Offerings

Conception, Pregnancy, Birth & Post Partum Care

Samara offers in person & online 1:1 support sessions for pregnant/birthing mothers, as well as postpartum care. If you’d like to inquire about a package of support from her, please email her directly.

Courses for Mothers, Families, & Birth Keepers

We run a yearly course, The WellMama Way 13 Moons Journey: a journey of 13 months that spirals each cohort through the magic & mysteries of the childbearing year, offering holisitc education from pre-conception to postpartum. Along the way we stop by the hearth fires of each of our collaborators to share knowledge, wisdom, & skills. This is an online journey.

Our topics include:

• Welcome to The WellMama Way 

  Beginning the Journey

• Preconception: The Cauldron of Creation

  Tracking Your Cycle: Menstruation as Ritual - Hannah Grace

• Conception: Dreaming the Journey

  Spiritual Dimensions of the Childbearing Year from a Traditional South African Perspective - Mmatshilo Motsei

• Pregnancy: Embodying the Holy Vessel

  Passionate Pregnancy - Vanessa Brooks

• Labour: Embracing the Waves

  The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour - Ruth Ehrhardt

• Physiological Birth: Giving Life

  Basic Biology of Birth - Ruth Ehrhardt

• Unusual Births: Meeting the Unexpected

  Birth First Aid Introduction - Ruth Ehrhardt

  Breech Birth - Joy Horner

  Birthing Twins - Deborah Rhodes

• Placenta: Honouring the Tree of Life

  Placenta Stories & Preparations - Alex Khula

• Breastfeeding: Nourishing New Life

  Breastfeeding Bliss - Autumn Garner

• Postpartum: The Fourth Trimester

  Traditional Postpartum - Nicola Mahdiyyah Goodall

• Grief and Loss: Surrendering to Source

  Love & Loss - Nadia Maheter

• BabyMoon: Mothering the Mother

  Basic Needs of Babies - Karin Slabaugh

• Blessing the Way: On the Path of Parenthood

  Beginning Anew - Charlene & Owen Monaghan

• BONUS CALL: Introduction to Roots of Wisdom: Journey of Ancestral knowledge exploring beyond Birth, Life, and Death- Tariqua Ighile Gorrissen

WellMama is starting the WellMama Community Carers training program this summer. These in-person & online trainings will focus on equipping individuals with tools to support their communities through threshold periods of life, namely pregnancy, birth, postpartum, & death. You can join the waitlist to be notified of these trainings below!

Shiatsu Massage for the Childbearing Year

Join Samara Hawthorn for Shiatsu Massage for the Childbearing Year - a 2 day in-person worshop learning the basic theory and practice of using shiatsu massage for supporting the whole system through the the childbearing year, from conception through to pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

This workshop is suitable for anyone, whether you are working professionally with birth, are hoping to enter into this world of work, are pregnant yourself or are simply interested in the art of shiatsu.

Red Tent Family Campout

Join WellMama CIC & Red Tent Doula Collective June 24-28, 2024 for 4 days of community, nature, & sharing! Hosted at Bryn y Blodau, event is all about connecting with your family, like-minded folk, & nature for relaxation, learning, & joy.

Throughout the retreat, we'll offer a variety of activities and workshops to nourish your mind, body, and soul. We will have 2 sessions each day: morning & afternoon, led by Samara, Nicola, & participants.

Miscarriage, Abortion & Still Birth Tending

• 1-2-1 sessions with Samara - please purchase a coaching session & indicate in a follow up email that you’d specifically like support around miscarriage, abortion, and/or stillbirth

Embodiement/Movement Courses

• Essence 8 Week Online Mindful Movements Journey with Samara

• Discover Your Body 12 Week Online Embodiment Introduction course with Hannah

• Embodied Birth Preparation Course Coming Soon!

1-2-1 Mentoring & Supervision

After completing doula/birth keeper training, you will be offered the chance to be mentored in your practice by an experienced member of the WellMama team. While working as a mentored student doula within real life situations, you will be supported and guided by an experienced WellMama mentor, with the opportunity to debrief and deeply reflect on your practice with each of your chosen case studies. Mentoring occurs with Samara.

“I found the mentoring process extremely helpful in unravelling the complexities of birth. The chance to focus in-depth after writing up each case study enabled me to disentangle birth in its raw and uninvaded state from the impacts of birthing within the modern medical paradigm. It also helped me gain depth of understanding around what we bring with us emotionally and otherwise into our births, in spite of what we may feel is excellent birth preparation. Having that support through each case study plus supervision with an external Birth Keeper at the close of the process, I feel more confident in holding space for the individuals/ families I work with”. Feedback from a mentored doula.

Menarche & Menopause Education & Support 

• Bleed & Flow — Menstrual Education & Embodiment Course with Hannah — Coming Soon!

• Hannah also offers 1:1 Menstrual Mentorship online

Holding the Death & Grief Rites

As a trained counsellor, Samara can hold space in a 1:1 online setting for grief processing.

• WellMama Community Carer Trainings Coming this Summer! — Includes learning how to support your community through life thresholds, such as loss.