ONLINE, AND IN PERSON IN COLUMBIA, MISSOURI
Mind-body childbirth education for parents and birth professionals
Bringing the neuroscience of the mind-body connection to birth™
Nona Birth Education & Counseling is led by Erica Kroll, LPC, a perinatal therapist, prenatal yoga instructor, and retired doula who has taught mind-body childbirth education for over 25 years.
Childbirth education, prenatal yoga, and doula training grounded in the neuroscience of birth
Every Nona class and professional training teaches the same foundation: how the nervous system reads safety and threat, how that shapes the physiology of labor, and how you can influence that process.
The Neuroscience of Safety in Labor
Learn how the nervous system reads cues of safety and threat, and how that shapes the birth process.
Labor Physiology and the Mind-Body Connection
Explore how oxytocin, adrenaline, and pain perception respond to what the body reads in the room.
Nervous System Support for Birth
Learn labor support strategies for partners, doulas, and clinicians through a nervous system lens.
Nona classes have been trusted and recommended by midwives, OB/Gyns, and family practice providers for over 25 years.
“This is the only place I have full permission to just be pregnant. It is a glorious feeling.”
KRISTIN VETETO · NONA® PRENATAL YOGA & SUPPORT CLASS
“I’ve been to a lot of trainings in a lot of domains and this may be the best.”
EMORIE · NONA® BIRTH DOULA TRAINING
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING PROVIDED FOR
University of Missouri Women's & Children's HospitalBurrell Behavioral HealthBoone County Health DepartmentCallaway County Health Department
Childbirth education for parents, and professional trainings for doulas, yoga teachers, and clinicians
For parents
Birth Coherence™: Integrated Birth Preparation
A comprehensive, neuroscience-based course to help you understand how the mind, body, and support systems work together during labor and postpartum.
Learn more →Nona® Prenatal Yoga & Support Class
A six-week series that combines gentle, adaptive movement, deep relaxation, and guided discussion to help you prepare for labor and postpartum with confidence and connection.
Learn more →Birth Coherence™ Coaching
A private, individualized coaching process supporting nervous system regulation, embodied coping, and supportive communication through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Learn more →For professionals
Nona® Birth Doula Training & Certification
An online, self-paced doula training for new and experienced doulas seeking a unique and comprehensive mind-body framework for birth, including the original Nona models.
Learn more →Nona® Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training
Learn to teach the six-week Nona® Prenatal Yoga & Support curriculum: movement, mindfulness, childbirth education, and group support, taught as one whole. No yoga credential required.
Learn more →Applied Polyvagal Theory in Childbirth
Translates polyvagal theory into practical, observable skills for the birth room and the classroom, for doulas, educators, yoga teachers, and perinatal clinicians.
Learn more →THE FRAMEWORK BEHIND EVERY NONA PROGRAM
Birth Coherence™
“Birth unfolds in conversation between mind, body, and environment.”
Birth Coherence™ integrates the dynamic relationship between the mind, body, support, and environment, revealing how internal and external systems continually influence one another during birth.
Birth Coherence™ is taught in Nona childbirth education classes for expectant parents and in professional trainings for doulas, prenatal yoga teachers, and clinicians. Parents, partners, and professionals each have a role, and each can learn and prepare for it.
Learn MoreFor parents
Birth is a process that is in part shaped by how the mind, body, and environment interact. Birth Coherence™ gives language and structure to that process. It helps parents see where they have meaningful influence: how to work with their body, how to communicate their needs, and how to create conditions that support the experience they hope to have.
For partners
Tone of voice, facial expression, and physical proximity all influence how the birthing person's nervous system responds. Birth Coherence™ gives partners a way to participate with intention, noticing what brings steadiness and connection.
For professionals
A framework that integrates physiology, psychology, and environment. It helps professionals recognize how safety is communicated through nervous system cues.
About Erica Kroll, LPC, perinatal therapist and birth educator in Columbia, Missouri
Nona Birth Education & Counseling is led by Erica Kroll, LPC, RYT E-200, RPYT, a licensed perinatal therapist, prenatal yoga instructor, and retired doula. She has taught childbirth education and trained birth professionals for over 25 years, and has provided professional education for hospitals, health departments, and behavioral health organizations.
Perinatal counselingNEWS FROM NONA
Class dates, trainings, and the occasional birth insight
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