Childbirth Classes in Sheridan, Wyoming

We are excited to introduce one of our newest childbirth educators, Laura Simpson. Laura teaches Birth Boot Camp natural childbirth classes in Sheridan, Wyoming. A registered nurse as well as a natural birthing mother herself, Laura is excited to bring Birth Boot Camp and comprehensive childbirth education to Wyoming!

Check her out. If you are looking for a birth class in Sheridan, Wyoming, you can find her here.

Introduce yourself, tell about birth experience and how it influenced your desire to teach birth classes.

I am married to “husband material”; or that’s what my college roommate and I called him before I actually met him! We married in 2011 while attending college at the University of Wyoming. We moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming when I became a Registered Nurse and we have lived here for three years now. We no live in Sheridan, Wyoming. After a couple years of enjoying just the two of us, we found out (with great surprise) that we were expecting.

We were so excited- and so terrified.

I knew I wanted to have a natural birth after spending time on a labor and delivery unit when I was a student nurse. So many women opted for epidurals and didn’t know what that fully meant: confined to the bed, a catheter, at least one IV, fetal monitoring, needing assistance in moving legs, etc.  

While on that labor and delivery unit, I witnessed one woman give birth without an epidural. When I came home, I told my husband, “I want to birth like that. This woman was confident and calm. She relaxed through her contractions and was reassuring her husband after each one that she was fine – it was incredible. You could see her tension drain away with each contraction; totally the opposite of what’s normally seen!  

She had no fear of her labor or birth, and it astounded me.

So when I became pregnant, I began to research all that I could about natural birth. I knew I needed to do my homework because nursing school had prepared me mainly for what goes wrong in birth, not for physiologic (normal) birth. I found many different options for childbirth class but chose Birth Boot Camp.  

The online childbirth classes worked with my hospital schedule and my husband seemed interested in this class, whereas he did not seem interested in the other options. Once we started taking the class we realized what a gem we had found! I learned so much about physiologic labor and birth, even more than I had in nursing school.  

My husband and I felt prepared for birth, postpartum, and breastfeeding – as a team.

When the big day finally arrived, I had back labor and my husband was put to work helping me cope. There were several times I started to doubt myself but because of my preparation, my intense desire for a natural birth for myself and my baby never wavered.

Knowledge had given me the power to stay focused on my goal.  After 18 hours of labor, only 10 hours of that requiring concentration and help from my husband, our sweet son was born and took his first breath.  

I. Felt. Amazing.

I was riding an oxytocin high and soaking in the preciousness of my little baby.  After that, I wanted every woman possible to experience natural labor and birth.

My husband had a similarly empowering experience.  He was incredibly involved in comforting me through labor.  I had strong back labor and without him, I couldn’t have done it.  

When we had time to process the labor and birth, he came out of it feeling very confident in his role in Eli’s birth.  If only all husbands could come out their loved one’s birth feeling that proud of themselves!

What are your particular passions concerning birth?

I want moms and dads to make educated decisions.  They know themselves and so, given options, they know what is best for themselves and their family.  I never want a mom to walk away from her birth and think if only I would’ve “known” or ” I failed.”  

I want parents to be confident in their decisions and if their birth didn’t go as planned, confident that their provider made the best decisions for them in that situation.  It is so critical to have a provider whom you trust to make decisions for you when things get beyond your range of knowledge.

Why did you choose Birth Boot Camp as your certifying organization?

I chose to certify with Birth Boot Camp because I saw first-hand how great it was for my husband and I.  We appreciated that they gave us lots of information but expected us to make decisions for ourselves.  

We were also given many ideas and tools to help cope with labor because the founder and developer of the curriculum recognized that each birth is different and is going to need different coping techniques.  I could see that my husband wasn’t afraid to get involved in this childbirth class; the name and materials made education exciting and comfortable for him too.

Most of all, I saw a need in our area.  At the time of my pregnancy, there were no extensive childbirth classes available in Sheridan.  I could travel to the Northern Colorado area, but with my schedule (and the weather) that wasn’t always possible.  The community of Cheyenne needed more birth professionals, particularly childbirth educators.

Where did you attend Birth Boot Camp childbirth educator training?  What did you like about it?  How did it prepare you for actually teaching childbirth classes in Sheridan, Wyoming?

I traveled to Dallas, Texas after about 9 months of studying, reading, and networking with local birth professionals. Once there, we had an intensive 3.5-day workshop of learning how to teach the curriculum, practicing teaching the curriculum, and taking a certifying exam.  

I really appreciate that Birth Boot Camp requires its instructors to be prepared before they come to the Instructor Training.  A Birth Boot Camp Instructor is prepared to teach immediately after certifying because of the preparation required to pass the exam.

Another thing I admire about Birth Boot Camp is the diversity of women involved in the business.  All of the women present at my training had very different birth experiences.  Some had epidurals with nearly all their babies, some had never had medication in labor.  Some weren’t even interested in natural birth until after a baby or two, others had been interested in natural birth before they were even pregnant.  Some women had surprise pregnancies, some women had fertility treatment.  Each woman had a different unique perspective to bring to Birth Boot Camp.

What’s fantastic is that we continue to keep in touch and support each other after training; offering advice, asking questions, sharing achievements and struggles in our birthing communities, etc.  Each woman’s contribution to Birth Boot Camp has continued beyond training.

How do you see natural childbirth having a positive impact?  Why does this work matter to you?

Most of the time, natural childbirth is better for mothers physically and psychologically, as well as better for babies physically.  More and more research is coming out showing the benefits of unmedicated vaginal delivery during birth and immediate postpartum, but also many years after the baby is born.  

Women who educate themselves and are prepared for the birth they envision, as well as unexpected circumstances, are more likely to be satisfied and proud of themselves and their births.  Vaginal births decrease a woman’s chance of experiencing problems in future births (like placental abnormalities), problems that accompany surgery, and problems with breastfeeding.  Also, their babies breastfeed sooner and longer and experience fewer autoimmune diseases.

There is power in birth.

And I don’t mean that in a hippy-ish kind of way.  I mean that women who birth and are confident in their choices will experience an increase in self-esteem, an internal strength that helps them as they are growing as a mother.

Where can we find you?

I live and teach childbirth classes in Sheridan, Wyoming.  My website is onceuponabirth.com and I can be found on Facebook and Pinterest.  Email me at [email protected] if you have questions or would like to register for a class.  I’m looking forward to hearing from you!