As coaches with The Baby Decision, we understand that this important life choice may be keeping you up at night — and it may seem as if you’re constantly swinging between yes and no. We also understand that you and your partner, if you have one, may not be in agreement. Our Baby Decision-making coaching is personalized for you, and will guide you to the decision that is right for you!
First, we start with a free 15–20-minute call — usually with Merle Bombardieri — to talk about your needs and how The Baby Decision Coaching sessions may help you.
Then if you are interested, you will join our streamlined Smart Start Program: three strategically designed sessions that calm your panic, smash your incorrect assumptions, and help you get started on steps that will lead you to an answer!
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Smart Start sessions
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If you choose to participate in The Baby Decision Smart Start Program, here’s what you can expect with each session:
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Step 1: Story Discovery
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Your current struggles with the parenthood decision likely sit in the middle of the story of your life. In this 90-minute Story Discovery session with TBD Coach Vanessa Bombardieri, you will identify the chapters of your life so far, including plot points and characters that contribute to your decision success or block it. For example:
Megan’s plot points include: vowing to be childfree as a teenager; meeting her partner, who wants to have a child; falling in love with a newborn niece; and learning that recent fertility tests suggest that she should try soon if she decides to have a baby. The characters in her story, in addition to herself, are her partner, friends and family who may pressure her to have a child and/or discourage her.
As you and Vanessa identify and play with the elements of your own story so far, you will work together to formulate questions to address in the subsequent sessions. This first session provides a springboard for telling your story in a way that facilitates goal setting. Possible discoveries during this first session include:
- Realize that you want to be childfree but are looking to find more confidence in this decision.
- Figure out if you are really attracted to parenthood or if you are primarily trying to please your partner.
- Discover that you’ve already decided to be a parent but are too scared of pregnancy to call it a choice.
Step 2: Launching your discovery journey
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In this 50-minute session your coach will work with you to answer the questions you formulated in Step 1, recommend exercises from The Baby Decision or invent tailor-made exercises for you and offer you food for thought including relevant books, podcasts or websites.
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Step 3: Making a plan and starting the journey
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This 50-minute session will preferably take place two weeks after Step 2 to give you time to work on the exercises. We will discuss your reactions to the exercises, give you our preliminary sense of your leanings. You’ll tell us whether our thoughts resonate with you. If they don’t, you’ll set us straight on where you are. Then we’ll set goals and strategies for continuing our work together.
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Optional steps beyond:
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If you would prefer to work with a therapist or continue working on your own, you’ll still be able to benefit from our recommendations. After completing the Smart Start Program, most of our clients decide to continue with us, typically meeting every two to three weeks. Clients often come for 7-10 sessions beyond the Smart Start Program. Please note, if you and your partner are disagreeing on whether or not to have a child, the typical time for resolution is in the 12 to 15 session range.
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On coaching:
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Please note, coaching is different from therapy. We consider it to be educational and action oriented. We work with you to focus specifically on your parenthood decision-making journey. While we do gather information from your past that may be an important factor in making your choice, we do not treat mental health disorders. That being said, our work can often compliment what you may already be working on in therapy.
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How we work together:
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Vanessa and Merle are a mother-daughter coaching team. We have different specializations and focus areas. With your permission, we will share information about your sessions with one another and brainstorm a personalized plan to bring you and your partner, if you have one, to clarity. We will work together to create a plan that uses the most efficient techniques and approaches to streamline your baby decision-making journey.
After your discovery session, Merle and Vanessa will meet to discuss the best plan for you and recommend the coach we believe will be the best fit. However if you have a strong preference for one of us, we will offer you the opportunity to make a request after Step 1, Story Discovery.
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Pricing and questions:
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For our current coaching session rates, see our Pricing page.
Questions? Please do not hesitate to reach out to us — either via our Contact Page form, or at babydecision@gmail.com or by calling 917-703-9144.
