THIS ISN’T JUST A TRAINING….THIS IS A CALLING AND WE ARE COLLECTIVELY ANSWERING AND DEEPENING OUR INTIMACY TO THE MEDICINE.
This year we are celebrating 8 consecutive years of offering our training! We grew from my living room to training many all around the world! Now you have the opportunity to join one of the best.
Sumi's Touch full spectrum traditional birth worker training Part 1 is a 6 month virtual training intended to leave the participant with the information, skills, and confidence to support someone either as a professional or familial birth, loss, abortion and/ or postpartum support.
This course includes over 120+ hours of online course work that is divided into weekly modules. The curriculum is made fully by Sumayyah Franklin, and consists of educational videos, an exclusive podcast by Sumi with esteemed guest, a workbook journal for reflections and note taking, extensive resources, a private portal to network and connect with your cohort members, and study groups in case you need additional support or just want to connect with others on the path alongside you.
Wait…I’m Not Done:
You will also receive 6 months access to virtual circle, an exclusive online community of birth workers, sacred entrepreneurs, parents, and artist. We host various workshops throughout the month and you will be able to join in!
Still Not Done…
You will also have access to Sumi for one on one coaching at a major discount. Coaching is a great way to invest in your personal and professional growth. Sumi’s approach is holistic, spiritual, and relatable. Usually she offers packages that cost $$$$ but for all students and alumni you will have access to one off sessions for only $150!
For Waitlist Only:
So, you know how the saying goes....the early bird catches the worm! In this case the worm is a steep discount! Not only will you save $650 from the general admission price but you will also gain early access to virtual circle. This also means you will gain access to hundreds of others a part of the Sumi's Touch fam, because we truly are a fam! You betta ask somebody! As if that wasn't already enough, I truly listen to my students and prospective students, so I have added an extended monthly payment that is ONLY available with the early bird sign up! So act now and act fast because there are only a few seats available for this generous offer!
Gimme the waitlist (lowest) price!
Meet Your Trainer
I’m Sumayyah “Sumi” Franklin and I’m a traditional midwife, Mama, Healer, Business and life coach, and a master doula trainer/mentor. Since I was a small girl I knew I wanted to be a midwife. Throughout high school I binged on books and studied this sacred work any way I could. Shortly after high school, I went to a midwifery conference that changed my life! I met so many of who would become mentors, colleagues, and pillars on my path. By early college I was asked to support a dear friend of mine as her doula. Long story short, I missed her birth…BUT I gained so much embodied knowledge and I was more clear than ever that I was ready.
A few years later I moved to Ghana, west Africa. Although my intention was to wrap up my undergrad I found myself working at a birth center for the year that I lived there. Can you imagine how I felt when I returned? I was ready to further my studies and needed to figure out how. Throughout the next 5 years I studied with various midwives, traveled the world sitting at the feet of various midwives, worked as a volunteer midwife in Uganda, and slowly grew into the midwife I am today. For the past 7 years I have been working as a traditional midwife in my community. Early on in my studies I watched other midwives closely and saw how pervasive the medical structures are and how they have infiltrated midwifery, too. I made a commitment to seek out authentic, traditional, holistic midwifery as my protest to these structures and as a way to honor my ancestors and what was truly calling me. Now a days I have the pleasure of serving my community as a traditional midwife, mentoring and training new and experienced birth workers, coaching, and more than anything being a Mama.
Our philosophy:
~~ We believe that pregnancy, birth, miscarriage, and postpartum are all physiological processes that deserve support, tenderness, and sovereignty!
~~We believe that traditional birth work is a calling not a job.
~~ We believe that traditional birth workers are essential care providers that optimize the experience and outcome for pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people.
~~We do not believe that you need a training to practice as a birth worker, but rather a training is a great way to deepen your practice, obtain essential skills, and to build community. Additionally a training can see you years learning via experience alone.
~~ We believe that a resurgence of traditional midwifery model of care is essential in optimizing the reproductive experiences of Black ( and al) people.
~~We believe that each person should be able to determine who they wish to provide support for them during any and all reproductive experiences and that full informed consent, care, and collaborative decision making should be practiced always.
ARE YOU CALLING IN A COMMUNITY OF ALIGNED BIRTH WORKERS TO CONTINUE TO GROW DURING YOUR TRAINING AND BEYOND?
So you have decided that you are ready to say yes…but what’s the next steps exactly. Honestly, I never took a training and I don’t believe you need one in order to practice as a birth worker. BUT the advantages of taking a training is that you get to learn lessons that took me a decade, within moments or months. So often we reject support and guidance and convince ourselves that self-sacrifice and self-betrayal is strength. Im here to support you on your journey to feel held, seen, and resourced. Throughout the years we have trained over 1,000 people from all around the world. From our inception we have only training Black, indigenous, people of color. We have always centered the most marginalized and honor the legacy and resurgence of traditional midwifery. Why? Because a “doula” is a new word but a very ancient concept. They have convinced us that being a doula is where it stops but truly its a primal where it just begins. My training is a space for you to remember what that means for you, your community, and your lineage. The people who are drawn to this space that we all co-create together are dynamic, radical, spiritual, and serious as fuck about optimizing the reproductive experiences of Black, indigenous, and POC!