Whether you are heading off on your own Journey or supporting others as they navigate the modern maternity landscape, The Birth Map boldly goes where no birth plan has gone before.
Created by Catherine Bell, this website serves as a hub of research, support and opportunity.
The process of creating a Birth Map® is called Birth Cartography®. Birth workers can train in the way of the Birth Cartographer®, and parents-to-be can access resources and support in Mapping Your Birth and Beyond.
Register for free Member Access to unlock resources, a forum, The Game of Birth and The Birth Map. Let the Journey be Awesome!
EXPLORING BIRTHMAP.LIFE
There is a wealth of resources and information, gathered over many years, stored on the site.
A great place to start is What is Birth Cartography where you will find a presentation about the concept. This concept evolved from birth plans. The process outlined is going to be tested as part of my PhD. My goal is to improve the communication between women and their care providers, facilitating truly informed decisions. Based on Respectful Maternity Care and Effective Communication, Birth Cartography creates an individual birth map. Like an Advanced Care Directive, this map allows for various scenarios and it’s primary aim is to ensure a full understanding of all possible pathways.
The Blog has a decade of content to explore. I am updating posts and posting new content each month. You can sign up for notifications of new content if you like.
In the free Member Access, there is much to explore. Once signed in you can Flip through The Birth Map and play The Game of Birth (online version), join a monthly zoom chat on the 4th Friday of each month, explore resources and forum (for birth and beyond). This is a growing space. When you register for access, you can also opt-in to the monthly newsletter.
The Book is The Birth Map: boldly going where no birth plan has gone before. This is the book I was unable to find when I began my journey into mothering. The book began as a list of all the questions I and my mother-friends wish we’d know to ask in advance. In documenting these questions I realised, it was not answers we needed. It was the actual questions. We needed to know what we needed to know…so we could determine for ourselves the direction we needed to go. It can be purchased separately, or in The Birth Mapping Kit, which includes The Game of Birth, which is a tool to help you understand the different pathways of birth and determine what is right for you in a particular situation.
You can request a one hour Mapping Your Birth session with Catherine via zoom. Read The Birth Map first and then use this session to explore your pathways. We will play the game together and identify the key questions to ask your care provider.
This training is available in person, and via zoom as a one day intensive, or as a self-paced online option.
Do you love The Birth Map? If you are often referring people to the book, you can become a birthmap.life affiliate and receive 10% of any sales that result from your referral. This includes the book, the kit, my training and Mapping Your Birth sessions.
There is No One Way
There is Your Way
Birth Cartography assumes nothing and prepares for anything
Your Birth, Your Way: no matter what.
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