APPPAH’s
Prenatal and Perinatal Educator (PPNE)
Certificate Program
Transform the way we support and experience birth with the PPNE Certificate Program. This course equips you to become a Prenatal and Perinatal Educator (PPNE), understanding how birth imprints are formed and how they influence development. You’ll learn to support parents and babies in integrating these imprints positively.
The curriculum is designed to teach dedicated health professionals, psychologists, birth workers, bodyworkers, educators, doctors, and parents evidence-based practices, philosophies, and therapies that nurture Human Potential and optimize the healthiest trajectory for developing babies.
This Educator Certificate Course addresses the current maternal-infant health care crisis, which is intimately intertwined with the rise of technocratic practices and obstetrical intervention in the birth setting, racial inequalities, intergenerational and generational trauma, and the lack of recognition of basic human rights of the (un)born, mother, and families.
Why Study
Birth Psychology?
Birth psychology explores how our earliest experiences—starting from conception, through pregnancy, birth, and the first year—shape our lifelong health, relationships, and well-being. Science shows that everything from a mother’s emotions to the birth process itself leaves lasting impressions on a baby’s developing mind and body.
By understanding these early influences, we can create healthier beginnings through conscious conception, prenatal bonding, supportive birth practices, and nurturing early relationships. A baby who feels safe, seen, and wanted is more likely to thrive emotionally and physically.
Birth psychology helps us recognize patterns formed in our earliest days, heal birth-related trauma, and foster stronger parent-baby connections. Professionals trained in this approach—whether parents, doulas, obstetricians, or therapists—report transformational insights, from lowering C-section rates to enhancing family well-being.
Every baby wants to know:
💛 Am I welcome?
💛 Am I safe?
💛 Do I belong?
💛 Am I loved?
Our PPNE program equips professionals with the tools to support families during this critical time, ensuring better outcomes for babies, parents, and communities.
Course Highlights
🌟 12 Modules – Rooted in the 12 Guiding Principles of Birth Psychology by Dr. Wendy Anne McCarty & Dr. Marti Glenn.
📚 180+ Contact Hours – Comprehensive, in-depth learning experience.
🤝 Personal Mentorship – Guidance from experienced birth psychology practitioners.
🧘 Somatic Practices – Techniques for autonomic nervous system regulation.
🔍 Self-Reflective Exercises – Strengthen embodiment skills for deeper integration.
📖 Digital Library – Access essential reading materials.
👥 Monthly Meet-ups – Facilitated group discussions to enhance learning.
🎓 APPPAH Membership – Enjoy a year-long enrollment in APPPAH’s Premier Membership.
💰 Student Discounts – Special pricing on APPPAH courses and programs.
🔬 Cutting-edge Science – Explore the latest in consciousness studies.
🌍 Multicultural Perspectives – Gain insights from global birth psychology experts.
This transformative journey blends research, practice, and mentorship—helping you bring birth psychology into your life and work! 🚀
Who is PPNE for?
☀️ Identity Development Facilitators – Guide individuals in self-discovery and growth.
☀️ Psychotherapists – Deepen your understanding of early life experiences.
☀️ Social Workers – Support families with a holistic, birth-psychology approach.
☀️ Birth Professionals – Enhance prenatal, birth, and postpartum care.
☀️ Mind-Body Health Coaches – Integrate early life influences into your practice.
☀️ Early Intervention Professionals – Help shape healthy developmental foundations.
☀️ Neonatal Professionals – Understand how early experiences shape lifelong health.
☀️ Somatic Therapists – Work with the body's earliest imprints.
☀️ Music Therapists – Explore how sound and rhythm support early development.
☀️ Postpartum Professionals – Strengthen bonding and attachment practices.
☀️ Parent Educators – Provide deeper insights into early experiences.
☀️ Graduate Students – Expand your knowledge in prenatal and perinatal psychology.
☀️ Researchers – Contribute to the growing field of birth psychology.
☀️ Anyone Who Wants to Make a Difference! – Join us in shaping healthier beginnings for future generations.
This course is designed for those passionate about understanding and supporting early human development. 💫
Preview the Curriculum
- Module One Overview
- Learning Objectives
- Module One Required & Suggested Reading
- Module 1 Quiz Printout
- APPPAH's Four Foundational Concepts
- Sentient Prenate by Dr. David Chamberlain
- The Vulnerable Prenate by Dr. William Emerson
- Reflections of APPPAH with Dr. Thomas Verny
- APPPAH Mission Statement: The Voices of the Children
- How Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology Transforms the World
- Summary of Trends and Influences in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology
- The Importance of Positive Imprints
- Nurturing Human Potential with Wendy Anne McCarty PhD, RN, HNB-BC, DCEP
- A Brief History of Pre and Perinatal Psychology by Jeane Rhodes
- Babies Know: 7 Principles of Pre and Perinatal Psychology Film (22:43)
- Module 1 Comprehension Quiz
- Module 1 Comprehension Project
- Optional Enrichment Activity | "Lifeline" Exploration
- Module Two Overview
- Module Two Learning Objectives
- Module Two Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Two Quiz Print out
- Ethical Considerations in Pre- and Perinatal Psychology Education
- Excerpts from The Ethics of Caring
- The Ethics of Caring with Kylea Taylor
- Ethics and Childbirth Educators: Do Your Values Cause You Ethical Distress?
- Babyhood Establishes the Roots of Human Moral Values and Ethics
- Interview with Ray Castellino,DC, RPP, RCST© “The Principles,” File
- Cultural Competency in Gender & Sexuality for Educators and Practitioners (64:36)
- Building A Caring Economy: Riane Eisler
- Module Two Comprehension Quiz
- Module Two Comprehension Project
- Module Three Overview
- Module Three Learning Objectives
- Module Three Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Three Quiz Print Out
- Blueprint, Imprints, and Implicit Memory
- Exploring the Connection Between Conception and Early Imprints (8:40)
- Implicit Memory
- Nurturing the Conscious Baby Throughout Pregnancy
- The Fetal Senses
- Trauma and Shock: Essential Distinctions in Psychological Trauma
- Overview of Primal Health
- The Autonomic Nervous System
- Exposure to Prenatal Stressors and Infant Autonomic Nervous System Regulation of Stress
- Module Three Comprehension Quiz
- Module Three Comprehension Project
- Module Four Overview
- Module Four Learning Objectives
- Module Four Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Four Quiz Print Out
- What is neuroscience through the lens of prenatal and perinatal psychology?
- Bruce Lipton Explains Epigenetics
- What is epigenetics? - Carlos Guerrero-Bosagna
- Neuroception: a subconscious system for detecting threats and safety Page
- Nature, Nurture and Human Development by Bruce Lipton
- The Biology of Belief with Bruce Lipton
- Womb Ecology: New Reasons and New ways to Prepare the Prenatal Environment
- The Mind of the Prenate
- Dr. Dan Siegel: An In-depth Explanation of Mirror Neurons
- How Your Nervous System Sabotages Your Ability to Relate
- Polyvagal Theory in Action with Deb Dana
- How to Overcome Toxic Shame with Peter Levine
- Microbiome and Fetus: A Relationship for LIfe by Janet Teodori
- Somatic Regulation Exercises
- Suggested: How Trauma and Resilience Cross Generations
- Suggested Reading: Helpful Neuroscience Links for the Curious
- Module Four Comprehension Quiz
- Module Four Comprehension Project
- Module Five Overview
- Module Five Learning Objectives
- Module Five Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Five Quiz Print Out
- The Embodied Mind: Understanding the Mysteries of Cellular Memory, Consciousness, and Our Bodies
- Birthing a New Humanity through the Concept of New Biology
- Lessons from the Embryo: Learning from Early Communications
- How to Access Early Memories and Change Your Life with Francois Gerland
- Conception: The Act of Incarnation
- Consciousness in the Preconception Period: The Roots of Attachment
- The Nature of Umbilical Affect
- Co-Education: Prenatal Memory Nurtures Family Bonds
- Field Consciousness--Unpublished Manuscript by Dr. William Emerson, Ph.D.
- Quantum Birth Model with The Matrona, Midwife Whapio Diane Bartlett
- The Science of Heart-Brain Harmony
- The Neurobiology of Nurture and the Science of the Heart
- Unraveling Colic: Exploring the Womb and Birth Experiences in Early Trauma and Relationships
- Conscious Awareness of Babies
- Module Five Comprehension Quiz
- Module Five Comprehension Project
- Optional Enrichment Activity | "Lifeline" Exploration
- Module Six Overview
- Module Six Learning Objectives
- Module Six Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Six Quiz Print Out
- Robin Grille's Table of Psycho-Emotional Developmental Needs
- The Five Rites of Passage by Robin Grille
- Supportive Relationships and Active Skill-Building Strengthen the Foundations of Resilience
- Human Nuerobiology and Emotional Intelligence
- Water as an Energo-Information Connection Channel Between an Unborn Child, Its Mother and Its Environment
- Somatotropic Therapy Published
- Being with Newborns: An Introduction to Somatotropic Therapy®
- Molecules of Emotion: Prenatal Programming of Love, Joy and Happiness
- The Heart - The Central Hub for All Development
- Module Six Comprehension Quiz
- Module Six Comprehension Project
- Module Seven Overview
- Module Seven Learning Objectives
- Module Seven Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Seven Quiz Print Out
- Born by Surrogate: New Paths to Parenthood
- Surrogate Abortion Battle
- Eggsploitation
- Surrogacy with Dominique Yarritu, MA, LMFT, PhD Candidate
- Surrogacy, the Baby's Perspective with Esteban Molina
- Attachment and Adoption with Michael Trout
- Sharing Space To Be or Not to Be: Prenatal Origins of the Existential “Yes” v. the Self Struggle
- Baby-Bonding for Non-Gestational Parents: How You're Ahead Of The Curve And Don't Even Know It
- How In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Affects Babies and Children
- Core Isolation in Prenates, Babies, Children, and Adults
- An Interview: Advocating for Queer Birthing Family Safety by Employing Inclusive Terminology in Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum
- New Fashioned Families: An Investigation of Bonding with Families Created Using Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy
- Module Seven Comprehension Quiz
- Module Seven Comprehension Project
- Module Eight Overview
- Module Eight Learning Objectives
- Module Eight Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Eight Quiz Print Out
- The Sacred Sojourn of the Unborn
- A History of the Theory of Prenatal Attachment
- The Tie that Binds
- Mother-Infant Bonding and the Intelligence of the Heart (8:14)
- Conscious Communication and Effects on Imprinting with Prenatal Bonding
- Bonding, Brain, Intelligence & PLAY
- About the Impact of Prenatal Bonding (BA) in the Prevention of Postpartum Mood Disorders
- Module Eight Comprehension Quiz
- Module Eight Comprehension Project
- Module Nine Overview
- Module Nine Learning Objectives
- Module Nine Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Nine Quiz Print Out
- Undisturbed Birth: Nature’s Blueprint for Ease and Ecstasy
- Revisiting the management of term breech presentation: a. proposal for overcoming some of the controversies
- Revisiting: The Sentient Prenate: What Every Parent Should Know
- Evidence on: The ARRIVE Trial and Elective Induction at 39 Weeks
- Association of peripartum synthetic oxytocin administration and depressive and anxiety disorders within the first postpartum year
- Breech Birth at Home
- Fetal Awareness of Maternal Emotional States During Pregnancy
- The Benefits of Reading to Baby in the Womb
- Life in the Womb by Peter Nathanielsz
- Simple Tools for Mothers - Karen Strange
- Effect of Antenatal Expression of Breast Milk at Term in Reducing Breast Feeding Failures
- Perspectives on Violence
- The Mother-Friendly Initiative
- The Elephant in the Birthing Room
- Spiritual Midwifery with Ina May Gaskin
- Wired for Stress: How Maternal Mental Health Shapes Fetal Development
- Pregnancy Dialogues™ Facilitator Training
- What is the Future of Birth? A Talk with John Wilks, MA RCST BTAA and Anna Verwaal, RN, CLE
- Module Nine Comprehension Quiz
- Module Nine Comprehension Project
- Module Ten Overview
- Module Ten Learning Objectives
- Module Ten Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Ten Quiz Print Out
- The Influence of Birth Trauma on the Physical and Emotional Well-Being of the Baby
- Research on: Music & Breastmilk
- Prenatal Bonding (BA) as a Breakthrough in Improving Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Outcomes
- Welcoming Babies: Challenges and Opportunities in the Hospital Setting
- Infant Trauma and the Impact on Breastfeeding
- How Birth Trauma Affects Breastfeeding and How Breastfeeding Can Heal Birth Trauma
- The Amazing Talents of your Newborn (29:50)
- Kangaroo Mother Care with Nils Bergman (Two Videos) (79:58)
- Module Ten Comprehension Quiz
- Module Ten Comprehension Project
- Module Eleven Overview
- Module Eleven Learning Objectives
- Module Eleven Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Eleven Quiz Print Out
- The Nine Principles of Conscious Early Parenting
- Attuned Conception: Secret Gateway to New Humanity
- Transforming Parenting: From Traditional Methods to Conscious Practices for Raising Emotionally Secure Children
- What is a Secure Attachment? And Why Doesn’t “Attachment Parenting” Get You There?
- Consciousness Parenting Seen through the Lens of Pre and Perinatal Psychology
- How to be a Conscious Parent | Dr Shefali Tsabary
- We Need to Change the Conversation About Fathers | Anna Machin
- Understanding Biologically Normal Infant Sleep
- Building and Enhancing Bonding and Attachment BEBA Retrospective Research Study
- The Science of Attachment: Biological Roots of Love
- Optimal Attachment
- Mirror Neurons
- Circle of Security - Building Secure Attachment
- Module Eleven Comprehension Quiz
- Module Eleven Comprehension Project
- Module Twelve Overview
- Module Twelve Learning Objectives
- Module Twelve Required & Suggested Reading
- Module Twelve Quiz Print Out
- Interview with Dr. Wendy Ann McCarty
- Being with Newborns: An Introduction to Somatotropic Therapy® Attention to the Newborn: Healing Betrayal, New Hope for Prevention of Violence
- Ingram Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Children and Adults Who Suffer Anxiety Due to Prenatal and Birth Trauma
- How to Access Early Memories and Change Your Life
- Helping Parents, Children, and Adults Heal from Birth Trauma
- Recognising Birth Trauma Behaviours in Infancy & Later Childhood
- Treating Cesarean Birth Trauma During Infancy and Childhood
- An Introduction to Havening: The Magic of Healing in Your Hands with Alison Shaloe and Ellynne Skove
- The Use of Perinatal Music to Decrease the Stress Response and Promote Health
- Music for Infants and Children
- Sound Healing
- The Mother’s Womb: Wisdom for Prenatal Bonding
- Heartfulness Womb Cleaning
- Skin-to-skin 'kangaroo care' found to boost neurodevelopment in preemies
- Kangaroo care for the preterm infant and family
- Transpersonal Dimensions in Healing Pre/Perinatal Trauma with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
- Treating the Trauma of Abortion
- CranioSacral Therapy for Birth Healing and Resolution Resolving
- How Prenatal and Perinatal Experiences Reverberate Throughout a Person’s Life
- Prenatal Bonding (BA) What, When, How, and Why
- Healing and Resolving: Babies Repatterning their Birth Imprints (40:44)
- Bonding Repair Therapy & Asthma: A Revolutionary Approach to Healing
- Module Twelve Comprehension Quiz
- Module Twelve Comprehension Project
- Optional Enrichment Activity | "Lifeline" Exploration
Hear from PPNE Graduates
All people in the course are so lovely and PPNE wisdom and knowledge are settling in my heart and in my mind and in my body. This program has been such an enjoyable experience. I want to thank you all the heartfelt people behind this program. I have been inspired over and over and touched forever. I believe this program is such a beautiful co creation and connection! Sending my whole hearted love
This course has brought lots of changes in me and in my obstetrics practice. My life also changed, I feel more responsible, sympathetic, compassionate, committed, and more patient now. As an obstetrician, I can now take better care of womb ecology. Thank you for giving me the opportunity,and also giving me a depth of knowledge of our unborn angels. Thank you very much!
This program truly enriched & changed my life. The deep support and awareness about my own birth story and holding space for mamas and babies…. Wow! I’ve been waiting my whole life! Thank you APPPAH! Much Love and Gratitude.