Embodied Birth Planning Workshop
Prepare Your Body, Mind, and Voice for Birth
Date: April 19
Time: 1:30–3:30 PM
Hosted by:
Certified Nurse Midwife from NLS Mobile Care (Natal Love + Support)
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists from Bodyful Physical Therapy and Wellness
Location: Berkeley Yoga Center
2121 Bonar St. Berkeley, CA 94702
$30.00
Preparing for birth involves more than writing preferences on a document. Birth planning is about understanding your body, knowing your options, and feeling confident advocating for what matters to you.
Join Aqueelah Tillman, CNM, WHNP-BC (NLS Mobile Care), Dr. Karah, PT, DPT, RYT and Dr. Maryssa, PT, DPT, WCS, for a collaborative workshop designed to help you create a thoughtful, flexible birth plan while learning practical tools to support your body during labor and early postpartum recovery.
This interactive session combines birth education, prenatal pelvic floor physical therapy principles, and movement practices to help you prepare for labor with greater awareness and confidence.
What You’ll Learn
During this workshop, you’ll explore how your body works during labor and how movement, positioning, and pelvic floor awareness can support a smoother birth experience.
Topics include:
• How labor works and how to support physiologic birth
• Pelvic floor function and how it influences labor — especially pushing
• Birthing positions and movement strategies that help labor progress
• Pain management options: natural and medical
• Common birth interventions and how to navigate decision-making
• How to protect the pelvic floor and pelvic joints during pushing
• Planning for the immediate postpartum period and pelvic recovery
You’ll also learn practical tools commonly taught in prenatal pelvic floor physical therapy, including breathing, pelvic mobility and stability, relaxation strategies that can support labor and delivery, and exercises for immediately after delivery.
What You Will Leave With
By the end of the workshop, you’ll have both practical skills and a clearer birth plan.
You will leave with:
• A personalized birth plan template
• Practical tools for labor support and pain management
• Pelvic floor exercises and relaxation resources used in prenatal PT
• Language to advocate for your preferences during labor and birth
• Guidance on postpartum pelvic recovery and when to see a pelvic floor physical therapist
Who This Workshop Is For
This workshop is ideal for individuals between 20–34 weeks of pregnancy, as well as their partners or support people.
However, anyone who wants to feel more informed and empowered about birth is welcome.
Whether you are planning a hospital birth, birth center birth, or home birth, understanding how your pelvic floor, nervous system, and movement patterns influence labor can make a meaningful difference in how you experience birth.
Workshop Experience
This is not a lecture.
It’s a collaborative, embodied learning experience.
Throughout the workshop we will combine education, discussion, and gentle movement practice so you can explore what feels supportive in your own body.
Topics we will explore together include:
Birth Planning Foundations
What a birth plan actually is
Birth as a physiologic process
Flexibility vs expectations
Hospital, birth center, and home birth considerations
Reflecting on your hopes, fears, and what helps you feel safe during birth
Understanding the Pelvis
Pelvic anatomy and pelvic floor function
How the pelvic floor lengthens during birth
The role of the nervous system during labor
Baby positioning and pelvic space
Participants will practice:
diaphragmatic breathing
pelvic mobility and stability movements
relaxation and pelvic floor activation cues used in prenatal pelvic floor PT
Movement for Labor
One of the most powerful tools during labor is movement.
You will practice a variety of birthing positions that support labor progression and pelvic mobility, including:
hands and knees
supported squat
side-lying release
hip circles
lunges
These positions are commonly recommended in prenatal physical therapy and are designed to help create space in the pelvis while supporting comfort during contractions.
Navigating Birth Interventions
Birth doesn’t always follow a predictable path. Understanding your options can help you feel more prepared if plans shift.
Topics include:
induction
augmentation
fetal monitoring
cesarean birth
assisted delivery
We will also introduce the BRAIN decision-making tool, which can help you ask informed questions and advocate for your preferences during labor.
Pushing & Protecting the Pelvic Floor
Pelvic floor physical therapists Dr. Karah and Dr. Maryssa will guide education on how pushing works and how to support pelvic health during birth.
Topics include:
avoiding breath holding
perineal, sacroiliac, and pubic symphysis joint protection
position changes during pushing
Participants will practice breathing practices used in prenatal pelvic floor PT to support effective pushing while reducing unnecessary strain.
Birth planning also includes preparing for the hours and weeks after your baby arrives.
Led By
NLS Mobile Care — Natal Love + Support
Aqueelah Tillman, Certified Nurse Midwife / Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner and team
Bodyful Physical Therapy and Wellness
Dr Maryssa and Dr. Karah are both licensed physical therapists focusing in prenatal and postpartum pelvic health
At Bodyful, we bring a somatic, trauma-sensitive approach to prenatal pelvic floor therapy, helping pregnant people build awareness, mobility, and confidence in their bodies before birth.
Join Us
This workshop is an opportunity to prepare for birth with knowledge, movement, and supportive community.
You will leave with resources you can use during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period.
Date: April 19
Time: 1:30–3:30 PM
Location: Berkeley Yoga Center