Becoming a Pre & Postnatal Exercise Specialist: Fit For Birth Q & A

Since I was a young child, I can remember being absolutely obsessed with babies. My friends and I would treat our baby dolls like real babies - feeding them, putting them down for naps, even taking them for walks in their strollers around the block! As I got older that dream of being a mother, while still very prominent, also turned into my career. With my knowledge from Fit For Birth (FFB) and my previous education as a Holistic Health Coach, I now run a very successful business catering to none other than pregnant and postpartum moms alike!

My education at Fit For Birth completely blew my mind. When I went into the program, I was expecting to learn how to train a women during her pregnancy - what I left with, however, was a very deep understanding of the woman's body during and after pregnancy, and ways to use exercise and movement to correct muscle imbalances and patterns to shift outcomes and prevent injuries. The program I completed was the Pre & Postnatal Corrective Exercise Specialist (PPCES) certification and here are the most common questions I received about the course:

How did you decide to specialize in this?

To be a personal trainer, you have to recertify every two years (or at least with NASM you do) which means renewing your CPR/AED and obtaining additional CEU’s to meet a certain goal. So every two years I pick a new specialty. When I was first starting out, a nutritional certification made the most sense so for 2016 I went for my Fitness Nutrition Specialist certification. When the time came for my next renewal, I knew exactly what I wanted to specialize in. I set out to find the best certification program for pre and postnatal fitness.

What made you choose Fit For Birth?

They had the cleanest, most sophisticated website. They also showed up on the first page of searches in Google. James Goodlatte, the creator of the program, is an amazing resource in the pre and postnatal community, he is deeply involved in the companies education and I really appreciate that. One of my idols, Nancy Anderson, also went through the Fit For Birth program. The Fit For Birth PPCES program’s time for completion, CEU’s (1.9 for NASM), and price all fell into what I was looking for.

How long did it take to complete?

The beautiful thing is you can go at your own pace and take as long as you need. There are a total of eight modules, each containing 30 minutes to 2 hours worth of video and supplemental reading in the form of downloadable pdfs. There is a short quiz at the end of each module that you have to pass to continue. For me personally, I worked really hard, completing the program in two months.

What was the media? How was the quality of media?

You access your classes through their high quality Skilljar portal. I gratefully appreciated that all media was up to date. The videos were taped live during a PPCES live course, so you go through the entire course with the same students. It is really brilliant.

What resources or tools do you get with the program?

Fit For Birth provides you with extensive knowledge in the pre and postnatal field, enough to go out and start your own business, or be that trainer guru in your gym that gets all the pregnant and postpartum clients. Additionally, Fit For Birth provides you with client intake forms, physician consent forms, periodization variables, movement assessment templates, extensive reading materials, access to the graduates Facebook page, ambassador programs, and the knowledge to develop programming for individual clients as well as group classes.

Do you have to recertify?

No, the PPCES certification is for life. With the ever changing field of health and wellness however I would strongly advise all those wanting to work in the pre and postnatal field consistently stay up to date with changes and developments whether that be attending seminars or obtaining continuing education.

What do you have to do to pass?

Complete all modules and score the minimum on each module quiz (eight total). Schedule your final exam virtual call and successfully complete.

What is the final exam like?

The final exam is a 2 hour long virtual call (VC) with a Fit For Birth head coach. This is not a pass or fail "exam", it is more for you to become an even better coach then when you started the program. You will find a client (pregnant is ideal) and have them join you for the VC call with a FFB head coach. For my call, I was actually shocked it was JAMES himself as my coach! I was so grateful and honored I got to spend my exam call with the man himself. This call was really the best part of my entire education at FFB. The intention for you as the coach during this call is to take you from whatever level you are currently at and raise that awareness up much further. I left the call way more confident, ambitious, and clear than I had been before, I would say I definitely accomplished that intention. For your client, the intention is for her to learn something so impactful during the coaching assessment and session that she easily sees how she can make a change in her life. There will be a lot of "aha" moment during this call. A perfect way to end your education and celebrate all you have learned.

What was the most interesting thing you learned?

I did not realize that other than staying healthy during pregnancy, corrective exercise has the capabilities to reduce many pregnancy discomforts like low back pain, pelvic girdle pain, diastasis recti, stretch marks, varicose veins, etc and reduces the need for many pregnancy interventions like episiotomies, c-sections, and epidurals. While none of these things are guaranteed, working with a pre and postnatal specialist can greatly improve your chances.

What are you doing now with your specialty?

I am so proud of all the opportunities that opened up for me after completing my PPCES training. I registered my business as a sole proprietor early in 2018 with my target market being pre and postnatal. I now offer one on one pre and postnatal coaching programs, teach multiple pre and postnatal fitness classes, and conduct live workshops at multiple venues across New Hampshire. I was even so passionate about the FFB program that James asked me to be one of his Head Coaches and I now conduct final VC calls for coaches gradutating from the program! For more information on my weekly classes or workshops please visit my events page.

Do you have a discount code?

Of course! Fit For Birth offers three programs: the Pre & Postnatal Corrective Exercise Specialist (PPCES), which is the course I took, a Pre & Postnatal Diastasis & Core Consultant (PPDCC), and a bundle of the two.

Use code: FAYFFB75 for 40$ off the Pre & Postnatal Corrective Exercise Specialist (PPCES)
Use code: FAYFFB100 for 75$ off the Pre & Postnatal Diastasis & Core Consultant (PPDCC)
Use code: FAYFFB150 for 100$ off the bundle for both!
After completing the PPCES course, and learning as much as I did, I am very interested in taking the PPDCC course in the future. With that being said, it is so worth it to purchase the bundle if you are on the fence, I wish I had!

In closing, I am SO pumped I went through Fit For Birth for my training. James is such a hardworking, humble, kind man who is the main star of the show, teaching all the modules and is also very active on social media! It is so admirable to see someone develop their craft and share it with the world. I want to share this experience with as many people as possible so please, if you are also a fitness professional, think about taking this certification. And if you are thinking about becoming pregnant, are pregnant, or postpartum, message me to set up a complementary session or drop by one of my classes. Tell me you read my blog post and I would love to meet you!

Visit my website for more information on my services, events schedule, and more! Please share this post with anyone you think may find it helpful. Thank you so much for reading! AF

*Blog post originally published on https://www.healthyafay.com/healthyafay/.