilling birth experiences. The outcomes of  prenatal YogaCise have exceeded all my expectations and reading your case-studies was definitely a high!  YogaCise has changed the lives of women who would never have had access to Yoga classes, from Northern Ireland to Kent. Making the essence of Yoga accessible to all pregnant women/new mothers with their babies and families, through simple practices that distill a tremendous accumulation of knowledge and experience in both Yoga and midwifery/birth/babies, this surely is Birthlight's special remit. Thank you Chris for making your way from Baby Yoga to Baby Swimming to Aquanatal Yoga and finally to Pre/postnatal YogaCise and Birth Preparation. Lots of trumpets to blow, lots of happy mums and babes!

Francoise