What It Means To Become A CBE?

Parents attending Childbirth Education classes are making some of the most important decisions they will ever make in their lives. These decisions impact on the health and well being of their baby, themselves and their relationships. The role of the Childbirth Educator is to provide as much clear, well researched, and relevant information as possible. Through facilitated group discussion the Childbirth Educator will enable exploration of options and choices, challenge myths and offer a vast range of information around choices available to new parents.

Childbirth Educators need to be able to put their personal views aside and to have dealt with any impact from their own birth experiences and pregnancies to enable them to provide a professional, non-judgmental and complete service to class participants.

What the Childbirth Educator says in class will have impact on the participants. It is important that this information is up to date, researched and relevant. Parents Centres NZ Inc supports Childbirth Educators to continually seek professional development opportunities that keep them up to date with latest changes and trends.

The transition to becoming a family is one of the biggest life changes most people will experience. Childbirth Educators are able to work alongside parents and support them through this exciting time while they make these life changing decisions. It is a challenging and very rewarding career .

For further information on training to be a Childbirth Educator

Some things to think about:

Childbirth Education classes are usually held in the evening or weekend to meet the needs of the class participants. Classes are held one evening a week for 6 or 7 weeks or alternatively over a weekend for 7 hours each day.

The Diploma in Childbirth Education takes 2 years and is a part time distance learning programme through Aoraki Polytechnic. Parents Centres NZ Inc offers support to some students to complete the supervised teaching portion of their training.

Childbirth Educators are contracted to provide Childbirth Education classes at the 52 Parents Centres throughout New Zealand.