Childbirth Educators
Amy Bidrman
Amy has been teaching to the childbirth community in Calgary since 1999. She teaches childbirth education in series, as workshops, pre and postnatal yoga, she is a teacher trainer for pre and postnatal in the yoga community. She has a passion for sharing good, down-to-earth information about pregnancy, labour, birth and postpartum.
Amy has a Master of Arts degree in Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood Development, a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, and as well as her 20 years experience as an Independent Childbirth Educator, she is an AMI accredited Assistant to Infancy, and a Canadian Alliance certified E-RYT500.
A class with Amy leaves expectant and new parents with the good information necessary to turn vulnerability into confidence. The confidence to ask necessary questions about care, and to participate in decision making in an empowered way.
Amy has two grown children with her husband of 25 years. She recently returned to Calgary after spending 3 years in Nebraska where she and her husband moved to help her father care for her mother with Alzheimer’s. Amy’s skills and talents were put to use in a different way, in another spectrum of life, providing her with perspective and growth. The challenges we meet from the most honest and vulnerable place inside ourselves truly demonstrate that the only way out, is through.
Lauren Ferguson
Lauren obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in Thunder Bay Ontario but is originally from Winnipeg Manitoba. Education has always been in Lauren's background as she was a swim instructor while attending university. In 2009, Lauren obtained her WCCNEP - a specialized training program in the neonatal intensive Care unit. She also obtained her ACoRN to care for sick babies born in remote communites. With a goal of obtaining her Master's in Nursing, Lauren trained many recent graduates in the NICU where she has spent the last 10 years. She has also spent many hours educating parents on the forms of caring for premature and sick infants.
Lauren moved to Alberta in 2011 with her husband where she continued her nursing career at Foothills hospital.
Lauren is a recent educator to the childbirth community. After having 2 children, Lauren realized the need for more childbirth classes in Cochrane and more evidence-based education for those parents. Lauren obtained her child birth educator certificate while staying at home with her two children in 2017.
In her free time Lauren also teaches English as a second language to children online in Beijing. She also runs a successful handmade children's clothing shop right here in Cochrane. Lauren has a passion for sewing and has been sewing for almost 20 years.
Lauren is a work at home mom after her daughter was diagnosed with a severe motor planning speech delay, sensory processing disorder and severe ADHD. With Laurens first child, she developed severe postpartum depression and anxiety and discovered a need for more mental health awareness in the community. Lauren has a passion for providing information to new parents on the challenges faced with PPD and normalizing mental health issues.
As a nurse Lauren understands the need for evidence-based information to help parents make informed decisions during their labour experience. With the invention of Google, there is so much misleading information available and Lauren strives to help narrow the information field and provide the most up-to-date accurate data. Lauren loves sharing humorous stories and ways to educate parents in the vast process of having a baby, available experiences and multitudes of comfort measures. Youll leave Laurens class feeling confident in your birthing process.