SNAG YOUR SEAT FOR SUMI’S TOUCH
Traditional Birth Worker
Part Two Immersion
this advance skills training is a 10 day immersion to focus on integration and embodiment supporting both the practical and sacred aspects of this work.
“I have been dreaming up this “training” for years now. I say “training” because truly it is so much more than that. This is a ceremony, an initiation into authentic traditional sovereign birth work.”
-Sumayyah Franklin
UPCOMING DATES
ABOUT THIS TRIP
Come Join us for a 10 day immersion to focus on integration and embodiment supporting both the practical and sacred aspects of Birth work. WHO BETTER TO TRAIN WITH THEN SUMI?! If you don't know you better ask somebody:
"I have come to 3 different immersions and taken Sumi's online training twice. Why? Because it is so rich with wisdom and information. The immersions have literally changed the entire way that I approach birth work, but also how I mother, how I love myself, and how I see liberation and healing for our people. Sumi is a wise and skillful teacher and I am forever grateful that I have been gifted the opportunity to sit at this young elders feet" -- Mama D
We are the first training for PEOPLE OF COLOR ONLY in traditional birth work! 🥳🥳🥳 We have trained thousands of students since 2015.
Come see what all the fuss is ALL about! Answer what is calling you, and has been for a while maybe! Come experience these RICH cultures and breath taking landscapes! If there was a Disney World for birth workers, THIS TRAINING WOULD BE IT! We will be staying in the most luxurious and breath taking accommodations. You will not only be learning about sacred birth work practices but also waking up to the sound of the waves, enjoying traditional foods, going to traditional ceremonies led by indigenous elders, and over all being transformed in real time!
If you missed any of our world renowned immersions in the past you NOW have a chance to redeem yourself! Exchange the hustle and bustle of your day to day life for deep community connection, gorgeous beaches and the perfect tropical weather for 10 full days! Each cohort walks in as strangers and walks away as family!
Join our one of our advanced skills immersion today!!!
Your registration includes all of your meals, beautiful luxury accommodations, travel agent support, child care, ground transportation to and from the airport, materials and supplies, and all entry fees in one upfront price. You will only have to buy your plane ticket and any other transportation needs like a passport.
It's time for you to choose YOU and to do so amongst a beautiful landscape with beautiful people!
WHAT PEOPLE CAN EXPECT
Our 10 day immersion is an advanced skills training that focuses on integration and embodiment for new and seasoned birth workers alike. We will cover many topics and skills regarding supporting both the practical and sacred aspects of birth work.
It took me almost a decade to birth this “training” into existence. I say “training” because truly it is so much more than that. This is a ceremony, an initiation into authentic traditional sovereign birth work. This is an advanced skills training that focuses on the most sacred aspects of this work. You will learn through your body not your brain. While you will have plenty of opportunity to take notes, this is about embodying the medicine and the skills. I will use my body to teach you all and you each will do the same. Everything we learn will be practiced on one another so come prepared to give and receive.
This immersion is intended for birth workers who are seeking to:
Deepen their understanding of holistic practices regarding holding space, body work, energy work, herbs, and nutrition
Practice the hands on tactile skills like massage and comfort measures with an expert
Build community and kinship in an intentionally intimate setting
Step into the birth worker that they know they are meant to be
Gain confidence in engaging with clients, conducting appointments, attending to clients, and uplifting their work in their community
Over the course of the 10 days you will walk in curious and walk away transformed! This is an initiation into the birth worker that you have dreamed of being. This a sacred remembrance that will support you in activating what is lying dormant in your DNA ready to emerge!
We will cover 4 pillars:
The Art of Holding Space
Tactile Support
Ceremony
Herbs and Nutrition
Each day, we will focus on each pillar and move through how they relate to our own self care/community care, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. This isn't a lecture based teaching experience. Instead, I will be incorporating story telling, role playing, demonstrations, and our bodies throughout our time together. I am extremely intentional about how I deliver this curriculum. This isn't a carbon copy, cut and paste outline. That's not how I learned to be a birth worker, therefore it's not how I teach. This is a peak behind the curtain of traditional midwifery and a bridge for those who wish to matriculate into midwifery.
If you have been feeling lost, lonely, burnt out, overwhelmed, or under appreciated, this is for YOU.
If you have built your practice but it's not sustainable, this is for YOU.
If you cant figure out your footing in the birth world and feel like you're shooting in the dark, this is for YOU!
If you can no longer remember your why....Then this is for YOU!
I look forward to holding space for the birth worker that I already know you are meant to be!
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to us at hello@sumistouch.com .
CAN I BRING MY CHILD OR MY PARTNER?
This immersion is a family-centered experience rooted in the understanding that our children and our partners are an integral part of our work. One of the distinctions of traditional birth work is that it is rooted in community and family. That doesn't mean only those who we serve, but our own. This is why I can't even fathom not having my own family present and inviting yours to come as well.
I am teaching you all while I am gestating my children, nursing my children, caring for my children. Taking pauses to settle them or tend to a "boo-boo". Ensuring we have enough time in the mornings so we can get them all settled for the day. Having extra time mid day to put them down for nap time. Ending the day at a reasonable hour so that we can do bed time routine with them.
Children are not simply allowed here; they are welcomed, honored, and intentionally included.. We will be practicing allo-parenting. This is a communal approach where the caretaking of children is shared amongst the adults. So not only will I ensure my children are fed but yours, too.
I have curated a loving, nature-centered children's curriculum where little ones can explore, learn, and be guided by skilled caretakers who understand the importance of coregulation, gentleness, and play.
Each day, your child will engage with:
🌱 Nature-based activities
📚 Local culture, language, and history
🎨 Creative and sensory play
🤍 Warm, grounded care that feels like family
The children will remain onsite with us so we can be close, connected, and at ease unless you choose to join any adult-only activities. There are two adult centered activities during our time together:
Temezcal ceremony (You can choose to have your children accompany you at your discretion)
Cenote and Pyramids (The Children are more than welcomed but you may decided to leave them with the care takers at your discretion)
This is a space where you can drop into your own transformation, knowing your child is held, and truly living their best life!!
And for the partners…
Well, my beloved will be leading a Sacred Men’s Retreat for them. He is an experienced facilitator and integration coach that focuses his work on mens healing and mental health. In addition to joining us, they will have some off-site experiences designed specifically for men to connect, explore, and expand. The men will travel on excursions throughout Yucatan, discovering the land from their own vantage point, honoring the masculine journey of returning home to self, purpose, and ancestral land.
Our partners need to be in proximity and integrated into our work. Often, they too have work to do that is complimentary and adjacent to the space we hold. The immersion is intended to pour deeply into not just you but your entire family.
Your children and your partner will walk away changed, too. We aren't only called to this work but our families are, too! The medicine of traditional birth work is for the entire family, the whole community.
If your partner would like to learn more about the men's retreat please feel free to reach out to my partner, Guled, via thesagechannel@proton.me
Hear From Our Immersion Alumni
Itinerary
DAY 1 Activities
Pick up from airport or meeting spot
Arrival to immersion location
Dinner
Rest and unwind
DAY 2 Activities
Gentle start
Plant dieta 1
Introductions & overview
Grief circle
Listening to our inner beings, intuition and dreams
DAY 3 Activities
welcoming ceremony
aItar building
boundaries and self-preservation
shame, vulnerability, and trust
grounding, smudging, cloaking
intuitive movement flow
DAY 4 Activities
prenatal inquiries, consultations, and prenatal appointments
consent and trauma informed care
herbal infused massage oil
prenatal massage + palpating
(This will be partially in transit to Afiki, oil infusion + massage after lunch n rest/refresh)
DAY 5 Activities
the blessing way (rebuild altar + make offerings to water + swim)
Plant dieta 2
herbs + homeopathy for labor
comfort measures
(Why??? ^^^ these elements may come at the end of pregnancy in preparation for labor and during)
DAY 6 Activities
birth story debrief & integration
reading the energetics of labor
birth as a ceremony
non-cervix centered care - baby position + station
DAY 7 Activities
food as first medicine
prepared postpartum
feeding fundamentals
the postpartum container
postpartum herbs & homeopathy
postpartum massage
DAY 8 Activities
plant dieta 3
moxa
abdominal wrapping
pelvic steam
postpartum bath
postpartum closing of the bones
DAY 9 Activities For The Day
each student gives and receives a closing ceremony
rest & integration
DAY 10 Activities For The Day
continued closing ceremonies
rest & integration
blessing of the hands
DAY 11 Activities For The Day
final reflections
departure
UPCOMING DATES
WHAT IS THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT LIKE?
Our learning environment is unlike anything you’ve experienced in a typical training. This immersion is slow, intentional, and deeply embodied. We prioritize integration over information, embodiment over memorization, and wisdom over worksheets.
You won’t be sitting in rows taking notes like a lecture. You will be in a circle, in your body, in relationship with one another. You will learn through practice, touch, presence, ceremony, and connecting the dots of our collective lived experiences. There is spacious time throughout each day to digest what you’re learning, breathe, rest, and integrate the teachings so they settle into your bones.
The immersion is centered in having opportunities for hands-on practice, to both give and receive tactile support, guidance, and feedback. You will be practiced on. You will practice on others. And you will feel the work in your body, not just in your mind. There will be dedicated space for questions, reflections, and personal check-ins with Sumi and other cohort participants so that you feel supported, grounded, and clear every step of the way. This is how real traditional birth work is passed on not through memorizing, but through becoming.
CHILDCARE DURING THE IMMERSION
Children are more than welcome and in fact they are essential to the work we are doing. It wouldn't be a Sumi's Touch gathering if the babies weren't present. Sumi is also a mother so her partner and children will be present. The cost for childcare is additional because we are partnering with powerful collaborators who will expose your children to land based creative projects, sensory play, culturally rooted music and storytelling, and more! Some indications of the price will be the child's age and specific needs. When registering you will fill out a form providing details of your childcare needs. After registration is complete we will reach out via email to schedule _a brief childcare consultation to discuss their needs. Confirmation of the additional rate will be sent via personal payment link in an email and must be payed before the trip's last payment installment.
“This is a training of doing..which is why I call it an immersion. We will be using each others bodies to practice giving a receiving every aspect of the curriculum.
Each participant should come prepared to touch various bodies and be touched by various people. It’s not only about learning the techniques needed to support your clients and loved ones but about embracing vulnerability, trust building, and surrendering. ”
-Sumayyah Franklin
WHO IS THIS TRAINING FOR
Doulas, Midwives, Birth workers, and anyone who works within any spectrum or capacity of reproductive health that seeks to deepen their understanding of traditional care practices for pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people.
People who are craving a decolonize approach that will support them in embodying the medicine and not simply “knowing”.
Anyone who is already well acquainted and has a solid foundation of pregnancy, birth, postpartum. (This is an advanced training and not intended for those just starting out)
People who are ready to learn in a communal setting that is intimate and intentionally connected.
People who agree that traditional midwifery is the golden standard of health care for the full spectrum of reproductive health experiences and wish to learn within this model of care to dismantle and challenge the medical care model.
Anyone who is ready to do the mirror work that is required to move from your higher self and not your wounded self.
People who are ready to sit with vulnerability in a profound and embodied way.
People who already have or wish to build a spiritual practice in their own lives and their practice as a birth worker.
People seeking to learn about ceremony, ritual, and spirit in birth work.
People seeking to learn from a traditional sovereign Black midwife
WHAT THE IMMERSION INCLUDES
Accommodations
Room & Board
Food
Workshops & Activities
Transportation
Your flight
Spending Money
Currency Exchange
Toiletries
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR
Your flight, having your own fund money/emergency fund money, navigating currency exchange cash, toiletries, transportation before or after the dates.
You are responsible for your own actions and energy during our time together. We'll be in a group setting and it is your responsibility for you to take care of your own needs so you can be present and show up as your most authentic self. Please keep in mind that we will be covering topics that may be activating and stimulating and unlike within our online training we will be witnessed by strangers at that. This may bring up moments of feeling extremely vulnerable so please be mindful of your tools, your capacity and your resources. You are also responsible to respectfully communicate any needs that come up before or during the retreat. Please note that we are curating an experience for the collective, this means that we will be working together to ensure that everyone feels safe, heard and seen. It is our highest intention that we also move with integrity, compassion and understanding.
Please read the community agreements closely when you secure your spot and are invited to complete a few forms upon registering.
We as birth workers prepare for a multitude of possibilities in holding the container of birth, so please consider the following as you commit to this act of healing and expansion for yourself:
Passport: is it up to date and clear of expiration for minimum of 6 months BEFORE departure for you and loved ones traveling with you?
Air travel: we have a travel agent for ease of consultation, but if you decide to book these on your own, please be mindful of what is required. You will be responsible to pay for your flight or travels round trip.
Once you pay your deposit we can make you a customized payment plan. For those who are fundraise and caring in community support, We encourage you to make a simple flier on canva, including ways folks can send you money and share your ask on social media and personal networks. If you choose a GoFundMe, Kickstarter, or some other platform, please calculate the fees associated with it and build that into your grand total ask.
UPCOMING DATES
FAQs
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Each participant should have a solid foundation of understanding of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Midwives, doulas who have experience, doulas who took a foundational training, and any other reproductive health practitioners.
This training will not teach you the basics but intends to deepen your skills regarding holding space, conducting appointments, tactile support, traditional healing modalities, herbalism, nutrition, and conducting ceremony.
If you are an aspiring birth worker then earn more about part 1 of my training which is introductory to full spectrum birth work here.
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Accommodations, Room & Board, Food, Workshops & Activities
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Your flight, having your own fund money/emergency fund money, navigating currency exchange cash, toiletries, transportation before or after the dates
You are responsible for your own actions and energy during the retreat. We be in a group setting and it is your responsibility for you to take care of your own needs so you can be present and show up as your most authentic self. Please keep in mind that we will be covering topics that may be activating and stimulating and unlike within our online training we will be witnessed by strangers at that. This may bring up moments of feeling extremely vulnerable so please be mindful of your tools, your capacity and your resources. You are also responsible to respectfully communicate any needs that come up before or during the retreat. Please note that we are curating an experience for the collective, this means that we will be working together to unsure that everyone feels safe, heard and seen. It is our highest intention that we also move with integrity, compassion and understanding.
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- Passports
- Currency exchange
- Importance of Having Pocket Money
- Navigating Group Dynamics
- Boundaries
- Acknowledging the Privileges We Hold When Traveling
- Honoring Where We Are Visiting
- The Level of Travel Experience We Are Curating -
See payment plan options above.
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When you invest in yourself, you are investing in the collective. The deposit is non-refundable because your monetary commitment is an act of devotion to the abundance, prosperity and intentional living that we are affirming for healers, wisdom keepers, and sacred entrepreneurs of all kinds. Your investment sustains the Sumi’s Touch Team (mothers of color, healers and creatives) and facilitates conscious discernment around where we are hosted, who is pouring their energy into our food, providing safe passage, etc.
If for some reason you are not able to attend the Part 2 Immersion you have selected due to unforeseen circumstances or you are more than 7 days late on a payment, your reservation will be given the next person on the waitlist. Up to $500 of any additional installments can be applied to a Sumi’s Touch Offering within one calendar year according to our discretion.
Just like in birth, when you know, YOU KNOW and divine order unfolds to support that knowing. We as birth workers prepare for a multitude of possibilities in holding the container of birth, so please consider the following as you commit to this act of healing and expansion for yourself:
- Passport: is it up to date and clear of expiration for 2024 for you and loved ones traveling with you?
- Visa + air travel: we have a travel agent for ease of consultation, but if you decide to book these on your own, please be mindful of what is required.
- Once you pay your deposit (50% of the total) we can adjust the payment plan to suit you. We encourage you to make a simple flier on Canva, including ways folks can send you money and share your ask on social media and personal networks. If you choose a GoFundMe, Kickstarter, or some other platform, please calculate the fees associated with it and build that into your grand total ask.
Please keep in mind that your registration fee does not cover personal items like toiletries, specialized snacks and/or supplements, extracurricular activities, alcoholic beverages, emergencies that may arise, accommodations to or from the airport outside of the allotted time frames, COVID test, personal transportation needs (I.g. To get COVID testing or to retrieve cash from an atm) or any other personal matter. Therefore please financially plan to have the resources available for your comfort and ease of mind.
For all inquiries please email us at hello@sumistouch.com