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Childbirth Education in Japan

Nanako Oba is well known in Japan. She is a childbirth educator with a high media profile due to her enthusiastic support for natural birth and also her five children (considered an excellent role model for others in low-birth rate Japan).

I first met Nanako (also known as Yumi to her friends) at the fantastic “Birth Without Borders” Conference, presented by the Childbirth and Breastfeeding Foundation of Thailand in Chiang Mai (1997). We made an instant connection and have maintained a close contact since, working on ideas of mutual interest. The Birth-Sense Institute is Nanako’s sixth baby - a thriving business that offers a range of courses, training and products.

One of the most popular services revolves around the team of educators that go into schools to talk to primary school children about “where babies come from”. Sex education is very limited in Japan and this initiative aims to answer question while promoting natural birth and breastfeeding at a time when children are still young and forming their ideas.

Baby massage classes are also available and are enthusiastically supported by new mothers.

Preconception classes have also been developed, and Nanako hosts weekend programs in luxury resorts for those planning to start a pregnancy. People come from all over the country to experience some pampering while learning more about preparing for a healthy pregnancy and birth.

Regular prenatal classes are also part of the Birth-Sense program. Recently the Tokyo City Council began paying Birth-Sense to provide free programs for parents living within their area. A team of educators now facilitates these classes, with over 100 couples each month taking advantages of this service.

Nanako has set up a series of training courses to equip educators with the necessary skills for these programs. Developed as a series of four separate courses, each builds on the previous program to enable skills to be gained in an orderly fashion. Potential educators are interviewed and selected based on their background and interest level in the subject matter. Nanako and I are planning to add a fifth step - the new Certificate IV Course for Childbirth Education that we will be launching in a few months. By adding this higher level at the end, Japanese educators will gain a qualification that has some international recognition and standing.

The Birth-Sense Institute also sells a a range of products of interest to parents and educators. You can ind out more from their website or by contacting them directly:

Birth Sense Institute Co. Ltd. 504# 1-9-16 Tomigaya Shibuya-ku. Tokyo. Japan 151-0063. TEL 813-5454-8232. FAX 813-5454-8212

Nanako and I spent many happy hours together during this visit. She very kindly escorted my on a tour of Kyoto, which is resplendent with over 1000 temples and shrines, set in forests on steep hills - a fascinating area. Here we are together outside the famous Golden Temple, where the sun was conveniently setting, illuminating the Temple in the most dazzling display. What a treat!

Posted by andrea at December 16, 2006 01:54 PM