...The Spring, or source that continues
and passes on wisdom to future generations.

TARA Baby Clinics

Join TARA Approach founder Stephanie Mines, Ph.D. and Darcy Kamin, RN to learn the skills that optimize your child's experiences of confidence, courage and wellbeing. Explore patterns of thought, emotion, sensation and behavior in you, your family, and your children. Choose the healthiest patterns that result in secure attachment, vital and appropriate social engagement and cooperation. Parenting from within includes understanding the relationship between your own developmental experiences and your interactions with your children. Participate in a stimulating educational environment and develop safe and effective resources to empower and strengthen your capacities to connect authentically with yourself and your family members. Community talks are open to parents and lap babies. The family clinics are open to parents and children of all ages but family sessions must be scheduled in advance. These programs are ongoing, check the classes page of our website for details.For registration, information and directions contact Darcy Kamin, RN: 303-447-2609.

PUNAHELE ~ An Educational Program to Prevent Birth Trauma and Shock

NEW UPDATES:

• Available right now are programs from the PUNAHELE Gathering and Summit
  (visit our bookstore for details)
• PUNAHELE MISSION STATEMENT
• ARTICLES: Beneficial Bonding and Energy Medicine in the Womb
• PUNAHELE DVD'S
• PUNAHELE GUIDE FOR THE BIRTHING COMMUNITY HANDBOOK
• PUNAHELE SUMMIT RESOURCE GUIDE
• CD'S: Neurochemistry of Love and The Prenatal Origins of Personal Truth
• PUNAHELE GATHERING and SUMMIT Post Conference update

The Vision of Punahele

In every hospital there is a family birthing unit. Administrative systems and technology have evolved to make the delivery of services for mothers in labor and their newborn efficient. However, a family birthing unit is much more than a collection of procedures. The family birthing unit is a spiritual center. It is the heart of the hospital. People who staff the family birthing unit are stewards for souls arriving on this earthly plane after a long and arduous journey. By teaching family birthing unit staff and other care providers how to prevent birth trauma and shock for newborns and their families, Punahele intends to empower the children of the future. In so doing, hospital costs are reduced significantly as the number of emergency procedures decrease.

Punahele Inspiration Malaika Garrison

Punahele is an Educational Program

The curriculum includes:

• The story of embryological unfolding and organogenesis.
• The identification of times when shock is most likely to occur prenatally at birth.
• Identification of the immediate post-natal needs of mother and child.
• Simple and non-invasive treatment interventions to prevent shock and nurture development.
• Effective ways to resolve shock quickly when it does occur.

Punahele also educates-the entire family. Simple energy medicine treatment is translated into self-care that mother, father, siblings and extended family members can use.

Pre- and Post- Natal Education

In addition to educational services for care-providers, PUNAHELE is committed to pre-and immediate post-natal education for mothers and families. PUNAHELE links with agencies and organizations that serve those preparing for pregnancy, expectant families and families with newborns. This education focuses on energy medicine treatment that nourishes embryological development and early life and seeks to prevent shock and trauma.
Changes in Family Birthing Unit Procedures to Prevent Shock
Punahele envisions shock-free family birthing units in hospitals world-wide. The following conditions will support this vision:

• Lights in the delivery room dimmed so as not to startle the newborn who has been accustomed to the twilight environment of the womb.
• Mother and baby are not separated, unless it is critical for life. Baby is placed on mother's belly immediately after delivery and remains with mother
• Father and siblings are included in the birth process.
• The umbilical cord is not cut until it has completely stopped pulsing.
• The natural process of birth is not obstructed except for life-saving interventions
• The use of forceps is avoided except when delivery is not achieved with less traumatic Interventions.
• Non-invasive interventions to support labor are substituted for chemical stimulants that interfere with the natural initiation of birth.
• The baby is washed and tested after mother and baby bond.

In-hospital training-includes education about preventing shock in the delicate immediate post-natal period.

The History of Punahele

As a result of over twenty-five years of clinical research in the treatment of shock and trauma, Stephanie Mines, Ph.D. concluded that preventing shock prenatally and at birth is the most effective way to stop the transmission of violence to the next generation. Newborns must be protected from shock and trauma in the womb and at birth. Dr. Mines demonstrates the importance of this in her book: We Are All in Shock (Career/New Pages, 2003). The Punahele program was launched with initial training for family birthing unit staff on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2002. Nurses are currently collecting data from their application of treatment skills. They will be participating in an ongoing training series. Outreach to other organizations serving pregnant women and their families continues in Hawaii and elsewhere.

Funding

Punahele is sponsored by the Dom Project, a non-profit organization. Since its inception in 1992, the Dom Project, through the TARA Approach for the Resolution of Shock and Trauma, has provided training to:

• Care providers for the AIDS community in the United States and Mexico
• Agencies serving survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse, including children
• Parteras (midwives) in rural Mexico.

Private funders and foundations aligned with the Punahele vision contribute to this unique project, and you can too. There are several ways you can participate:

• If you are a nurse or a care-provider in the field of pregnancy, prenatal health or birthing you can attend a Punahele training program;
• You can sponsor a presentation about the Punahele vision in your hospital, organization or facility that serves families and children;
• You can make a tax-deductible contribution to the Dom Project (a 501.c.3 organization) to support Punahele.

THE MARCH PUNAHELE GATHERING AND SUMMIT ON THE BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII initiated a dramatic increase in awareness about what each one of us can do to end the lineage of violence. The entire community of participants and presenters agreed that civilization is at a turning point. The twofold thrust of the summit's mission is:

If you want to be involved in the follow-through efforts that will make the vision of PUNAHELE a reality, please contact Stephanie Mines (PUNAHELE founder).

The message posted below is the one that was sent to all the PUNAHELE participants, and we share it with you here so that you can be aware of where we are going and what we are doing. A great enthusiasm for change has been propagated at PUNAHELE. Your heartfelt engagement to benefit the children of the future is welcome.

We are, of course, seeking funds to allow us to fulfill our mission. The development and distribution of a brochure informing families about toxins and how to avoid them needs financial support, as does the Child Protection Act, and all our other stated goals. Donations are completely tax deductible. Please make your checks payable to the Dom Project, the 501.c.3 non profit sponsor of the TARA Approach and PUNAHELE. If you would like to contribute using your credit card or through stock transfers or any other form, please call our business office. MAHALO NUI LOA for joining your heart with ours. Civilization IS at a turning point. What we do determines the outcome. Blessings, Stephanie Mines

Bob Yuhnke and Stephanie Mines, organizers of Punahele

..more pictures from the Punahele Conference

Didn't participate in the conference? You may still read about what took place here.

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