What is flourishing families?

Flourishing Families is a holistic childbirth education curriculum and doula training desired to inspire and empower individuals to CONNECT with what is most important to them, IDENTIFY their unique needs and desires, and become EQUIPPED to create meaningful experiences they will cherish for a lifetime.

The Flourishing Families curriculum includes Your Birth Experience, Your Baby Experience, and Your Breastfeeding Experience classes.

what makes the Flourishing Families curriculum unique?

In this tailored class, our focus is 100 percent on Y-O-U! While "natural childbirth" or "evidence-based information" may have held the answers for others you know, your path will look different because YOU are different. By exploring guided visualization, 5 aspects of control, individual needs based on personality styles, and availability bias in medical decision-making, we are able to help you identify what options will feel most gratifying to you.

Our comprehensive curriculum packs so much evidence-based information into each class! Rest assured, though, that this doesn’t mean you need to “know it all” in order to have a positive birth, breastfeeding, or postpartum experience. In fact, even the career experts don't know EVERYthing, so there’s no reason to feel like you need to become one in only a few short months! Once you understand the essential components of childbirth, breastfeeding, and new baby care and have identified your overall vision for your experience, we can equip you with all of the tools you will need to feel empowered to confidently make your own decisions to achieve your goals.

Envisioning Your Experience:
Use guided visualization to release fear and stress, increase confidence, and focus on what you really want.
Create a vision statement to focus on your unique goals and desires, regardless of delivery or parenting style.
Discover how your innate personality and decision-making style impact your birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum experience.

Understanding the Process:
Learn about physiological childbirth, the essentials of breastfeeding, and new baby needs.
Discover all variations of normal for pregnancy all the way to infancy.
Understand the who, what, where, when, and why of the stages, hormones, and emotions of labor.

Preparing For What Matters:
We don’t focus on one “right method or philosophy” (because there is no such thing).
We help parents prepare mentally, physically, and emotionally for their birth, breastfeeding, and baby experiences.
We believe that bringing a new baby home encompasses so much more than just learning your baby’s needs and that the new parents are an equal portion to the equation of proper postpartum care.

Understanding Your Options:
Unbiased and evidence-based information about options and interventions in labor and birth, common newborn procedures, breastfeeding, and the early postpartum period.
Workbook-style sections covering "What it Is," "What You Need to Know," and "Your Choices," with check boxes for you to personalize your preferences and choices about your care.

Communicating Your Preferences:
Helpful tips for communicating with any care provider.
Birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum plan checklists to discuss options with your or your baby's care provider.
Concise preferences/birth and postpartum plan templates to improve communication with your support team.

Why Your Birth Experience?
- Not Just Another Childbirth Book; Why Choice Matters; Knowing What You Want; This Is Your Journey, Not Mine, Not Anyone Else’s; How to Use This Book.
Do I Really Need a Birth Plan?
- What Is A Birth Plan, Anyway?; Know Your Stuff; Take Back Your Birth; Communication Is Key; Key Components; Where to Start?
Envisioning Your Birth
- Letting Go of Preconceived Notions and Previous Experiences; Allow Yourself to Dream; How to Envision Your Birth; Envisioning Your Birth exercise and discussion; I Have a Vision, Now What?; Creating a Birth Vision Statement; All About You; Personality Traits and Needs; Groopman Spectrums - Understanding Your Biases and Orientation in Medical Decision Making
Understanding the Birth Process
- Anatomy and Vocabulary of Birth; Stages of Labor; Timing Contractions; Post Labor
Preparing For Your Birth Experience
- Nutrition; Exercise; Creating a Birth Plan; Focus on Body Balance; Practice Relaxation; Love and Labor Hormones; We Give Birth With Our Sex Organs; Cycle of Fear and Cycle of Safety; Helpful Ways to Practice Relaxation for Labor; Suggestions for What to Take to the Hospital; Comfort Measures for Birth and Progressing Labor; What If I Have an Epidural?; Other Desires or Special Considerations
Understanding Your Options
- Birth Environment; Preferences for a “Normal Birth”?; Your options in labor, for pushing, for your placenta, in case of cesarean, newborn care, feeding your baby: What it is, what your need to know, and your choices; References.
Appendix and Resources
- Informed Consent Questions; Websites for More Information; Books I Recommend;
Communicating Your Birth Preferences
- Tips for Collaborative Communication; Birth Options Checklist; Birth Plan/Preferences Worksheet

Introduction to Your Breastfeeding Experience
- The Many Roles of Breasts; Why Choose to Breastfeed?; Nature vs. Nurture; Focusing on Facts; Suspending Judgment; Why the Focus on Breastfeeding?; No Exclusions!
Do I Really Need a Baby Feeding Plan?
- Know Your Stuff; Take Back Your Experience; Communication Is Key; Key Components; Where to Start?
Envisioning Your Breastfeeding Experience
- Let Go of Preconceived Notions and Experiences; Allow Yourself to Dream; How to Envision Your Breastfeeding Experience; Envisioning Your Breastfeeding Experience exercise and discussion; I Have a Vision, Now What?; Creating a Breastfeeding Vision Statement; All About You; Personality Styles; Groopman Spectrums - Understanding Your Biases and Orientation in Medical Decision Making
Understanding the Breastfeeding Lifestyle
- Humans as Mammals; Mother-Baby Relationship and Milk Composition; How Milk is Made: The Hormones of Producing Milk; The Milk Production Cycle; The Anatomy and Vocabulary of the Breast; Initiating Breastfeeding After Delivery; What About in Other Delivery Situations?; What to Expect With Your Baby; Hunger Cues; How Long and Often Should You Nurse?; How Will I Know If My Baby Is Getting Enough Milk?; What About Positioning?; Anatomy of a Good Latch; Tips to Achieving a Good Latch; How Breastfeeding Should Feel; Burping; When to Seek Help; 7 Natural Laws of Breastfeeding; Being Away From Baby; Breast Milk Expression
Preparing for Your Breastfeeding Experience
- 5 Steps to a Better Breastfeeding Experience; Preparing Physically for Your Breastfeeding Experience; Preparing Physically for Breastfeeding; Preparing Mentally for Your Breastfeeding Experience; Give Yourself and Your Baby Time; Building Your Support System
Navigating Your Breastfeeding Experience and Understanding Your Options
- Your options immediately after delivery, during your hospital stay, newborn care following delivery; in the first few weeks after the birth; for supplementation: What it is, what your need to know, and your choices; Night Time Sleeping Arrangements; Breast Pumps; Safely Preparing and Storing Expressed Breast Milk; Safely Thawing Breast Milk; Paced Feeding; Feeding Tools; References
Appendix and Resources
- Books We Recommend; Videos We Recommend; Websites We Recommend; Tips and Tools for Success; Successful Breastfeeding When Things Don’t Go As Planned; Dealing With Disappointment or Trauma Postpartum?; Strategies That Work; Remember, Feeding Patterns Vary; Troubleshooting Common Issues
Communicating Your Breastfeeding Preferences
- Tips to Determine Your Pediatrician’s Level of Support of Breastfeeding; Tips for Collaborative Communication; Breastfeeding Plan/Preferences Worksheet

Introduction to Your Baby Experience
- Not Quite What You Expected; And Then There Were Two; What New Mothers Need; How to Get the Care You Need; This Is Your Journey, No One Else’s; How to Use This Book; No Exclusions!
Do I Really Need a Baby Plan?
- Know Your Stuff; Take Back Your Experience; Communication Is Key; Key Components; Where to Start?
Envisioning Your Baby Experience
- Let Go of Preconceived Notions and Experiences; Allow Yourself to Dream; How to Envision Your Breastfeeding Experience; Envisioning Your Baby Experience exercise and discussion; I Have a Vision, Now What?; Creating a Baby Vision Statement; All About You; Personality Styles; Groopman Spectrums - Understanding Your Biases and Orientation in Medical Decision Making
Understanding the Fourth Trimester
- Vaginal or Cesarean Birth; Immediate Postpartum Recovery: The Golden Hour; Postpartum Recovery Following the “Golden Hour”; Vaginal Bleeding; Hormonal Shakes; Nausea; Fatigue; Pain Medication; Perineal Care; Initiating Breastfeeding After Delivery; What About in Other Delivery Situations?; What to Expect With Your Baby; Hunger Cues; Feeding: Colostrum, Transitional Milk, Mature Milk, Formula; Burping; Eating After Giving Birth; Wristbands and Security Devices; Meeting Your Baby: Normal Newborn Appearance; Newborn Reflexes; Meconium; Your First Shower; Returning Home From Your Birthing Location; Extended Hospital Stay; Newborn Procedures; Car Seat; Your First Post-Birth Bowel Movement; Your first 12 weeks postpartum; Beyond the Fourth Trimester
Preparing for Your Baby Experience
- Balanced Nutrition; Physical Care; Emotional Care; Practical Care; Creating a Postpartum Plan; Baby Gear Your Really Need
Understanding Fourth Trimester Options
- Your options immediately after delivery, during your hospital stay, infant feeding; newborn care following delivery; care for yourself and your baby once you return home; for supplementation; your routine; sleeping arrangements; swaddling; sibling help; tummy time; babywearing: What it is, what your need to know, and your choices; Night Time Sleeping Arrangements; Breast Pumps; Safely Preparing and Storing Expressed Breast Milk; Safely Thawing Breast Milk; Paced Feeding; Feeding Tools; References
Appendix and Resources
- Informed Consent Questions; Websites for More Information; Recommended Books; Documentaries and Videos
Communicating Your Preferences
- Tips for Interviewing Pediatricians; Tips for Collaborative Communication; Baby Plan/Preferences Worksheet