For English-speaking women · Cotacachi, Ecuador

The
Immersive
Program

Born with your elders' love.

9 days · in person March 2027 Cotacachi, Ecuador
Partera di Anaku — kneeling mother with a sahumador and an orange aura
Partera di Anaku — Andean mother, emblem of the project
Partera di Anaku
Directly from the source · Cotacachi
How this immersion was born

An alliance that crosses borders

In May 2026, Partera di Anaku traveled to New York City to share Andean postpartum rituals. There, a bond was woven between Martha Arotingo and Hannah — an alliance across territories and hearts.

This immersion was born from that union. Instead of carrying a fragment of the knowledge abroad, we open the path the other way — we bring you all the way to the source, to Cotacachi, to learn from Martha directly. No intermediaries.

Martha is an Andean midwife, herbalist and guardian of ancestral knowledge — heir to her mother Luzmila Morán's feminine lineage.

Hannah is a full-spectrum doula and cultural bridgebuilder who accompanies families across the childbirth continuum in New York, with a focus on reproductive justice and embodied care. Throughout the immersion she is your English bridge — holding space, translation and care.

Knowledge passed from mother to daughter — now, hand to hand, across borders.
In partnership with
How it works

Your path to the circle

Four gentle steps. No prior experience needed — only an open heart.

1

Send your application

Fill the short form below and tell us what calls you.

2

Clarity call

A free video call with Hannah to meet, answer questions and feel if this is your circle.

3

Reserve your place

A deposit holds your spot. From there we set a payment plan that fits you.

4

Prepare & arrive

We add you to a group chat, send prep notes, and welcome you in Quito.

The Immersive Program

Nine days, one immersion

A single, focused journey that weaves the body and the soul: midwifery practice with the cultural and spiritual richness of Cotacachi.

  • Uterine realignment — recognizing and realigning the womb to its place
  • Rebozo & Closing of the Bonesencaderado: wrapping and closing the body
  • Plant medicine — remedies, smudges and balms with Mama Mila
  • Midwifery workshop — pregnancy, birth and postpartum care
  • Ceremony — Andean temazcal, Lake Cuicocha, Pachamanca, Point Zero
  • Lodging — in welcoming community homes
  • All meals — every meal of the nine days
  • Airport transfer — group pickup from Quito (UIO)
See the full day-by-day →
The bigger why

Your place builds a birth house

This is the first Partera di Anaku immersion whose enrollment goes directly toward building the first birth house in Ecuador led by an Indigenous midwife — a living home for women's power and ancestral knowledge.

A birth house

Ecuador's first birth house directed by an Indigenous midwife — where women give birth held by their own lineage.

A center for women

A space for women's empowerment, rooted in territory, family and the feminine line.

A home for the knowledge

A center for the ancestral knowledge of midwifery and the Indigenous health system of northern Ecuador.

No intermediaries. Straight from the source.

The knowledge you'll keep

A story told hand to hand

Read it as a story — the practices the birth house is being built to keep alive, from the first touch of the hands to the final blessing. You didn't come to observe a course. You came to enter a lineage.

1
The kichwa midwife who carries the lineagepanel-01.jpg

You crossed borders to find her: the woman who carries the lineage in her hands.

2
Reading the pregnant belly with the handspanel-02.jpg

You watch her read a belly with her hands, and feel how little a book could teach you.

3
Preparing plant medicine in the potpanel-03.jpg

In the ravine you gather the plants with her. The pot remembers what the pharmacy forgot.

4
Accompanying the labouring motherpanel-04.jpg

Beside the labouring mother, you learn the first lesson: the hour cannot be hurried.

5
Receiving the newbornpanel-05.jpg

Then she guides your hands to the weight of the newborn. You thought you came to observe. You were being chosen.

6
Returning the placenta to the earthpanel-06.jpg

Together you return the placenta to the earth.

7
The first milkpanel-07.jpg

You witness the first milk: the first pact between two lives.

8
Carrying the baby closepanel-08.jpg

You learn to carry her close, the way these mountains always have.

9
Closing the mother's hipspanel-09.jpg

You close her bones, so she can rise again.

10
Giving thanks to the Pachamamapanel-10.jpg

And you give thanks to the Pachamama. You open your heart.

You'll carry this home in your hands. The birth house exists so the knowledge always has somewhere to return to — and someone to give it to.

For travelers from abroad

Coming from overseas?

Everything you need to plan the trip with ease. We take care of you from the moment you land.

✈️

Getting here

Fly into Quito (UIO). We pick you up — the group transfer to Cotacachi (about 1.5–2 hours through the Andes) is included.

🛂

Visa

Most travelers (US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia) enter visa-free for up to 90 days. Bring a passport valid 6+ months and proof of onward travel.

⛰️

Altitude

Cotacachi sits at about 2,420 m (7,940 ft). Arrive a day early to acclimatize, drink water and take the first day gently.

💉

Health

No yellow fever vaccine is required for the highlands (recommended only for Amazon trips). Check routine vaccines with a travel clinic.

🎒

What to pack

Layers for warm days and cool nights, a rain jacket, comfortable shoes, swimwear for the hot springs, a refillable bottle and any personal medicine.

💜

Money & care

Ecuador uses the US dollar. You travel and stay with the group the whole time; we guide you with normal travel good sense.

These details are accurate at the time of writing (June 2026). Visa and health rules can change — please confirm for your nationality with your nearest Ecuadorian consulate and a travel clinic before you book flights.

Some journeys you make with the body. Some with the soul. This one is both.

Martha Arotingo · Partera di Anaku

First step

Reserve your place

This form is the beginning of your path. We're not looking for a perfect résumé — only the right heart. After you send it, we'll set up your free clarity call.

Please enter your name

Please enter a valid email

Please enter your WhatsApp

Please tell us where you're based

What do you hope to live, learn or transform? There's no right answer — only yours.
0 / 900

Please tell us what calls you

Thank you, sister.

Your application came through. The next step is your free clarity call — choose the day and time that work best for you.

Book my clarity call →
Within a few days you'll also hear from us by WhatsApp or email to get to know each other and confirm your place.

info@parteradianaku.com