Your Natural Birth

Katie Pruitt
5÷28÷2016
To the Moma’s it may concern:
I decided very early in my pregnancy that I wanted to have a natural birth. I choose Bradley Method because I liked the way it promoted the connection between body and mind during pregnancy and birth. The focus on nutrition and exercise in preparation for birth made me feel like I could have an impact on my experience. Once I decided on the Bradley Method I found Lia. Lia is a magical birth unicorn! She is one of, if not the biggest reason my partner and I were able to have a natural birth. She taught us the birth process, how to trust ourselves, our options based on where we planned to deliver, relaxation techniques, nutrition, babies, and most importantly… Kegels! She was easy to talk to and she really cared about every single student and their partner. For me this is what made all the difference. My partner had reservations about an out of hospital birth and even after sharing all the information I had I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to convince him that this was the right thing for us. After being ½ way done with the classes I saw a huge shift in him. He became a believer, empowered, and my biggest supporter… all because he became educated by someone he trusted. The birth became about ‘us’ instead of ‘me’. Lia’s support during our pregnancy is invaluable. She was always available for questions, a quick moral booster, or a shoulder to cry on. We are forever grateful for her.
We wish you so much love & support on your journey.
Ross & Katie Pruitt

Meeting Lia and taking the 12 week Bradley Method course with her made the birth of our baby such an amazing experience. Lia was not only a fabulous and knowledgeable instructor, but she was also available to answer questions outside of the course and give her experience with anything and everything about birth. It made me feel so much more confident about our decision to have a natural, unmediated birth, and the preparations that the course gave us made the birth experience so positive and a memory I will treasure always.
Lia, you are fabulous, and we can’t thank you enough for all of your help!

Today is my daughter’s first birthday so I felt it would be fitting to write a review for the person who helped make it happen (although I should have written this much sooner). Lia is absolutely incredible. Being part of the prenatal world I had some knowledge of how birth was supposed to work; however, I still didn’t feel I knew enough to feel confident in my own abilities to birth a baby. On top of that I knew my husband had no clue about the birth world and how to support a pregnant and laboring woman. Lia’s class absolutely blew our minds. We had a planned homebirth and wanted to make sure we were well prepared for the event (athletic sporting event as Lia taught us). Lia not only encouraged me to believe in my bodies ability to birth this baby but she empowered me! I had no fear after her class, only anticipation. After our class was complete we couldn’t get enough of this amazing woman so we hired her as our Doula. When our day came to have our sweet babygirl, Lia was not only by our side but she was the voice and the conviction inside my head encouraging and pushing (haha) me along. Our homebirth was absolutely amazing and as we hit those emotional sign posts (class pop quizzes) during our birth I knew we were right on course. Thank you Lia for making class fun, mind blowing, educational and thank you for helping coach our princess into our arms.

Let’s put it this way, my wife’s labor was 67 hours. And while I would never wish that on anyone nor do I hope the next one is that long, I felt completely prepared and confident throughout the whole process thanks to Lia and this class. With everything that we learned, and Lia’s support, we were still able to deliver our son completely natural and just as we wanted — which is an amazing feeling.
To all you dudes who may be thinking that 12 weeks is way too long and we don’t do all that much, you’re missing the coolest opportunity to be your wife’s support during one of the most challenging things in her life. And the best part is that it’s totally an enjoyable class and process.
Lia is incredibly knowledgeable, and funny, and really does teach you in a way that truly prepares you for the labor and delivery process. She also is TOTALLY invested in her students and really wants the best for them. Every labor process is different and requires different things, and Lia is great at supporting everyone with their own needs (like I said, a 67 hour labor…).
If you are debating natural childbirth, or looking at different teachers, just stop reading and sign up for Lia’s class already. It’ll be the best thing you can do to prepare yourself for a pretty amazing experience.

Well… Where to begin. Like most others, my husband cringed when I slapped him with another bill and time commitment for a birth class I wanted to take! ;). Literally after the first class, we were both hooked. Let me tell you about Lia. I LOVE this woman! She will engage you, teach you, make you laugh, make you think, and even make you cry with the occasional birth video :). She’s a master of her craft who will give you a wealth of knowledge that you can’t help but share with your family and friends afterwards. She will equip you with all the info you need to navigate your birth experience no matter how it turns out. Most of all, she will support you and check on you long after your class is over. She will make time to answer your questions and ask how everyone is doing and that support is priceless. This class will be the single most valuable asset in equipping yourself to have your baby! You gotta do it!

It was mid November 2014 when my wife harassed me– I mean «made» me-​take a 12 week birthing class in Long Beach.
My reaction…“Are you f’in craaazy? 12 weeks!?? We don’t need to take any classes! People just wing it.” I lost the battle and was dragged to the first class. I’ll be honest… I had no idea what the class was about, nor was I listening when she tried explaining the class to me (Blah blah blah).
We are late on posting this review, but I ended up not missing a single class (very proud of myself) and we loved Lia so much that we asked her to be our Doula. Lia was not just thoroughly knowledgable, but truly cared and had a passion for my wife and my son’s well being. With Lia by her side, my wife gave birth on 5÷15÷15 naturally with no meds even after 4 days of prodromal labor and 16 hours of active labor. We were extremely lucky to have had her by our side — she helped us stick to our birth plan by navigating us through all of the hospital BS and we could not have done this without her.
There’s nobody like Lia! Take the class people!!!

Recently childbirth was described to me as terrifying and horrific. That triggered my wife and I to look into The Bradley Method taught by Lia Berquist-​Fletcher in effort to take control of this monumental and truly amazing experience that is natural childbirth. We signed up with Lia Berquist Fletcher and our eyes were truly opened by the possibility for a non-​medical, drug free and truly pleasant pregnancy, labor and childbirth. Yes, pleasant pregnancy, labor and child birth…
We are mammals and are built to make and deliver babies. Of course there are some medical situations that deem intervention necessary and for those we can thank our lucky stars such exists. For everything else and for nearly every other situation, natural childbirth is possible and taking Lia’s 12-​week class made it possible.
Lia is a wonderful, passionate and knowledgeable person who we will know and stay close with for the rest of our lives. She has become like the Big Sister I always wish I had. The knowledge that she passed on simply makes sense and works when employed effectively.
Fellas, if you want to be more than just a useless spectator during one of the most important moments of your life then learn The Bradley Method taught by Lia Berquist-​Fletcher, CD, AAHCC. You have a purpose beyond impregnating your lady. You can be helpful during pregnancy, labor and delivery and help ensure a calm and beautiful experience for all.
Ladies, if you want to be more than just a useless spectator during one of the most important challenges of your life then learn The Bradley Method taught by Lia Berquist-​Fletcher, CD, AAHCC. Natural childbirth is a reality. In fact it was all there was until some white Doctor dudes got all up in your business. You can do this!!!
TAKE The Bradley Method taught by Lia Berquist-​Fletcher!!!

Lia’s Bradley course was fantastic! She is informative, thorough and passionate about the process. Lia was available for questions and support throughout our long labor. We are forever grateful to her.

I took Lia’s Bradley course and it was so incredibly helpful, informative, and fun. Lia is such a laid back/​easy going person that it made the classes very enjoyable to attend. I really liked that our class was only 4 couples so it made it very intimate and felt that Lia had time to dedicate to each and every one of us.
Unfortunately, I was unable to have a Bradley birth because my water broke early BUT the first person my husband I called was Lia. She coached us on what to do while at home and met us at the hospital as soon as she could. Lia stayed with us for hours while the doctors discussed with us the risks of preterm labor, possible scenarios, and medications they wanted to administer. Lia was literally by my side through the toughest decisions of my life, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have her there. Fast forward 4 days and the baby was still in. Due to the baby’s position, I had to have a last minute c-​section. Again, we called Lia to tell her what was going on. She immediately came to the hospital to offer her support and guidance. She held my hand when I cried, she gave me hugs when I needed them the most, and stayed at the hospital through the procedure to make sure I was okay. Lia was literally the glue that held my husband and I together because we were an emotional wreck.
I am sooo thankful that I got to know Lia throughout her classes and felt comfortable enough with her to have her there at my son’s birth. If anyone is considering taking birthing classes, take Lia’s. If anyone is considering having a doula present, hire Lia in a heartbeat. She is an amazing person and has such a big warm heart. You will NOT be disappointed.

This review is long overdue! We originally started our Bradley classes with another teacher, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to continue our classes with Lia. Even though the Bradley lessons are the same, regardless of the teacher, my husband and I definitely saw a difference in personality between our first instructor and Lia. Frankly, we were a lot more comfortable with Lia. That is not to say that there was anything wrong with the initial classes we took with the first instructor, but we think it was fate that we ended up with Lia because her personality felt like a better match. I am not going to get into the benefits of Bradley on here (there are soooo many!)…I will only say that Lia did a great job teaching us all the important stuff, while at the same time helping us be aware of the many issues that can come up in a hospital birth. I am proud to say we successfully delivered our son naturally in October 2013, and we couldn’t have done it without Lia. She truly cares about ever mom having the birth that she wants/​chooses. It was a unique situation for us in that we didn’t choose to take classes with Lia, and she was kind enough to take us on as students part of the way through our Bradley training. We are very happy it worked out that way.

I can’t even begin to explain how helpful Lia and her classes were for my boyfriend and I. We were expecting my second child, his first. We attended Lia’s Bradley Method course and absolutely loved it. We were so informed and prepared (as prepared as one can be) When babytime came around. She was so helpful even during my labor, answering questions my boyfriend sent her via text.
I was scared out of my mind to have a natural birth, but really wanted to try. My first child I had little to no preparation for his birth and had a very medicated and hospital run birth. I wanted this time to be different.
I didn’t know where to begin, so I Unilocaled natural birth classes in my area and this page with amazing reviews came up. So here I’am (finally) adding to the great reviews. It’s worth the money it’s worth the time. It made a big difference in how I labored. My beautiful Healthy baby girl was born 10÷29÷14 unmedicated with out fear, with all the love and support of my wonderful boyfriend. Truly an amazing life changing experience.
Thank you Thank you for this class.
xo Lynn

There are many things I could talk about regarding Lia and her passion for natural birth and the classes she teaches. But I want to just focus on what I think are the two most important ones.
Lia cares for and loves her students deeply. I have seen her interact wtih them at all hours, in order to build courage, knowledge, and confidence in them. I have seen her cry over them. If you want someone who cares about your birth experience and baby as much as you do, she is the right person for you.
Lia also offers something that you wouldn’t initially know about her services. She is a genius at creating community among expecting and new moms in Long Beach. Any time I go to a park and start talking to a mom, I can almost guarantee 50% of the time they will know Lia. It has been easy for me to get connected to a supportive community of moms because of Lia. She even creates events and reunions to cultivate this community. Grateful for her, and I recommend her.

My amazing midwife recommended Lia’s class when I began seeing her for prenatal care. As a first time mom, planning for an unmedicated home birth I wanted every bit of information I could get my hands on for my up-​coming labor, delivery, and breastfeeding journey. I had never heard of the Bradley Method, but was welcoming to the idea of a 12 week course emphasizing partner participation. I wanted my husband and I to have a thorough education about labor and delivery and loved that Dr. Bradley thought that your partner should be just as schooled as the mom about giving birth.
Lia’s class included a workbook, videos, diagrams, exercises, discussions, nutritional information, and homework. It was as involved as some courses I completed in college. And why not? You’re preparing for the existence of a human being! The class not only went through everything to expect during labor and delivery, but also important information about how to maintain a healthy pregnancy. As an added bonus it also worked as a pseudo support system during a unique and challenging process, allowing for discussion of ongoing changes with Lia and classmates.
I want to emphasize that this class is beneficial not only for people wanting a natural birth, but specifically people that want a natural birth in a hospital setting. Though, I did not face some of the challenges of going to a hospital I felt prepared to advocate for the type of birth experience I wanted should I end up there. Hospitals are environments full of protocols and procedures that go the same way day in and day out, often with out question from patients. Unfortunately, our healthcare system is not always setup for individualized care and Lia’s Bradley class gives you a clear picture of what to expect in a hospital environment and how to advocate for the type of care that you feel suits your situation both during labor and delivery and during prenatal care. Lia is particularly suited to be a great instructor as she has had tons of experience with both hospital and home births. She is balanced, unbiased, and candid about her experiences with both. She provides a wealth of knowledge and genuinely cares about the well being of her students.
I recommend this class to anyone preparing for child birth even if you are not sure you want to go the unmedicated route– especially to anyone only seeing an obstetrician. The traditional obstetrician visits do not go into much detail about nutrition and day-​to-​day questions about pregnancy. Having all the information is beneficial to everyone and empowers you throughout your pregnancy.

My husband and I took the Bradley Method class with Lia to prepare for our second baby’s birth in July 2014. She was funny, knowledgeable, and very respectful of everyone. She is not biased or judgmental when it comes to all aspects of birth. She was supportive and I really felt like she cared about us. She gave my husband lots of ways to get involved and he knew so much about birth by the end of the class! I was comfortable to call her when it got close to birth time and I needed her for a second opinion. Birth went so so smoothly and I want to thank Lia for all she did to help us prepare!!!

My husband and I attended Lia’s Bradley Method course and she was also our labor & delivery Doula. We loved the class and learned so much about what to expect when it was time to give birth. The most helpful parts of the class were the weekly nutrition charts/​goals, practicing the exercises & labor positions, and preparing a birth plan. The class was great, we definitely recommend Lia as a Bradley instructor!
More amazing though was Lia as our labor & delivery Doula. Thankfully I was able to have a natural, unmedicated delivery for our son and she was extremely helpful and knowledgeable of how to navigate a hospital birth. She helped us advocate for the things we wanted and encouraged me immensely throughout my labor. Her wisdom is very practical & also very thorough. Lia has current knowledge of all the issues involved with pregnancy, birthing and breastfeeding babies. She is sweet, calm & sincere. I definitely recommend her as a Doula & support system for anyone’s birth experience.

Pregnant with twins, I thought a birth class was a waste of time and money. Hey, I was tired and the thought of twins was expensive, BUT worth every penny and hour spent!
Had no idea what I was signing up for, but the small intimate class allowed for so much more than any huge class from the hospital. Not only got a really good birth education, we came out with some friends for LIFE!
We thought we were stuck with the hospital rules. (Twins are delivered with epidural and in the OR room, if you are lucky to avoid the scheduled c-​section). Through this class, I got the best birth story I could have wanted! Twins born peaceful and safe, AT HOME.

Lia teaches an amazing Bradley method course. I knew in my heart that I wanted a natural birth with no medications and my husband knew he wanted a hospital birth. Lias class really helped us to achieve a natural home birth in a hospital. Lia gave us articles, texts, and videos that educated us about the birthing process, child development, and a variety of birthing methods. She was an amazing instructor that guided us to the birthing method that really suited our families needs. I recommend her to all families who are interested in natural child birth.

Lia was an amazing Bradley teacher! She truly believes in the method and is extremely knowledgeable in all things birth and baby. The education my husband and I received was invaluable. My husband was an AMAZING coach through my birth thanks to the education and empowerment from Lia’s class. The birth experience was truly OURS, as I felt my Husband did just as much work as I did. (okay, almost).
Aside from the class Lia is incredibly personable and was there for us from day one for reference and support. She is truly gifted at what she does.

Lia was an invaluable asset to me during my pregnancy and labor. Her Bradley education series was highly informative and a lot of fun.
I was up against considerable obstacles and challenges that made a natural childbirth without induction or an epidural seem like it could not be achieved given my health circumstances. Even my OB was skeptical about my birth plan detailing the natural childbirth I wanted.
Thanks to Lia’s classes and assistance, My husband and I knew exactly what was going on during my pregnancy and labor process and therefore could make educated and informed decisions when giving birth.
Not only is Lia a wonderful and entertaining educator, but she made herself available to me whenever I had questions during my pregnancy and labor. I credit her as one of my «advising doulas» and I feel blessed that she was able to guide me during my pregnancy. I highly recommend her classes to anybody interested in working towards a natural childbirth.
Thank you, Lia, for making my miracle birth a magical experience. I feel so proud to say that I was able to advocate for myself and my son so that no induction or epidural was necessary for my child to enter this big, bright and beautiful world!

The wife says to me, «I think we should take a birthing class.»
I think we bloody well don’t need a birthing class but say, «That sounds fine. Let me know which day so I can put it on my calendar.»
Two days later, she tells me, «Classes start next Monday. It’s a twelve-​week course.»
WHUT THUH?!?. .. No. This time I am not so reserved with my thoughts and have to voice my enormous concern about setting up a recurring appointment in my phone for a frickin’ birthing class. «I’m sorry. This will not be a possibility. In fact, I am so not able to compute this as a possibility that I can’t even pretend that this impossibility is possible.»
«I don’t even know what you just said. I can’t wait to share this time together to prepare for the baby!»
Typical. Guess who ended up taking the classes.
And you know what? By the end of the first class, I was hooked. The course demystified most of the fears and grossness I’d stored up in my head about the insanity of labor and delivery and actually put me in a reverent awe over the process and I looked forward to getting to the hospital.
As far as instruction goes, I expected a bookish instructor who would present the material in a very academic (that is to say, supremely boring) manner. Lia is not this. At. All. Yes, she’s Lia-​pedia with a database of baby knowledge in her brain, but she is incredibly personable and has a warm sense of humor, which is why we asked her to be our doula. And let me tell you, this woman puts 110% into everything she does, and that’s just the scale for her work ethic. I can’t add in a calculation for her heart and passion because my gratitude for both are ceaseless. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the kind of dividend you want to bring your child home to.