Anna Hurty

Childbirth Preparation series for all now offered at Pacifica in Berkeley.

I have been a birth professional for thirty years teaching expecting families about birth,

attending births, offering doula trainings, teaching Dancing for Birth and offering placenta

encapsulation services.

I have an eclectic non-judgmental style of teaching the “nuts and bolts” regarding what to

expect as you labor and give birth. My offerings are based on what I have seen work at the

hundreds of births I have attended as a doula and during my midwifery apprenticeship here at

Pacifica. As well, I have two adult sons and I offer ideas that worked for me as I labored and

that helped support my daughter-in-law as she gave birth naturally to my twin grandchildren.

Myriad styles have influenced my classes and include Birthing from Within, Lamaze,

Hypnobirthing, Bradley and others. Classes cover basic anatomy and physiology, pre-labor

signs, recognizing the progress of labor both physically and emotionally, when to transfer to

your birth place or to call your midwife/doctor, communication with care providers, and how to

make decisions that will allow you to follow your own path to birth in your unique way. You will

learn how to create a peaceful “laboring space” in your home as we practice comfort

measures, massage options, labor positions, partner support, breathing and sound techniques.

Decision-making, variations, medications, complications and technology will also be explored

so that you can feel prepared for any birth setting.

Your introspection, envisioning and communication will begin to reveal your own personality,

style and birth vision and will enhance your support relationships which are so important as

you work towards giving birth.

Four-week series, 6:30-9pm Wednesday evenings, $250. I offer a price break ($50 decrease)

for placenta encapsulation services when enrolled in a childbirth preparation series. Visit

www.birthgarden.com to enroll. Please feel free to email anna@hurty.com or call me at

510.604.0591 with any questions. Pacifica classes are limited to five couples to enhance

individual attention and sharing of ideas.

I look forward to meeting you!

Bio - Anna Hurty, CD, CCBE, PES

Anna has been active in the birth profession for thirty years. She began her work in Berkeley

where she helped create the volunteer doula program for underserved people giving birth with

midwives at Alta Bates Hospital. While working as a childbirth educator, lecturer and certified

doula, she served on several birth-related hospital committees.

After moving to Palo Alto, she found the non-profit Blossom Birth Services (now in its 20th

year, www.blossombirth.org) and served as its Executive Director while continuing her doula

work, becoming a Dona-approved doula trainer, and teaching prenatal classes at Stanford and

Palo Alto medical Foundation. At Stanford she created and taught the first “Natural Birth

Prenatal Series” and taught half-day trainings entitled “Non-Medical Pain Management” to

third-year residents. While at Blossom she created and taught doula trainings, attended

Elizabeth Davis’ midwifery training and was an invited guest at Midwifery Today’s “Charting the

Future” conference in Seattle.

After moving to the midwest Anna became nationally certified as an EMT and worked in the

trauma center at Trinity Hospital in Illinois while offering private prenatal classes and attending

births of friends and co-workers.

Now back “home” in Oakland, Anna spends her time teaching private and group birth

preparation classes, encapsulating placentas and occasionally offering support as a birth

doula.

She is the wife of Mark and mother/mother-in-law to two grown sons and their wonderful

wives. In her spare time she paints, walks, dances and enjoys spending time with her family

whose delightful company she enjoys whenever possible.