THIS TRAINING IS FOR:

This comprehensive birth worker and pre/postnatal specialist training is designed for professionals who want to support families through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery.

The program is ideal for:

• yoga teachers and yoga teacher trainees
• Pilates and movement instructors
• doulas and aspiring birth workers
• midwives and nurses
• acupuncturists and chiropractors
• massage, craniosacral, and shiatsu therapists
• childbirth educators
• therapists and healthcare professionals
• anyone passionate about supporting families during pregnancy and birth

This training is also Yoga Alliance applicable for continuing education.

SKILLS  YOU GRADUATE WITH

By the end of the program you will feel confident to:

• safely accommodate pregnant students in regular yoga or movement classes
• teach prenatal yoga, Pilates, and movement classes
• lead prenatal partner or couples workshops
• guide postnatal recovery and movement classes
• support families as a birth doula and postpartum doula

Graduates leave the program prepared to work as holistic birth workers supporting pregnancy, labour, birth, and postpartum care.

Hormones 101 – Pre-menses Anomalies and Fertility Certification – 20h

In this course we will explore the different anomalies that can occur with women’s cycles in pre puberty and how it affects fertility, miscarriage and other issues. We will learn how to begin the process of balancing hormones through physiology and yoga.
 The human body uses 50 hormones to regulate different systems and bodily functions such as growth, metabolism and temperature regulation. There are also a number of hormones that help regulate the development and release of the female reproductive cells. Hormonal imbalance is an incorrect quantity of one or more hormones in the bloodstream and balance this process is important for health and wellness

• Core concepts of Hormones during puberty
• Fertility, hormone balance and other anomalies
• Miscarriages and pregnancy loss  why they occur
• Understanding ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology including IVF) and the terminology around it
• Benefits & principles of Yoga for Fertility, hormone balance and other anomalies
• Sample class that supports various stages of the fertility cycle within a group fertility class
• Supporting your clients’ mental health through their fertility journey
• ‘Holding space’ for students in and around Fertility Yoga classes
• Contraindications for Yoga for Fertility (what to avoid)
• Meditation  practices for Yoga for Fertility/anomalies
• Fertility and breath work practices ( pranayama)
• Nutrition for fertility and hormone balance
• Yoga for Miscarriage
• Guidelines for healing yoga & meditation practices for miscarriage & pregnancy loss
• Sample classes accommodating different phases of the fertility journey

Prenatal Yoga Specialist Certification – 20h

This training will give you the knowledge and skills required to support and help pregnant women make informed choices. Help you asses a pregnant student physiologically, and be able to use the proper props, modifications and hands on corrections for yoga. It will also give you a solid foundation of techniques used to help women and couples during labour.

• Learn tools to be able to teach and design yoga classes for pregnant women, as well as couples and those interested in fertility
• Appropriate Yoga postures for pregnancy and various modifications, pranayama (breathing) for relaxation, guided meditation, positive affirmation & restorative postures for pregnancy
• How to foster and support women in preparation for birth in a natural and holistic way
• Learn Positions for labour and types of yogic breathing to prepare and support the laboring Mother during her birth
• Understand how to teach and support pregnant students in all phases of gestation
• Gain an understanding of the psychological, physical and emotional states of pregnant women
• Discover how to enhance fertility through yoga practice
• Learn to prepare couples for birth, ensuring they make informed choices
• Practical business and marketing tools for Prenatal Yoga
• Practice your teaching skills in the course

Doula/Birth-Worker Part 1 – 20h

• Birth Education
• Physiological Birth and the Stages of Labour
• Birthing & the Stages of Labour
• Pre-labour, First Stage, Transition
• Second Stage, Birth, Placenta
• Hormones of Pregnancy & Birth
• Role of the Labour Doula
• Doula Scope of Practice
• What is a trauma Informed Doula?
• A Doula Code of Ethics
• A Social Media Code
• History of Doulas
• Equity, diversity and inclusion policy and instructional component
• Advocacy, anti-oppression, social justice and decolonization in birth work
• The Role of a Labour or Postpartum Doula
• Inter professional relations with all health care providers
• Communication
• Prenatal support and the doulas role
• Reflective and Active Listening
• Comfort measures in labour with hands on learning
• Emotional support during labour
• Supporting second stage
• Special circumstances in pregnancy, birth and postpartum and doula support
• Cesarean Sections and VBAC
• Pain management theory.
• Medicalized options and the doulas role
• Medical Intervention
• What is Medical Intervention and the Cascade of Intervention?
• VBAC doula support

Postnatal Yoga Specialist Certification – 20h

This course is for yoga teachers and trainees as well as acupuncturists, childbirth educators, chiropractors, doctors, doulas, craniosacral/massage/shiatsu therapists, midwives, nurses, therapists and of course pregnant women! It is also Yoga Alliance applicable. In this course we will explore:

• Yoga for mothers/parents and newborns, mothers/parents and babies (once rolling begins), mothers/parents and toddlers/preschoolers
• How to inspire and support women postpartum
• Physiological, energetic and emotional considerations after birth
• Pelvic floor support
• Abdominal reconditioning
• Working with c-section recovery
• Assess specific post natal needs and address them safely with yoga and modifications
• Gain the understanding of developmental stages of babies from infancy on
• Discover how to encourage participants to stimulate the developmental stages of their infants through movement and touch
• Post natal considerations and practice
• Client and business management
• Practice teaching and designing classes for participants with their babies

Doula/Birth-Worker Part 2 – 20h

• Practical: Active BirthComfort measures in labour with hands on learning
• Positions for Labour
• Acupressure for Birth
• Hands on Massage for Birth
• Positioning/baby spinning baby for birth
• Rebozo for Pregnancy & Birth
• Postpartum Support:
• The Role of a Postpartum Doula
• Breast /chest Feeding Support
• Postpartum recovery for the new mother and infant
• Post partum Depression and baby blues
• The neurobiology of trauma in pre- and post-natal parents
• The psychological impact of birth
• Supporting Trauma and when to Refer
• Doula Practicum and Business
• Inter professional relations, building bridges with all health care providers
• Effective communication
• Birthworker/doula business support
• Marketing

Certification and Training Eligibility

RYPT -Eligibility

This training is considered an advanced specialization (300/500-hour level) for yoga or movement teachers who already have foundational training.

Participants who already hold a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training (RYT-200) certification or an equivalent movement background (such as Pilates instruction) may enroll directly in the program.

Participants without previous yoga or movement training are required to complete the YES – Yoga Exercise Specialist Certification (40 hours) as a prerequisite before joining the prenatal movement modules.

The YES training provides the foundational knowledge in anatomy, safe movement instruction, and teaching methodology necessary to participate in the prenatal and postnatal yoga components of this program.

Certification Requirements

• 75 contact hours with Elle Slimmon
• 10 observation hours
• Teaching practicum
• 10 hours homework readings

Certification Awarded

Upon successful completion of the training and all practicum requirements, participants receive certification for 95+ hours of Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga/Pilates Instruction and Birth Worker/Doula Training through the Liberty Movement Birth Worker curriculum and the East to West Yoga & Pilates curriculum. This certification reflects comprehensive training in prenatal and postnatal movement, birth education, labour support, and postpartum care, preparing graduates to support families throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.

Begin Your Training Journey

If you feel called to support families through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, we invite you to join our upcoming Birth Worker and Pre/Postnatal Specialist Training at Liberty Movement in Toronto.

If you feel called to birth work, Liberty Movement offers flexible training pathways to support your journey as a Birth Worker, Doula, or Pre/Postnatal Movement Specialist.

This comprehensive program combines doula education, prenatal and postnatal movement training, fertility awareness, and hands-on mentorship, preparing students to confidently support families throughout the perinatal journey.

Students may choose to enroll in:

• the 100-Hour Birth Worker & Pre/Postnatal Specialist Certification
• the 24-Hour Doula / Birth Worker Training
• individual modules such as Hormones, Prenatal Yoga, or Postnatal Yoga (available upon request)

All training is delivered in person at Liberty Movement in Toronto, in small groups that allow for personalized guidance, mentorship, and hands-on practicum learning.