Browse through the presentation topics & descriptions below! Choose to attend whatever presentations you feel fits your needs the most. Categories include: advocacy, business, clinical, self care.
November 10, 11, 12, 2023
*Information subject to change
Mentor: Kristin Effland
Mentor: Sonal Patel
Mentor: Barbara Verneus
Are you a birth worker interested in learning the Afro-futuristic ways of healing, nourishing and supporting communities of the African Diaspora? This workshop will focus on: Balancing motherhood, maternal mental health and racial constructs contributing to adverse public health outcomes in the Black community. Thinking forward, building forward and moving forward with an Afro-futuristic approach for the collective as a whole.I created and first presented this workshop in the fall of 2019 and since then some areas have evolved. So consider this 2.0. This workshop is solely for those who identify as Black, Brown and/or Indigenous. When attending this workshop if possible come dressed in all white for ceremonial purposes.
Mentor: Demetra Seriki
Mentor: Hermine Hayes-Klein
US and global evidence is conclusive that healthcare systems have the best outcomes at the lowest costs when they ensure access to midwifery care in both the hospital and community settings. However, midwives continue to face barriers to practice, and pregnant people face barriers to midwifery care, in both hospital and out-of-hospital settings. This session will address some of the legal and regulatory challenges that midwives confront around the US, and how midwives can advocate for sustainable, integrated practices in all settings.
Mentor: Wantina Brooks-Roach
This presentation is designed for students and midwives who want to have greater compassion and understanding of the neurodiversity in midwifery.
Mentor: Lauren Smith & Sarah Lopez
Lauren is a community organizer from Colorado with a background in youth advocacy, abortion rights, and social work. While she originally pursued a STEM career, the spontaneous decision to intern with a civic engagement organization shifted her trajectory as she found a passion for racial and reproductive justice. As the Black Civic Engagement and Policy Manager for Soul 2 Soul Sisters and Elephant Circle, she organizes alongside her amazing team to advocate for the needs of her community every day, at the legislature, the ballot box, and beyond. Beyond this work, Lauren has a deep love for music and can often be found perusing record stores, buying concert tickets, and leading her Denver-based a cappella group. She is also a student at MSU Denver, studying to get her B.S. in Social Work.
Mentor: Tanya Wills
“Evidence based” and “patient centered” are the current dichotomous descriptors used to describe the standard of midwifery care. Few certification boards or medical institutions question this trend. But how does the evidence apply to this person right in front of me – if it even does? This talk will explore the barriers midwives face as they confront the dominance of the “evidence” and offer practical tools toward the goal of discerning “evidence informed individualized care”.
Mentor: Wendi Cleckner
Mentor: Kimberly Haines
Mentor: Dani LaVoire
Mentor: Amariee Collins
Midwives jobs are to take care of clients in the perinatal period. There are many issues when it comes to anyone doing something that they are unprepared to do and with little to know training and education. There is a need for assistance in entrepreneurship in all walks of life and midwifery is not different. We will look into how to start a small business according to your state and how to find that information, how to file for EIN, startup costs, budgeting and bookkeeping, and filing taxes. Understanding the basics of business can help to make life easier with an already unpredictable schedule. If you have already started your business these will be helpful tips to make business easier and if you are about to start your own business this should give a sturdy foundation.
Mentor: Leslie Cornwell
This session is about defining entrepreneurship, Identifying Opportunities, Creating a Business Plan Tips, Building a Strong Network, Financial Management and Funding, Marketing Strategies
Building a Winning Team, Overcoming Challenges and Failures, Ethical and Social Responsibilities of a Midwife.
Mentor: JaLisa Taylor
Info coming soon!
Mentor: Augustine Colebrook
This session is designed for midwives and midwifery students wanting to reduce their own liability, increase their patient satisfaction rate, and decrease their own stress levels in practice.
Mentor: Kesha Chiapanelli
There’s a need in the birth professional community for legal information relevant to the subject matter; midwives, perinatal coaches, and lactation counselors need subject matter experts. This session is for all birth professionals. Participants will discuss and learn about contracts, forms, and everything that they’ll need to elevate their business and make their practice go more smoothly.
Mentor: Adrienne Leeds
Our amazing livers perform numerous functions. How are they affected by pregnancy? Explore and differentiate liver-related dysfunctions including PUPPP, pruritus gravidarum, hyperemesis gravidarum, intrahepatic cholestasis, HELLP syndrome, and acute fatty liver of pregnancy. We’ll examine both conventional management and holistic approaches to collaborative care.
Mentor: Alicia Baker
This continuing education course consists of live, interactive learning which will be completed on-site at the Midwifery Wisdom conference. This continuing education course provides a thorough introduction to pelvic floor anatomy, pelvic floor function, dysfunction, and the role of the pelvic floor therapist. It also defines and teaches skills and knowledge regarding abdominopelvic screening via questionnaires, interview, palpation, and observation. Considerations of the pelvic floor during labor will be discussed regarding birth progression. Postpartum considerations will be discussed with a specific focus on urogynecologic conditions including prolapse and pelvic organ descent, various pelvic pain diagnoses, and abdominal wall rehabilitation. The participant will be able to learn specific screening skills for these conditions that when missed have a significant negative impact on a woman’s health and quality of life.
Mentor: Andie Wyrick
Mentor: Ashley Musil
Mentor: Aubre Tompkins
This presentation will give an overview of the epidemiology, screening recommendations, treatments (both allopathic and alternative when appropriate) of selected STI’s, vaginits and urinary tract infections.
Mentor: Jharna Harvey Ahmai
Mentor: Lisa Rawson
Mentor: Nicole Morales
This presentation offers insight into contrast in process focused palpation from outcome focused palpation, the 3 maternal structures that can be palpated in relationship to the fetus, understand changes in research methods over time for female-bodied anatomy.
Mentor: Sarah Thompson
Mentor: Kristine Lauria
Mentor: Whitney Pinger
Mentor: Whitney Pinger & Nathan Riley
Mentor: Augustine Colebrook
Some transports are absolutely necessary, but all too often, community-based midwives find themselves sitting bedside at a normal vaginal hospital birth wondering what they missed OR have to fend of disgruntled and resentful messages from postpartum clients wondering WHY they were transferred. Join senior midwife, Augustine Colebrook for this indepth and experiential presentation, as we use case study, cervical models and video to demonstrate not only when and how to properly check for progress, but what to do with the information you find.
Mentor: Ana’Neicia Williams
Mentor: Ilka Fanni
Mentor: Kelleen Peters
Self-care is a topic that emphasizes the practice of taking deliberate actions to prioritize and maintain one’s physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well-being. It involves engaging in activities and behaviors that promote self-nurturance, relaxation, and personal growth. Self-care is a proactive approach to holistic health that recognizes the importance of self-preservation and self-renewal. It involves dedicating time and energy to self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-improvement. The concept encompasses various dimensions, including physical, psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of well-being. Prioritizing self-awareness, personal growth, and relaxation. By engaging in self-care activities, individuals can enhance their physical, mental, and emotional health, leading to a more balanced and fulfilling life.
Mentor: Moriah Melin
As birth workers we are skilled in the art of “holding space.” But who and what are holding space for us? We are also skilled in the art of listening to our intuition. But where does our intuition come from, and how can we fine tune our ability to access the information housed within it? Weaving physical exercises, Moriah Melín will lead a group exploration into the micro and macro elements of The Energetic Field that Holds Us. Her intention is to plant somatic seeds within the physical and energetic bodies of participants, so that they know what the field feels like, and how to lean deeper into it.
Mentor: Ruth Shepard
A Midwife has to balance clients, family, a business, continuing education, and often other employment that can strain any person physically, psychologically, and nutritionally. Learning to support one’s mental/emotional health, along with physical health with non-toxic, and even detoxing alternatives, and stress-relieving techniques can add tools to the midwifery bag of tricks that improves one’s vitality, as well as health, and stamina to be the best Midwife one can be.
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