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Comfort Measures‎

This is not a full prenatal class. This is a hands-on session to practice coping strategies and to help you find practical tips for your labour and birth.
Dress comfortably, bring a birth/pilates ball if you have one, a comfortable pillow, and a yoga mat or bath towel for your comfort. We will practice positions on the floor. Inspired by Lamaze, Bonapace, rebozo, yoga, visualization, cranial sacral therapy, and years of Doula experience.
 
This class was designed as a complement to our prenatal class (group or private). 
It is also a great refresher for those who have already taken a prenatal course, are having another baby, preparing for a VBAC, and is specifically designed for those wanting strategies to avoid pharmaceutical pain relief.
 
Labour partners are encouraged to help support the birthing woman and to expect homework.  
Pregnant women who would like to come on their own are so welcome and invited to work directly with the facilitator / experienced Doula, Brandie Lekovic.
 
 Cost of class is $75. 

 

Infant Massage

Infant Massage has shown to increase oxytocin (feel good hormone) and decrease cortisol (stress hormone) for both babies and caregivers.  We all need a little more of this!  While others are social distancing - we will be encouraging special contact with those you care about and have in reach. 
 
OCEA is offering Live online opportunities to learn this skill and to connect (with us, others, and your baby).  Classes run for 4 sessions (Wednesdays & Fridays) for $55.  Max 9 babies / class.
 
 
Health-giving properties of Infant Massage include; growth and motor skill development, blood and lymph circulation, immune system stimulation, building bones, help with gas and colic, aid with deeper and longer sleep, emotional and physical bonding time.
 
Infant massage is a natural way to nurture and care for your baby. We tend to do it while holding them - without even thinking about it. Infant Massage classes teach a full body massage routine, the benefits of individual strokes, ways to communicate with your baby, and to have some very special time together.

The facilitator, Brandie Lekovic, will lead you through individualized massage sessions. Sessions include massage oil (if joining an online session see notes) and handouts. Classes are intended for babies who are pre-crawling and provide lots of clever hints on carrying massage into the years to come. Brandie received her training with the International Association of Infant Massage and loved being able to use these tools with her boys.  

Live Online Class:  4 sessions for $55. - a community offering during Covid social-distancing. 
Group class for $75 (4 sessions over 4 weeks).  - on hold until further notice.

Private in-home sessions are $100 for a single session or $150 for 2 sessions (giving better chance for practice).  You are welcome to invite a group of baby's new friends for an additional $10 per baby.  Grandparents and other people who will be massaging baby are always welcome. - on hold until further notice.

Refund Policy:  When cancelling a prenatal class after it has been booked there is a $25 (CAD) administration fee. If the cancellation occurs less than 14 days before the class there is a 50% cancellation fee. If it is less than 7 days there is no refund.  Request for date changes within 7 days of class will reflect a $75 fee.  Please keep this in mind when registering and plan to be finished your session by 35 weeks of pregnancy.
 

People who took our online class during COVID-19 had this to say:

Given the continued need to physically distance and wear masks, OCEA will continue to offer all classes online until the end of 2020.
We dearly want to support the health of our expectant families.

Brandie was wonderful! She’s extremely knowledgeable, explains things really well and so kind!

Pre Natal – with Brandie Lekovic May 16, 2020

This course will help you answer questions you didn't even know you had - both for people who are pregnant and their partners!

Pre Natal – with Lilly Bianchi June 6, 2020

Julia was great! She kept things light, down-to-earth, and didn't sugar coat things. We all tend to have ideas about what childbirth is like based on tv, movies and old-wives tales, but she was great at dispelling anything that may have mislead us in the past. Her knowledge and experience in the area of childbirth was incredibly helpful.

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes April 9, 2020

The OCEA pre-natal classes are extremely valuable for first-time expecting parents. The information is shared in a very open, practical and fact-based manner without any judgement attached. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the advice and research that is out there, but the OCEA classes really manage to distill this information and present it in a clear and structured way. The instructors are very experienced and knowledgeable and are great inter-personally. We were particularly impressed by how they handled giving online classes during the pandemic. They also provide a lot of Ottawa-specific information on the amazing resources that are available here. This was particularly useful to us as newcomers. We have many friends who have given birth in other countries, and when telling them about our experience with OCEA they have all said that nothing like this was available to them and it would have been so useful. Overall, we would highly recommend taking these classes.

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes May 19, 2020

Again thanks for all the work you've done to make the class accessible during this time and to update all the resources.

Pre Natal One Day – with Brandie Lekovic March 22, 2020

She was great! I really appreciated all of her knowledge and ease of communication even in a new format that is by default distant. I took away a lot of really useful information.

Bringing Baby Home – with Erin Shaheen March 28, 2020

I’ve taken two courses with OCEA, and both were chock-full of useful and practical information and tips. I like that the instructors were careful about discussing the evidence for various claims, and were very engaging and responsive to questions.

Pre Natal – with Misty Pratt June 20, 2020

Great class, I signed up mostly for my husband to get him ready, I was so nervous that he would not know what to do but now I feel more confident. We are a first time parents.

Pre Natal – with Julia Wykes March 28, 2020

Lilly was great at fostering a community environment through the screen! She was always available for questions and encouraged group atmosphere in an unprecedented new learning environment!

Pre Natal – with Lilly Bianchi April 22, 2020

I would recommend this class to all expecting parents. It really increased my confidence in myself going into birth and the first few months with our child. It has facilitated my ability to communicate better with my partner. This course is worth every penny and every minute of time.

Pre Natal – with Lilly Bianchi May 25, 2020

Lilly is an amazing educator! I was so anxious before taking this course but looked forward to each class as I learned so much and it answered questions I didn't even know I had. Lilly is so knowledgeable and kind and unbiased and has a nice sense of humour too! It was a pleasure to learn from her each week. Thanks Lilly!

Pre Natal – with Lilly Bianchi April 22, 2020

The time that she took at the end to have a group chat and ask us all to check in. I would highly recommend that she do this with classes in the future. Ask questions and have the group check in. It was really nice to get the feedback and feelings of others in the class.

Pre Natal One Day – with Brandie Lekovic March 22, 2020


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