birth the way you
want - naturally
In-person and online birth classes taught in Southern California, centrally located in Long Beach
Why take a birthing class?
Make healthy choices
Explore the best ways to build a healthy foundation for your pregnancy and labor via nutrition and exercise
A class can help with accountability and healthy habits
Empower your partner
Birth partners want to know how they can best support and coach you through pregnancy and labor
A class will give them actionable tips to empower them
Cut down on confusion
With so much information on social media and search engines it’s hard to know what is fact and what is myth, what applies to you and what doesn’t
A class will help you to wade through all of that
Build your village
It’s rare to find other pregnant folks who are due around the same time as you, let alone like-minded families
But a class brings people together for a common goal
Pregnancy is the first step on your journey to parenthood. Labor and birth comes next.
These processes are organic and unpredictable - almost mysterious and unknown.
In class, we work toward turning our fear of this unknown into a healthy curiosity.
And then we start to surrender. We open our hearts to what can be beautiful and empowering and let go of the need for control via some kind of crystal ball that might tell us exactly what will happen next along this magical path.
That letting go, that surrender, will be one of the best teachers available.
Get ready for your natural birth
I’ll be with you every step of the way - no matter how you choose to give birth, this journey is naturally yours .
What kind of childbirth class do you prefer?
Birthing Basics
Free
Receive expert tips for the start of your second trimester
In Person Group Classes
Price Varies
Weekly meetings with like-minded expecting families held in person in Long Beach, California
Online Group Classes
Price Varies
Weekly meetings with like-minded expecting families held live online via Zoom
Private sessions
Price Varies
No time? Schedule a time that works best for you
Congratulations on your pregnancy!
What a blessing a pregnancy is. What a blessing it is to be able to give birth.
Taking a comprehensive birth class with a certified childbirth educator can be one of the best steps you can take to insure that the day you give birth is the happiest day of your life.
Whether you ultimately want to give birth with an epidural (or other pain medication) or unmedicated (“natural”), you will need to labor for some amount of time without pain medication - so a birth class is imperative for that reason alone.
When you’re laboring unmedicated, deep in active labor, it’s possible to get blissfully lost on the “birth planet.”
It’s true.
This happens because your body is circulating hormones that take you to another time and space and this IS the pain management.
Come to class :) - I can show you the way to that birth planet.
- Lia Berquist, AAHCC, CD
“It’s not just a class. It’s an experience”
What my clients are saying
Ciara M.
VBAC mom
“Wow where to begin. I wish I had taken Bradley classes for my first pregnancy, considering I took two different courses with my first. However, I felt so much more empowered with Lia's classes. I felt confident, informed and more knowledgeable.
Then I had the honor to have her right by my side as I gave birth. There are no words to describe the passion, dedication and love she has for the birthing momma.”
Rachel B.
Doula
“Lia runs the most comprehensive and approachable childbirth education classes imaginable. I took her 12-week course as part of my doula training and I learned from her wisdom, experience and insights non-stop. She is knowledgeable beyond compare, and she wants her clients and students to embody that knowledge so they can utilize it to create the birth they want to have. She has a deep technical understanding but she never forgets the more intimate and tender sides of childbirth when she's teaching. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher, and I highly recommend taking her class if you are expecting or expecting to support someone in birth!”
Iren S.
Mom of 2, NICU nurse
“From the first class, Lia impressed me as the topic of discussion involved a run down of what we’d be learning in the 12-week course. The topics were about nutrition, stages of labor, breastfeeding, and even cesarean births — all far from what I expected from a class advocating an unmedicated birth. She also shared her experience from her years of being a doula as well as an observer at her mother’s deliveries... I was impressed by her commitment to focus on objective facts and available choices. Even my husband who begrudgingly attended the classes with me on Football Sunday, found the classes to be informative and implemented his coaching lessons on our game day with fervor.”
Lisa C.
First time mom
“I didn't realize until AFTER I took the class, and spoke to so many other moms, how often women feel confused, unheard, disregarded or just lost when it came to planning for labor or what actually happened in labor. The feedback was overwhelming, on how many women I know who didn't feel properly educated, honored or advocated for during birth.
So if nothing else, Lia’s classes really taught my partner and I how to make CHOICES for ourselves, how to weight the pros and cons of each decision we were faced with, and how to navigate/sort through the set of options we had available to us.”
Get unlimited access to a student center filled with supplemental documents and tips and tricks -
Free when you join my classes. Access to The Bradley Method® student center is also included when you join a traditional 12-class series in The Bradley Method®
Are you too late?
Are you too late?
Have you seen the revolutionary documentary, The Business of Being Born?
Join me for a FREE screening followed by a discussion and Q&A - January 19, 5pm
Supporting pregnant families
As a dedicated childbirth educator and doula, I’m here in Long Beach, California to support and guide you through every step of your pregnancy.
I’ve been teaching childbirth professionally since 2011 and taught over 2000 couples, each one of them unique, with their own individual labor preferences.
Together, we will explore the essentials of nurturing a healthy pregnancy and prepare for the sacred experience of childbirth.
Let’s embark on this transformative journey with confidence and knowledge.
What will we do in class:
Cover weekly topics
Answer all of your questions
Play games to enhance learning
Participate in interactive activities to build community
Watch birth videos (you can look away if you want)
Learn and practice labor support skills
Engage in affirmative conversations to secure a positive mindset
Unlearn myths, superstitions, and stigmas that society has taught us
Practice the large repertoire of relaxation techniques