The Basic Needs of Babies online course and workshop
is designed for parents-to-be and for parents, for curious grandparents, and educators, for health care workers and for midwives, doulas and birth attendants.
The intention of this offering is to explore the basic needs of newborns. When a baby elephant is born the entire herd slows down to the pace of the baby elephant. As the baby learns to walk the herd will slowly pick up the pace alongside the baby until the baby is able to match the pace of the adults.
This course is an opportunity to slow down, become more attuned with ourselves and as a result become more aligned with the basic needs of the newborn.
LEARNING TO LISTEN TO NEWBORNS
The Basic Needs of Babies online course
"The first hour of education is the hour after birth. From the moment the senses of the newborn child begin to receive impressions from nature, nature educates them. It takes great strength to be able to wait patiently for them to mature.” Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827)
What do we need to know about the newborn child?
Why should we protect babies?
What is the ‘cosmic task’ of the youngest humans?
What are their basic needs?
Earlybird price $425 - ends Oct. 6, 2027
$300 USD - online course self study
Registration opens in Sept 2026. Sign up on the Waiting list to have priority
Discounts for returning students - email us for more information
There are two options for this 6 month course:
Self study
The 6 month online course is at your own pace in the prepared environment for adults. This environment continues to grow as a new module is released every three weeks. The last month of this course is purely for continued exploration in the prepared environment. This option is available for you to begin at any time.
Online course + 9 workshops
The 6 month course & workshops has 9 live video workshop sessions which are limited to 15 participants. The workshop follows the same online content, format, and materials as the self study course. In the workshops, participants will be learning more about the environment inside themselves that promotes observation and sharing, listening and thinking.
From February to August 2027 - 7 PM SAST
The Prepared Environment opensJanuary 26, 2027
South African Standard Time does not have daylight savings time
2 Feb 2027: Introduction and Orientation (2 hours)
23 Feb: The Spiritual Embryo (1.5 hours)
16 March: Preparing the Observation Environment (1.5 hours)
6 April: Pioneers in Birth and Birthing (1.5 hours)
4 May: The Basic Needs of a Mother and Newborn (1.5 hours)
25 May: Newborn Behavioral Observation (1.5 hours)
15 June: The Neuroscience of Connection (1.5 hours)
29 June: Final Projects: Planning (1.5 hours)
31 August: Presentation of the Final Projects (2 hours)
Closing of the Prepared Environment 31 August, 2027
The third topic - pioneers of birth and birthingis about weaving together the lifework of pioneers in the field. Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Adele Costa Gnocchi (1883-1967), Frederik Leboyer (1918-2017), Michel Odent (b. 1930), Nils Bergman (b. 1955). What do these pioneers on birth say about what makes a positive experience for mothers and babies, and for society? What are their stories, backgrounds, and legacies?
The fourth topic- the basic needs of a woman in labor and a newbornis about what newborns and their mothers need. Montessori was talking about this as early as 1923. She described the environment in which mammals in nature give birth and how instincts guide a mother to protect her child from early experiences that could be harmful by remaining isolated and protected for both the birth and for a period of time after before rejoining the group. Today, Michel Odent talks about how important it is for humans to remember that we are mammals. He packs his arguments with science but also his own experience of more than 60 years working with birth.
The fifth topic- Newborn Behavioral Observationsis about looking at Berry Brazelton’s legacy as a pediatrician: his Newborn Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) for medical practitioners and the simplified version of Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) for professionals who work with new parents. “A baby’s behavior is his language ... and you can trust that language” means that becoming fluent in the language of behavior, gestures, movements (not just the different cries) allows us to understand the earliest non-verbal communications.
The sixth topic- the neuroscience of connectionis about looking at the science of attachment. Attachment to life is what we hope for each person and the power of connection is the force behind it. Birth trauma, separation trauma, medicalization trauma, and insecure attachment trauma... all of these can be overcome and healed. This may be the first step in ‘normalization’ - feeling loved and finding secure attachment. Neuroscience and attachment theory can now explain what happens in the brain as it develops, and what is needed for the child to develop secure attachment to mother, to family, and to life.
The first topic-the spiritual embryois about Maria Montessori and how she regarded the development of the spiritual embryo as the most significant phase of a person’s whole life. Anyone who comes into contact with the newborn and the child in the early years might be seen as being part of the “womb” that holds this embryo because of being in his or her environment. This means that those who touch the life of the smallest children have a great responsibility for their development.
The second topic - preparing the observation environmentis about how we can create 'a sense of place and belonging'. How do we enter a new experience, how do we receive others? How do we connect, crossing over a bridge to meet them where they are, and how do we offer ourselves as an observation environment? How can we witness feelings and thoughts? What does it mean to hold space, coming from the heart and how do we prepare ourselves for that? The themes are: connection, authentic relationships and being truly present for others: a pregnant mother-to-be, a newborn just coming into the world, a new father, but in reality, for anyone, including the relationship to oneself. How do we listen with all of our senses?
The final project - The final project: planning - How might you imagine culminating the work we have done over the last months and germinate an idea that can be taken out into the world? This workshop gives us a chance to think about this question, hear others' ideas and allow for things to shift and come into focus as we think about our ideas in a Thinking Environment.
Presentation of final projects- Five weeks later we will come back together to share the fruits of our ideas. We say goodbye and the environment closes.
1909 Montessori Course participants - Montessori is the first from the right in the second row. Adele Costa Gnocchi attended
Karin Slabaughis an independent researcher for the history of birth to three Montessori in Italy. She studied with Dr. Silvana Montanaro and obtained an AMI 0-3 diploma in 2004. In 2012 Karin studied with Grazia Honegger Fresco (1929-2020) in her final 0-3 course. Grazia was in the first 0-3 course in 1948/49 and then studied with Maria Montessori in the final Italian 3-6 course in 1951. Karin moved to Italy in 2016 where she offered a Montessori 0-6 months course to nurse midwives working in public healthcare. She continues to work with two of Adele Costa Gnocchi's students who attended the original 0-3 diploma course in Rome and who worked for many years with newborns and mothers. Karin found Maria Montessori through her book "Education and Peace" and was inspired by the idea that by respecting the basic needs of children they internalize respect and they are more peaceful because they are at peace with others and with themselves. This, she then found out, is true for the newborn baby as well.
Ruth Ehrhardtis a South African traditional midwife and birth attendant, educator, author, and founder of True Midwifery. She is the mother of four home-birthed children and the author of The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour, which has been translated into more than sixteen languages and is read by birth attendants and families around the world. Born into a family of midwives (her mother, grandmother, and aunt all attended births) Ruth's work is rooted in a living tradition that honours birth as a physiological, relational, and deeply human experience. In 2013 she completed the North American Registry of Midwives' Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) programme through the African pilot programme, an apprenticeship-based model that continues to inform her teaching. Ruth has an innate trust in birth, women's bodies, and babies' intelligence. Through her teaching, writing, and educational programmes, she focuses on protecting the conditions that allow physiological birth to unfold, rather than guiding or managing the birthing process. Today her work centres primarily on education through online courses, mentorship, study spirals, and retreats, supporting birth attendants, doulas, midwives, and families around the world.
