Contact: Tracy Wilson Peters FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ph: 888-My-CAPPA
Email: info@cappa.net
Web: www.cappa.net
CHILDBIRTH AND POSTPARTUM PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION (CAPPA) ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF CAPPA ECUADOR
July 23, 2010, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. CAPPA announced today the launch of their new branch in Ecuador, and introduces CAPPA Ecuador Executive Directors Jennifer Bertha and Priscilla Loor. More information is available at www.cappa.net/.
New CAPPA branches will recognize the common experiences of the country, and education will therefore be tailored to regional needs. Using global CAPPA standards, different regional medical models, cultural and historical practices, and experiences that are specific to each branch, as well as tailored certification and advanced programs, we will meet the client needs of the area. Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Tracy Wilson Peters said, “CAPPA Ecuador will provide excellent training and certification options to those who would like to become childbirth professionals within Ecuador. Labor Doula and Lactation Educator materials presented by CAPPA Faculty living in Ecuador will have the largest impact on an entire nation of new and expectant parents, who will benefit immediately from the increase in trained childbirth and lactation professionals.”
The first step in preparing for the launch was for Executive Directors, Jennifer Bertha and Priscilla Loor to translate the training manuals and certification packets into Spanish. They will use these materials in addition to using preexisting lactation education materials. CAPPA Ecuador plans to start conducting Labor Doula and Lactation Educator trainings, on a regional level in Latin America, since this is the greatest demand for CAPPA trainings. Gradually, CAPPA Ecuador will incorporate Childbirth Educator and Postpartum Doula curricula and training. “Having the birth doula and lactation education curricula in Spanish provides the best opportunity to impact maternal child health in Ecuador.” says Ms. Peters. Positive changes can increase the health and well-being of families and also facilitate nation to nation implementation. What helps one birthing family in effect helps the global family.
Priscilla Loor, IBCLC, CHBE, ICCE, CNFPE, is a certified nurse who did her practices at the local maternity hospital, where 100 babies are born every day. Bothered by the treatment the women faced, she decided to become a childbirth educator and doula to improve the experiences of women during labor and birth. Today, Priscilla has more than ten years experience teaching childbirth education, with one of the most important hospitals in the city of Guayaquil. She also became interested in breastfeeding when taking specialty courses in Costa Rica; one of the countries in Latin America with the most rigid breastfeeding laws.
Priscilla and Jennifer Bertha formed CENIDEL, the Breastfeeding and Pregnancy center of the Clinica Kennedy in Guayaquil, to formalize and centralize all of the services that for years were done informally and upon request of birthing mothers.
Ms. Peters said, “I am extremely excited about the launch of CAPPA Ecuador. Jennifer Bertha and Priscilla Loor are committed to the CAPPA vision and mission. They understand the needs within Ecuador, and are willing to do the work to make a difference,”
This new branch will increase confidence in the birth and postpartum information and resources shared with expectant and postpartum families. Promoting a culturally safe environment, recognition of changing demographics, and implementation of support strategies for growing diverse and vulnerable populations will also bring positive changes. CAPPA currently has branches in North America, Canada, India, and Israel. Each CAPPA branch is better suited to be a change agent in a local and national capacity.
Posted by: Cindy Pitts Gilbert (CAPPA)
Celebrity Pop Star Rihanna from starpulse.com said; “I’m really scared of the actual
childbirth situation but I do want to be a mom one day. Even if I have to adopt, I want to be a mom.” (www.starpulse.com)
Boy oh boy, Rihanna does that bring back memories. When I was about college age I remember saying “I’m afraid to have a baby.” Sometimes I wonder today if the reason it took me over 7 years to get pregnant, once my desire finally outweighed my fear, was because my mind was so totally freaked out for so long that my body said OK, if that’s the way you want it.. Newly wed
at 19 the thought of having a baby, well actually the thought of labor and delivery was petrifying to me. So Rihanna, I can understand your fear, I remember it well, and you are not alone.
So, what is fear anyway? I like how Wikipedia describes it: “Fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger.” (www.wikipedia.com) That is exactly what CAPPA wants to change. CAPPA wants to change—the perceived threat of danger, to a perception of joy and happiness.
It’s funny how sick birth control pills made me, but that daily nausea wasn’t as scary to me as facing the fear of labor. Why was it so scary? Because, everyone said it hurt, that’s why? Doesn’t that sound like a “perceived threat?” Today, I know that my fear was based on a lack of knowledge or perhaps a false perception. I had no true knowledge of birth I’d never witnessed one, seen a video, attended a class or read a book. I simply didn’t understand. It was a secret society that I had not been inducted in to. I’m not trying to say birth is painless or without hard work. It is called “labor” after all. It seems like daily the internet quotes one celebrity after another expressing a fear of labor, fear of ruining their bodies or sex lives. CAPPA’s has a
vision , “Imagine a world where women are encouraged to trust their bodies, and where myths about childbirth and breastfeeding are dispelled.” Well, for me childbirth turned out to be amazing twice and after 7 years of worry and distress that I wouldn’t be inducted into the club, I have 2 wonderful children that wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t overcome my fear and learned
through childbirth education that I had, to coin a famous phrase, nothing to fear, but fear itself.
Rihanna, please don’t be afraid. CAPPA would love the opportunity to share the joy of birth and remove the fear from the experience for you. Knowledge is power and CAPPA wants to change the way the world views “having a baby.”
Press Release, Lawrenceville, GA, May 24, 2010, The CAPPA Teen Program is an advanced training for related healthcare professionals who feel a strong pull to help expectant and parenting teens in the best possible way. It is open to trained or certified childbirth educators, antepartum doulas, and labor doulas, or to those with significant experience teaching childbirth education classes; those outside this list will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
About teen pregnancy and the CAPPA Teen Program
After experiencing a fifteen year decline, teen pregnancy is now on the rise. Though teen pregnancy is 100% preventable, CAPPA recognizes that it is an issue that will probably never fully disappear. Expectant teens should be afforded the same opportunities toward a healthy pregnancy that other women experience. These opportunities should include access to education regarding the realities of pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and postpartum issues. The CAPPA Teen Program aims to prepare educators and support professionals to work with expectant and parenting teens.
Expectant teens can present special challenges for a childbirth educator. The CAPPA Teen Program teaches the different ways in which the teen population learns information, thus enabling childbirth educators to effectively cater to their special needs. This includes making modifications to current curricula both in content and method of delivery, in order to teach teens in a way in which they can understand. A CAPPA teen educator understands the conflicts of pregnancy during the adolescent stage of development, she establishes the unique needs of the expectant teen, and she identifies various resources available to assist educators who work with pregnant teens.
CAPPA trained and certified teen educators work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, and in private settings. The workshop curriculum has undergone a revision for 2010, and will be launched during the organizations annual conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, July 22-26, 2010. A Teen Program training workshop will take place at the conference host hotel, July 26-27, 2010, at the Hilton at Charlotte University Place.
About Chelsea Eardley Chelsea Eardley, CCTE, holds a BA in Foreign Languages and Literatures with an emphasis on Spanish from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, USA. She has been working as a case manager with pregnant and parenting teens for five years, and is committed to educating and supporting this special population. Chelsea is a CAPPA-trained volunteer labor doula and lactation educator through a community health center in the Denver metro area of Colorado. Part of her work with teens also involves teaching a two-day sexual education curriculum in middle and high schools, facilitating support groups in high schools for teen parents, and staffing a teen clinic which provides confidential family planning services.
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Please visit CAPPA at www.cappa.net for more information about the Teen Program. Contact Chelsea Eardley at teendirector@cappa.net for full requirements and registration information.
