This online course is grounded in the belief that pregnancy, regardless of the outcome, begins the parent-infant relationship. It is designed for family educators, social workers, health care providers, and others working with families to facilitate positive parent-baby interactions that begin in the prenatal period.

The ways in which children develop and interact with their parents and environment is unique for each child. Seldom do people consider that many of children’s behaviors observed in the preschool years originate in the prenatal period. What happens during pregnancy, birth, and early postpartum not only sets the stage for parents but can influence the way children develop and interact with their environment throughout life. 

The course is divided into eight learning modules:

Module 1: Overview and Background of the Course

Module 2: Reframing Pregnancy to a Parenting Experience

Module 3: Fetal Competencies

Module 4: Review Cycles in Regard to Prenatal Testing

Module 5: Review Cycles in Regard to Unexpected Outcomes--Premature Birth and Loss

Module 6: Complementary Therapies

Module 7: Understanding the Birth Story: Supporting Birth Trauma and Early Postpartum Parenting

Module 8: Cultural Differences and Prenatal Resources

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to: 

• Identify and explore cultural values about pregnancy, the unborn child, and the father’s role
• Examine prenatal attachment from the historical perspective to the current understanding of the unborn baby’s prenatal life
• Identify a relationship-based model of prenatal education and specific interventions to support parents’ awareness of the emotional needs of their unborn baby from pregnancy into the first three months of life
• Recognize and support the role of fathers during pregnancy
• Explore professional boundaries around differences between support, therapeutic education, and therapy
• Describe ways that guided imagery, art, and journaling can be used to support parents’ awareness of the unborn child
• Identify issues during pregnancy and birth that may cause trauma for the parents and/or baby and how this can alter postpartum adjustment
• Explore using the prenatal attachment model with different cultures, adolescents, adoption, pre-term birth, and infant loss

Next session: June 11 to August 13, 2012

Cost

$225 plus required materials (group rates available)

Required Materials

The required materials course packet is available from the publisher A Place to Remember and includes:

• Book: Bonding with Your Baby Before Birth, by Maria Carella, M.Ed., LPC. Item #BW0527.
• Booklet: How Can I Help?, by Martha Wegner Hay. Item #HC0261.
• Audio CD: Parenting Your Baby Before Birth, by J.M. O'Leary and L. Parker. Item #PY0452.
• Manual: Parenting Your Baby Before Birth, by J.M. O'Leary and L. Parker. Item #PY0521.
• Booklet: What is Written on the Heart: Primal Issues in Adoption, by Marcy Axness. Item #WI0567.

Order required materials packet from A Place To Remember

Register Online

Continuing Education Certificate

24 clock hours

Joann O'Leary, Instructor

Joann O'Leary, Ph.D., MPH, MS, IMH-E® (IV). Joann holds a B.E.S. and a Masters in Maternal-Child Health from the University of MN.  She also has a Masters in Psychology through research from Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland which was funded through a Rotary Scholarship. Her thesis title was: Psychosocial factors influencing maternal adaptation in Primiparas and the effect of the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Intervention. Her Ph.D. is in Work, Community and Family Education and from the University of Minnesota. Her dissertation was The Meaning of Parenting During Pregnancy After the Loss of a Baby: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study of Parenting a Subsequent Baby Following a Perinatal Loss.

Her first career as an LPN in Pediatric NICU led into her second career as a birth to five preschool Special Education Infant Teacher in the inner city of St. Paul.  She became certified as Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale examiner during her MPH course and moved into a hospital setting working within a High Risk Perinatal Center.

Dr. O'Leary's Ph.D. research was funded by the Bush Foundation. She does research and writing on prenatal parenting; pregnancy and parenting after the loss of a baby, including its impact on fathers and siblings, including adults who were the child in their family born after the loss of a baby.

Joann teaches the CEED online course Prenatal Development and Its Influence on Child Development: A Foundational Course on the Parent-Infant Relationship.

O'Leary Publications

• O'Leary, J., & Warland, J. (2012). Mom Enough Podcast: Have you or someone close to you lost a child? January 16, 2012. Mom Enough website: http://www.momenough.com. 
• O’Leary, J., & Gaziano, C. (2011). Sibling grief after perinatal loss. Journal of Pre and Perinatal Psychology & Health.
• O’Leary, J., & Gaziano, C. (2011). The experience of adult siblings born after loss. Attachment, 5(3), 246-272.         
• O’Leary, J., Gaziano, C., & Warland, J. (2011). Gifts from the deceased sibling to siblings born after loss. International Journal of Prenatal Perinatal Psychology and Medicine, 23 (1/2), 415-429.
• O’Leary, J., & Throwick, C. (2011). The baby leads the way:  Supporting the emotional needs of families’ pregnant following perinatal loss. Minneapolis, MN. Self published: O’Leary. Available at aplacetoremember.com.
• O’Leary, J., Warland, J. (2011). Intentional parenting of children born after a perinatal loss. Journal of Loss and Trauma.
• O’Leary, J., Warland, J., & Parker, L. (2011). Prenatal parenthood. Journal of Prenatal Educators, 20:4.
• O’Leary, J., Warland, J., & Parker, L. (2011). Bereaved parents’ perception of the grandparents’ reactions after perinatal loss and in the pregnancy that follows. Journal of Family Nursing.
• Warland, J., O’Leary, J., & McCutcheon, H. (2010). Born after a loss: The experiences of subsequent children. Midwifery e-pub ahead of print 16th August 2010 doi:10.1016/j.midw.2010.06.019.
• Warland, J., O’Leary, J., McCutcheon, H., & Williamson, V. (2010). Parenting Paradox: Parenting after infant loss. Midwifery e-pub ahead of print 13 April doi:10.1016/ j.midw.2010.02.004.

Comments from Participants

• "I have learned to sit in a more meaningful way with the developmental histories of children seen at our child clinics. I hope I can now embrace the stories of pregnancy, labor, and birth as a story that may have echoes in current stories. The prenatal work is not restricted to prenatal interventions. I see how I am growing in my clinical work with toddlers, preschool children, adolescents, and adults from all walks of life." 
• "The fact that the fetus hears, tastes, practices breathing, moves about and stretches is established knowledge. To consider the significance of these competencies as impacting postnatal areas such as attachment, breastfeeding, language development (and possibly many more areas) is astounding."
• "This course has been interesting, enlightening, and a wonderful step in taking us deeper into understanding the intrinsic nature of prenatal development and the value of quality care, physically, emotionally, spiritually. It offers a holistic approach to prenatal care."
• "I have come to have a fuller understanding of prenatal development and the relationship between the parents and their unborn baby." 
• "The articles support the evidence of the inner connectedness of mother, father and baby, giving a broader perspective to consider in working with the parenting tasks of the family during and after pregnancy."
• "I gained new understanding about how my children's birth explained some characteristics I could never understand in their development today."

Related Resources

• Flier: Prenatal Development and Its Influence on Children's Development

Upcoming Sessions

• Summer 2012: June 11 to August 13, 2012
• Fall 2012: September 24 to November 26, 2012

Questions?

If you have further questions or would like a sample syllabus, please contact Karen Anderson, CEED Online Course Manager, at 612-625-6617 or ander352@umn.edu.

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