Great Starts™ Professional Childbirth Educator Workshop and Training Program
Learn the information and skills needed to begin facilitating classes to expectant or new parents using effective techniques, and delivering research-based information impartially.
Register for our Fall 2025 Workshop!
For more information, contact:
Sally Brady, Program Manager
sbrady@parenttrust.org
We offer professional training workshops, Childbirth Educator Certification, continuing education opportunities, and consultation for hospitals and clinics.
Our training supports those interested in learning how to professionally and effectively facilitate group learning about Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn. Participants learn the information and skills needed to begin facilitating classes to expectant or new parents using effective techniques, and delivering research-based information impartially.
About Us
Parent Trust for Washington Children’s Great Starts™ program (formerly known as Childbirth Education Association of Seattle, CEAS) is a recognized leader in childbirth education, with more than 60 years of experience.
Our program serves over 6000 people each year in prepared childbirth and infant parenting classes.
We author one of the most recognized books in the field, Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn, as well as The Simple Guide to Having a Baby (also available in Spanish).
Overview of the Workshop
Our workshop is designed to lay the foundation for facilitating prenatal classes, for nurses, midwives, labor support or postpartum doulas, physical therapists, maternal-child health care professionals, as well as other professionals or those in training who have a solid working knowledge of the birth process. Participants learn how to effectively share that knowledge with expectant families.
Class participants are taught:
Informed Decision Perspective
- All the options
- How to ask questions of care providers
- Make decisions that best balance benefit, risk and reflect their own values and priorities
Research-based information
We combine all the best techniques, using:
- A wide variety of childbirth education methods
- Current, research-based family-centered maternity care practices
The labor coping techniques we emphasize are the 3R’s
Relaxation, Rhythm, and Ritual, a method first described by Penny Simkin while observing how women naturally cope when they are given the support they need and feel safe. We also cover pain medications and medical interventions as tools in the toolbox to be used when needed.
Purpose of the Workshop
We provide a comprehensive training program for aspiring educators. Our training is focused on developing knowledge, skills, and confidence for facilitating prenatal, birth, and postpartum care classes for groups, yet the skill are applicable when working with expectant clients or patients one-on-one.
Our Curriculum
We cover prioritizing what content to include, developing learner objectives, curriculum design, using research-based information, delivering content in an impartial manner, and using interactive teaching techniques which help class participants learn, retain, and apply their new knowledge with confidence, and know where to seek additional support before it is needed.
An Important Step
Our training is also an important step to becoming a professionally certified childbirth educator, which is required by many employers. After our training, you have the option of pursuing certification with Great Starts™, International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA), or, after you have taught for a while, you can certify via the Experienced Educator pathway with Lamaze® and other organizations.
Credentials
This workshop meets Great Starts™ Certification requirements for professional childbirth educator’s training, is approved for 24 hours of continuing education with the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA), and approved by the California Board of Registered Nurses for 25 Continuing Education credits, Provider # CEP16764.