Thoughtful preparation for birth, baby, and everything that comes next.
There's a lot to learn before welcoming a baby, and no shortage of opinions about how you should do it all. But good preparation isn't about memorizing the “right” way to give birth or parent. It's about understanding your options, developing practical skills, and feeling equipped to make decisions that reflect your needs and values.
Whether you're looking for comprehensive childbirth education, individualized support throughout pregnancy, or a thoughtful plan for postpartum life, there's a way to prepare that fits your family.
Childbirth & Newborn Education in Central Iowa
Comprehensive birth and newborn preparation, personalized for your family.
There's a lot more to preparing for birth than learning a few breathing techniques or memorizing the stages of labor. Understanding how birth works, what your options are, and how to navigate the unexpected can make an enormous difference in how you approach the experience.
Private Childbirth Education offers a comprehensive, evidence-informed childbirth and newborn care course in a relaxed, one-on-one setting.
We'll work through a thoughtfully developed curriculum covering labor, birth, decision-making, comfort measures, and the transition to life with your baby. Along the way, we'll make space for your questions, your particular circumstances, and the kind of birth you're preparing for.
You won't need to build your own curriculum or know which questions to ask in advance. I'll guide you through the essentials while tailoring our conversations and hands-on practice to your family's needs.
What We'll Cover
Understanding Labor & Birth
The physiology and stages of labor
Common signs that labor is beginning
How labor may progress and what variations can look like
Hormones, the nervous system, and the birth environment
When to contact your care team and what to expect at your birthplace
Comfort, Coping & Support
Movement and positioning during labor
Breathing, relaxation, and practical comfort measures
Hands-on support techniques for partners and support people
Medical and nonmedical pain management options
Preparing for different labor experiences
Understanding Your Options
Informed consent and shared decision-making
Common interventions and procedures
Induction and augmentation
Epidurals and other pain management options
Cesarean birth and what to expect if plans change
Communicating with your care team and navigating unexpected decisions
The First Hours & Days With Baby
Immediate postpartum care and recovery
Skin-to-skin contact and early feeding
Newborn behavior, cues, and communication
Safe sleep foundations
Diapering, soothing, and everyday newborn care
Understanding common newborn needs and knowing when to seek additional help
Preparing for Life After Birth
Realistic expectations for the early postpartum period
The basics of physical and emotional recovery
Sharing responsibilities and building support
Preparing for the transition home
Flexible Scheduling
The course includes approximately eight hours of private instruction, which can be arranged in the format that works best for your schedule:
One full-day intensive
Two half-day appointments
Four two-hour appointments
The core curriculum remains consistent across all formats, but we'll adapt the pace, discussions, and hands-on practice to your family's questions and circumstances.
Partners and other birth support people are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Who Is This For?
Private Childbirth Education is a great fit for first-time parents, families who prefer learning privately rather than in a group, and experienced parents who want a comprehensive refresher or are preparing for a different kind of birth.
It's also a good option if your schedule makes attending a traditional childbirth class difficult or you want more opportunities to ask questions and practice skills together.
My goal isn't to teach you the one “right” way to give birth. It's to help you understand what's happening, know your options, and approach birth and early parenthood with practical knowledge and confidence.
Private Childbirth Education includes scheduled educational appointments and does not include labor or birth attendance.
Your pregnancy. Your questions. Your priorities.
Sometimes you don't need another class or an entire support package. You just need time with someone knowledgeable who can listen, answer your questions, and help you figure out your next steps.
A Private Prenatal Session is a personalized, one-on-one educational appointment designed around what matters most to you. Whether you're navigating a particular decision, preparing for an upcoming birth, or feeling overwhelmed by conflicting advice, we'll use our time together to explore your options, build practical skills, and develop a plan that makes sense for your circumstances.
What Can We Work On?
Your session can focus on one topic or a few related questions, including:
Birth Planning & Decision-Making: Explore your preferences, understand common interventions, prepare questions for your provider, and practice informed decision-making.
Labor & Birth Preparation: Learn comfort measures, movement and positioning, breathing techniques, and ways your partner can provide meaningful support.
Induction or Cesarean Preparation: Understand what to expect, explore available options, and prepare for a planned induction or cesarean birth.
VBAC Preparation: Discuss considerations, questions, and strategies for preparing for a vaginal birth after cesarean.
Postpartum Planning: Think through recovery, support systems, rest, household responsibilities, and the transition home.
Newborn Care & Early Parenting: Explore newborn behavior, responsive caregiving, safe sleep, and practical ways to prepare for your baby's arrival.
What to Expect
We'll begin with your questions, goals, and concerns, then focus on the information and practical skills most relevant to you. Depending on your needs, your appointment may include discussion, hands-on practice, educational resources, or a plan for next steps.
Partners and other support people are welcome to participate.
Who Is This For?
Private Prenatal Sessions are ideal if you:
Have a specific concern or decision you'd like to explore in depth.
Want additional preparation beyond what your prenatal care or childbirth class provides.
Are preparing for an induction, cesarean, or VBAC.
Want to involve your partner in practical birth preparation.
Prefer individualized education without committing to an ongoing package.
You don't have to know all the right questions before you arrive. We'll start with what's on your mind and work from there.
Private Prenatal Sessions provide education and decision-making support, not medical advice or clinical care. For comprehensive childbirth and newborn education, explore my Private Childbirth Education course.
Personalized pregnancy support, without birth attendance.
Pregnancy comes with a lot of questions—and they don't always fit neatly into a childbirth class or a routine prenatal appointment. Maybe you're navigating decisions about your care, wondering how to prepare your body for birth, or trying to make sense of all the recommendations coming your way.
The Pregnancy Compass offers individualized education, movement preparation, and ongoing guidance throughout your pregnancy, without the commitment of hiring a birth doula.
Rather than following a predetermined curriculum, we'll focus on what matters most to you. We'll explore your questions, build practical skills, and connect the dots between your body, your birth preferences, and your family's circumstances.
What's Included
Comprehensive Prenatal Planning Session: An in-depth appointment to explore your pregnancy, goals, concerns, care options, and priorities. Together, we'll identify where you'd benefit most from additional education and support.
Two Body Ready Method® Sessions: A 90-minute initial movement assessment and a 45-minute follow-up, including an individualized movement plan to support body awareness, mobility, and birth preparation.
Two Specialty Education Sessions of Your Choice: Focused appointments in areas such as childbirth education, infant feeding, babywearing, perinatal nutrition, or postpartum planning.
Between-Visit Guidance: Access to questions and educational resources between scheduled appointments, within established communication hours.
Who Is This For?
The Pregnancy Compass is especially well suited for families who want more individualized guidance than a traditional childbirth class provides, but don't necessarily want or need a doula present for their birth.
It's also a wonderful option if you have a lot of questions, want to be proactive about preparing your body, or appreciate having a familiar professional to help you sort through information and decisions as your pregnancy progresses.
You don't have to figure everything out at once. We'll take it one step at a time, with support that reflects your pregnancy, your goals, and your life.
Please note: This package provides prenatal education and movement support. It does not include on-call availability or attendance during labor and birth.
You've prepared for your baby's arrival. But who's preparing to care for you?
So much of pregnancy is spent preparing for birth and learning how to care for a newborn. But the person giving birth deserves just as much preparation, attention, and care.
The Fourth Trimester is a mother-centered postpartum preparation package designed to help you plan for recovery, nourishment, rest, and support before your baby arrives.
We'll look beyond the baby registry and the hospital bag to think about what everyday life might actually look like in those early weeks. Who will make sure you're eating? How will you share responsibilities? What support will you need to recover, rest, and adjust? And how can you prepare for feeding, sleep, and newborn care without feeling like you need to master everything in advance?
Together, we'll create a realistic postpartum plan that reflects your needs, relationships, resources, and values.
What's Included
Prenatal Session 1: Your Postpartum Plan
We'll explore what physical and emotional recovery may involve, your expectations for the early postpartum weeks, and the support you'll need to navigate them.
Topics may include:
Postpartum recovery education and realistic expectations
Rest, household responsibilities, and daily routines
Partner and family communication
Visitors, boundaries, and asking for help
Emotional well-being and identifying additional support resources
Building a practical postpartum support network
Prenatal Session 2: Nourishment & Meal Planning
We'll develop a realistic approach to keeping you nourished during a time when cooking and grocery shopping may be the last things you want to think about.
Together, we'll explore general postpartum nutrition principles, easy meals and snacks, grocery and freezer-meal planning, and ways to involve your support system in feeding you.
The goal isn't a perfect postpartum diet. It's making nourishing food accessible, manageable, and enjoyable.
Prenatal Session 3: Life With Baby
We'll cover essential newborn care topics with particular attention to how they intersect with your own well-being.
This includes feeding foundations, responsive infant sleep, newborn cues, and babywearing basics, along with practical strategies for sharing caregiving responsibilities and protecting opportunities for rest.
Postpartum Follow-Up
After your baby arrives, we'll reconnect to talk about how things are actually going. We'll revisit your postpartum plan, answer questions, identify any unmet needs, and make adjustments based on your family's new reality.
Who Is This For?
The Fourth Trimester is for expecting mothers who want to prepare thoughtfully for their own postpartum experience, not just their baby's arrival.
It's especially valuable if you're wondering how you'll manage recovery alongside newborn care, want to organize support before you need it, or simply don't want your own needs to disappear from the conversation once your baby is born.
Because preparing for motherhood should include making sure the mother is cared for, too.
This package begins during pregnancy and includes one postpartum follow-up appointment. It is an educational and planning service, not ongoing in-home postpartum doula care. Nutrition guidance is educational and does not replace individualized medical nutrition care.
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“Working with Elise was the best decision we made during pregnancy! She provided information that was evidence informed and valuable in decision making, and she tailored all of our time to what we needed most including planning for postpartum, not just birth.”
~ Shannon S., first time mom