Birth Classes in Abilene, TX

Birth class couples after playing a game to learn how epidurals work in Hailie’s birth class!

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Natural Birth Classes in Abilene, TX

We are excited to share with you a series of articles highlighting our diverse group of birth instructors. These are the amazing women who are doing real work trying to make birth better for women and their families all over the world. Today we introduce Hailie Wolfe, a birth teacher in Abilene, TX, mother of five (and kinda famous You-Tuber) who has birthed in so many different ways. In fact, one of her birth videos is featured in our classes! We love Hailie and we are sure you will too. Thanks and enjoy!

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First, could you introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about your own birth experiences and how they influenced your desire to teach birth classes.

My name is Hailie Wolfe and I own Country Bumpkin Birth Services in Abilene, TX. I have five children – four of them were born in the hospital; three of which were medicated and one was unmedicated.

My medicated births were very standard hospital births. There were several things that I didn’t like about those experiences, but it was years before I realized that how I was made to feel for those births really DID matter. I had some wonderful nurses, but oddly enough, the one I remember most was the one who treated me terribly and that makes me sad. I was given routine episiotomies. I was given the highest pitocin drip on more than one occasion. I thought all of this was “normal”.

When I became pregnant with my 4th child, I decided I wanted to do things differently. At the time, we planned for #4 to be our last baby and I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to experience birthing naturally. I came to view it almost as a rite of passage I had missed out on because of my ignorance during my previous pregnancies. When I gave birth naturally, I finally understood WHY it was so important. I had an easy postpartum recovery for the very first time. I was on a birth high for days and felt very empowered.

I enjoyed birth so much that it influenced our decision to add another baby to the family. My fifth child, a surprise breech  birth, was born at home in my bath tub. You can watch her birth video here.

I was able to have a natural birth with self education, but the whole time I was pregnant with my 4th child I wished there was an accessible class where I could get the information in one place. That inspired me to become a Birth Boot Camp instructor. I wanted women in my community to have easy access to this important information.  

What first got you interested in the realm of birth?

Looking back, I always have had an interest in birth itself. I remember as a teenager being really into watching shows about birth on the Discovery Channel and being disappointed when they didn’t actually show the baby come out. When we had to watch The Miracle of Life in high school health class, I was secretly excited to see what it would look like for a baby to come out.

I’d like to say that I was so inspired by birth that I went into the medical field after high school, but that would be a lie. I didn’t want to go to nursing school because I didn’t want to wipe butts or clean up puke – no gross stuff for me. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that was in the job description for motherhood, because I signed up for that without concern! I became an elementary teacher where I wiped noses and pulled teeth. What can I say? I have a mothers’ stomach.

The point that REALLY got me interested in pursuing birth work was when I went through a very painful induction with my third child and had a terrible recovery. When I decided to go natural with my fourth and I had such a wonderful experience – that was when I really discovered my passion sharing birth with others.

What are your particular passions concerning birth?

Over the last few months, I’m becoming increasingly interested in reaching disengaged dads. I hear birth workers constantly blast dads for thinking birth classes, doulas, etc. are a waste of money. It hits home for me because my husband was one of those dads. He pretty much agreed to hire a doula just to make me happy – but then seeing was believing for him. He was amazed at how much better the experience was when we birthed with a doula. I want to figure out how to reach the skeptical dads like my husband, and I want to reach them before their wives are insisting on having a doula because they’ve been through a bad experience. I’m preparing to host a Doula Dad night soon so that my husband can speak to other dads about the benefits of having a doula. I’m hopeful that hearing another dad’s perspective will encourage others to be more open about birth preparation.

There are lots of different birth educator training programs out there. Why did you choose Birth Boot Camp?

I actually have a dear friend, Megan Martin, who teaches classes in Burleson, TX. When I voiced my interest in Birth Boot Camp she really encouraged me to go for it. I didn’t even do very much research on other programs. The organization is very transparent about their beliefs, which perfectly align with my own birth philosophy. It is clear, concise, and complete, and those are attributes that will truly prepare couples for birth. I knew early on that it was the right program for me to teach

Tell us a little about your Birth Boot Camp training experience. Where did you train? What did you like about it?

I attended Birth Boot Camp instructor training in July 2013 in Grapevine, Texas. I really enjoyed getting to meet and gain knowledge from other woman across the country who share the same passion as me. I love my children with my whole heart, but it was refreshing to stimulate my brain for a few days alongside a great group of ladies.

During my hotel stay for the training, I was roomates with Lauren McClain, creator of MyBreechBaby.org. She taught me so much about breech birth during break times and when we’d stay up late chatting. I remember thinking how great it was that I was learning all this new breech information in preparation for teaching other moms. I never would have dreamed that I would personally be putting all that information to use when I delivered my own surprise breechling just three weeks later. I will never forget Lauren.

How is teaching your own classes going for you? What do you enjoy most about it?

Each series I’ve taught has gone great! The part I enjoy most is getting to connect with couples and share information that I wish I had known earlier in my birthing years. It makes me feel like I am making a difference. It is also incredibly enjoyable to see dads gradually become more and more engaged in birth preparations. Over the 10 weeks it gets very “real” for them. It’s a neat process to watch.

Hailie with her youngest baby, born at home.

In what ways did the Birth Boot Camp teacher training help prepare you for teaching actual classes?

I was really nervous at instructor training when we had to individually teach a specific topic. It was reminiscent of my elementary teaching days when the principal would come in for observations; judgement from colleagues can be intimidating. BUT, it was completely judgement free with lots of constructive feedback and I even learned new information from some of the other trainees during their presentations.

I also really liked that we practiced relaxation exercises and labor positions in groups. You’d be surprised how difficult it can be to read aloud using a “yoga voice” for the first time ever. It was great practice, though! I was 36 weeks pregnant at the time, so it was super relaxing to be the guinea pig for some of those – I felt like I was getting pampered at the spa!

Tell us a little about your students. How do you believe childbirth education is having a positive impact on them?

I feel like my students are benefiting so much just from hearing about all the choices they will be making for in preparation for their births. My students almost always leave with a list of questions for their care provider that they would have otherwise never known to ask . I truly feel that it’s also helping the dads be able to connect with the pregnancy on a more meaningful level. As the series progresses, I notice dads becoming more confident in their ability to make joint birth decisions,  and also more confident in their ability to be a good support to their wife on the day of baby’s arrival. Seeing the friendships develop between the couples is great too.