BINI Birth Aims to Educate, Enlighten New Parents

Ana Paula Markel had navigated her way through the fashion industry, through mainstream societies across the globe, and into a successful marriage.

But she was clueless in navigating motherhood.

“In this journey of becoming a mother in America, I really started to feel that there wasn’t a lot of community-based opportunities for new moms,” Markel said. “You kind of had to figure things out on your own.”

Now, Markel is making sure that the map through motherhood is easily traversed.

Markel is the founder of BINI Birth in Sherman Oaks, a support and education center for new families and birth professionals. Couples participate in classes and workshops that examine different birthing methods, breastfeeding techniques, and baby care, among other areas.

BINI Beginnings

Markel, a native of Brazil, moved to America with her husband over a decade ago. Upon her relocation, she began researching the process of childbirth, soon accepting the fact that she was significantly uninformed regarding motherhood.

“I had no idea what my body could and could not do,” said Markel, whose early professional background was in the fashion industry. “That’s why I feel like the BINI clients are a really good reflection of me. They’re usually very educated, successful women, but they don’t know how their bodies work or how their baby’s bodies work.”

Markel continued to educate herself in childbirth, and became a certified doula and childbirth educator. She began teaching classes for women in her living room in 2001.

“When I started this, I created no business plan and had no financial goal,” Markel said. “A lot of it was volunteer work and it was just to help other moms.”

“Once I discovered all of this information, I felt very empowered and happy, and I just wanted to keep sharing the word,” Markel added.

Luckily for Markel, she had a husband who valued personal space.

Class numbers continued to rise for Markel, and her husband insisted that they find a new, larger location. Markel rented a loft in North Hollywood in which to hold her workshops, but once again, class sizes overwhelmed the small space.

So, in April of 2012, Markel moved her business to the Pondella Building at 13749 Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks.

BINI Covers Its Bases

During her journey as an educator, Markel says that she has met a number of influential and knowledgeable women, one of which is environmentalist Rachel Myers.

Myers is the founder of Green Hugs, a company that aims to teach parents what choices are healthy for their children and their family, from food to skin products. 

And it was Myers’ idea that in addition to offering classes at BINI Birth, Markel should also incorporate a retail aspect, making for a more comprehensive experience for families.

“We felt that bringing a retail space here to BINI instead of sending people other places with maybe one or two options, it would be beneficial to them,” Myers said. “So we created an eco-baby boutique here to really help people create a healthy nest.”

“I met Rachel and she was very strong in the area of conscious shopping,” Markel said. “And I thought that made complete sense because everyone likes to shop. But it feels good to shop for something that’s good for our families, and you’re supporting family-owned, local business.”

Now, Myers, who teaches a baby care class with green nesting tips, assists Markel with the retail component of the business, as well as operates Green Hugs from within BINI Birth.

“I’m passionate about helping people figure out what are the healthy alternatives to all the traditional things you would have in your home and in your nursery,” Myers said. “I strongly feel that as parents-to-be, a lot of times there are so many things that we think we can’t live without. But really, there are so many things we shouldn’t be living with.”

Birth is Intimate, Normal, and Individual

The name ‘BINI’ derives from the Italian term for ‘baby,’ which is ‘bambini,’ but it also serves as an acronym: Birth is Intimate, Normal, and Individual.

And according to Markel, BINI Birth is more than anything, a forum to promote individuality.

“Everything we do, with retail and in the classes or the philosophy of birth, is about options,” Markel said. “We don’t believe there is a right or wrong, there is different. And different is good.”

“I think one of reasons we keep growing is we embrace everyone’s choices.”

In addition to baby care classes, BINI Birth also offers courses in childbirth, breastfeeding, doula training, hypnobirthing, becoming a new mother, cloth diapering, infant CPR, and mother and baby yoga.

As a special added bonus, Markel will often bring in professionals from different countries and local professionals to share their thoughts on the challenges of parenthood and the child birthing process.

“We’ll have a midwife from a different country come in and share how they do it in their country, and then we’ll have a physician from Cedars-Sinai come in and share how they do it,” Markel said. “Sometimes we see similarities and sometimes, it’s completely opposite. But we appreciate all these differences.”

Catherine Williams, a friend of Markel and an onsite midwife at BINI Birth, says that the community of parents that attend classes and shop at BINI Birth has become a joyous experience.

“Being here, it has just been wonderful to be a part of this community,” Williams said. “I feel like what we’re providing here is just much more comprehensive care. And this community, it’s just completely reenergizing.”

“People have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic, just to find all these services in one place,” said Sarah Gallop, who does PR for BINI Birth in addition to being a longtime friend of Markel. “Motherhood can be such an isolating experience, so it really is a community for people to come together and make lifelong friends and have a place that they trust.”