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 11, 12, 13, 2022
*Information subject to change
Mentor: Jayvon Muhammad
More info coming soon!
Mentor: Jamarah Amani
This workshop will explore the rising maternal and infant mortality rates in this country, with a particular lens toward an intersectional analysis. This workshop will introduce participants to the Birth Justice framework through examining how pregnancy, birth and parenting intersect with social, racial and economic justice. Participants will have the opportunity to get involved with interactive methods and tools to engage with building the Birth Justice movement.
Mentor: Wendi Cleckner
Can I touch you? Consent. Midwives should be masters of consent, and to be fair, midwives are better than most practitioners. However, in every area we need to be masterful – written informed consent, verbal informed consent, implied informed consent, with every interaction and every conversation. We will look into the paperwork we use surrounding written informed consent and discuss how we verbally use informed consent all day, everyday. Let’s dive into the realm of informed consent together and take it to a whole new level.
Mentor: Mari-Carmen Farmer
As American society increasingly works to confront and reckon with the deep wounds left behind by the centuries of colonization, slaughter, and enslavement of Black and Indigenous people, individuals and institutions have come to recognize that moving towards antiracism is imperative for the dismantling of oppressive systems. There is an increasing awareness that racism and white supremacy are foundational values that have shaped our collective identity, that they show up in our interactions with each other and in our communities, and that they exist within us as a set of beliefs, biases, and perspectives.
The purpose of this workshop is to offer an alternative approach to the work of antiracism, one that views the principles of mindfulness as a path towards collective liberation. As the American jazz poet and musician, Gil Scott Heron, said, “The first revolution is when you change your mind about how you look at things, and see that there might be another way to look at it.” Woven throughout the literature that explores what is effective in becoming aware of unconscious bias, in unraveling thought systems that weaponize race and oppress marginalized people, and in adopting values that connect the liberation of the self to the liberation of all are tenets that are fundamental to mindfulness. The facilitator will focus on discussing these tenets and how they can be practically applied to advance the work of antiracism in the personal and professional lives of midwives.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how mindfulness can offer a way of exploring conscious values, as well as becoming aware of and interrupting unconscious conditioning. Participants will be offered tools that will help them disrupt harmful patterning and consider what patterns might more accurately reflect their goal of deepening their antiracist practice. As a practitioner of narrative medicine, the facilitator will demonstrate how components of this intentional practice, such as reflection, close listening and narrative humility, support building the habits of mindfulness. Knowing that discomfort is a core competency for grappling with matters of race, equipping midwives with these strategies for sitting in discomfort, for working on clearly identifying their racial distress, and for moving from the inside out in their antiracism practice is essential. Additionally, cultivating habits of mindfulness can help address trauma for those directly impacted by racism or for those bearing witness and taking action.
It is important to point out that there is an ethical component to mindfulness, not only as a practice of self-care for healers, who themselves must be diligent in supporting their personal wellness in order to effectively care for others, but also as a means of moving towards a more just society. The underpinnings of mindfulness point those who practice towards generating healing qualities to share with others, with the goal of creating a more peaceful and equitable society. This philosophical foundation perfectly complements the values sustaining the practice of midwifery, a profession that has a long history of understanding and acting upon the relationship between social justice and healing.
Mentor: Mary Harris
Reproductive Rights has been exhaustively pursued while Reproductive Justice, historically, has been undervalued and essentially ignored. Reproductive Rights centers the individual and mainly addresses the legality of abortion while Reproductive Justice centers the whole and addresses reproductive principles outside the abortion arena. Understanding the principles of Reproductive Justice allows us to provide full spectrum care for our clients by understanding and overcoming the limitations that exist in our current minds and practices.
Mentor: Kristine Lauria
This session will explore humanitarian aid and the unique aspects of midwifery care in resource poor settings which can be exciting, rewarding, and challenging. The issue of tropical diseases and their effects on pregnancy and birth will be discussed, as well as the management of high risk pregnancies where there is no doctor. Participants will learn what it is like to provide midwifery care in refugee camps, disaster areas and conflict zones. Real life experiences and personal accounts along with photos from around the world will be shared.
Mentor: Moriah Melin
How we come into this world matters. Our early pre-verbal experiences shape who we are, and influence how we participate in the web of life. Midwives and birth workers hold a unique opportunity to help parents and families integrate their early experiences before, during and after birth. Death doulas and midwives also hold an integral part in the rebuilding of a Healthy Human Ecosystem. Enhancing clinical practice through the addition of pre- and perinatal (PPN) concepts, begins with practitioners exploring their own early time. In this presentation Moriah Melin will share foundational PPN concepts and how they apply to birth and death midwifery practice.
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: Leslie Ann Cornwell
Financial education is essential for any midwife whether you are just a student or a season midwife getting close to retiring. Learn from the nation’s top midwife financial expert, Leslie Cornwell, CNM, on how to plan for your financial goals! We will talk about a core concept to successful midwifery businesses and personal wealth accumulation: financial planning. This 90-minute presentation will go over key concepts for financial planning: risk reduction, wealth accumulation, and wealth distribution. We will go over different areas to invest financially common in US and unique options for midwives. There are so many amazing things that midwives can start TODAY in planning for a secure financial future!
Mentor: Jennifer Justice Gallardo
You can only attend so many births and being busier doesn’t translate to more money. Come explore other ways to make money as a midwife – work smarter, not harder. Topics covered will include ancillary ways to serve your existing clients including services, products, and alliances that increase your streams of revenue. This class will include a large amount of brainstorming and group participation, so bring your ideas and lets hustle.
Mentor: Zul Ruiz Gines
You love being a midwife. You are making a difference in your community, but attending home births have become unsustainable for your business, yourself and your loved ones.
Being a midwife, providing midwifery services does not have to be equal to always providing a birth outside of the hospital. Providing quality, safe, empowering, individualized care to families during their prenatal care and postpartum can be impactful and rewarding.
Participants will be able to identify sustainable midwifery model vs models leading to burn out.
Participants will understand what is an easy access clinic model based on the JJ Way model of care and what steps are required to open an easy access clinic.
Participants will be able to identify communities that benefit most from this model and how to implement culturally appropriate practices.
Mentor: Kristen Mantell
You’re an incredible midwife, knowledgable on all things birth, but when it comes to branding & marketing your birth business things feel a little, well… overwhelming and unclear. With this presentation, you’ll learn strategic ways to approach your branding to help attract more clients who you are aligned with. Those ideal clients that you LOVE. Gain information, resources, and tools on how to up-level your own brand in a way that supports your business goals.
Who is this for? Do you feel your birth business branding, website, social media, or lack there of… is losing you clients (and potential income)? Are you getting clients that perhaps aren’t the best fit? Are your marketing visuals all over the place aesthetically or don’t feel professional? Do you not show up as much as you know you need to because you’re afraid of being visible, embarrassed of your branding, or you just don’t know what to say? Is there a lot of competition in the area or a huge knowledge gap as it applies to your community & what you do? Do you just feel completely lost on what to do?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unclear on how to visually present your services to the world in the best way possible OR if you’re are looking to level-up your current marketing visuals this presentation is for you! Together, let’s bring the vision of your dream birth business brand to life.
Mentor: Crystal Pena
There is an active need in the community for more education related to running community-based midwifery practices. This session is aimed at solo or small practice community based midwives wanting to use technology and other productivity techniques to lighten their administrative load.
By the end of this session, you will be able to identify how burn out impacts their life and work and learn strategies to mitigate it, learn techniques and systems that ease administrative tasks and workflow of small community based midwifery practice. You will leave with specific tools and examples of technology platforms you can utilize immediately to implement changes in your practice to improve work life balance and practice functionality.
Mentor: JaLisa Taylor
Info coming soon!
Mentor: Kesha Zaffino
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: Jamarah Amani
There is a need to develop and replicate models of care that address the social and cultural needs of communities impacted by racial disparities. In this session, participants will be able to describe successful perinatal models of care in marginalized communities, to articulate the importance of cultural congruent care, to examine their own assumptions and decolonized their midwifery training, and will develop at least one tool or method that they can incorporate into their midwifery practices.
Mentor: Roxanne Barnes
Info coming soon!
Mentor: Rixa Freeze
In the first part of this presentation, I will review both upright and supine breech maneuvers that breech practitioners should be familiar with and should be practicing on a regular basis. We will cover 5 main problems and their associated solutions: 1) Maternal exhaustion, poor contraction pattern, poor fetal condition, or the need to diagnose an obstruction, 2) Stuck arms/shoulders, 3) Extended/stuck head in the pelvic outlet, 4) Hyperextended head in the pelvic inlet, and 5) SP chin caught on the pubic bone. Next, I will discuss complex and/or complicated breech scenarios, using video and photos to illustrate when possible. I will cover situations such as posterior rotation, cervical head entrapment, raised/extended arms, trapped nuchal arms, and trapped heads. We will discuss what to do when maneuvers fail, drawing insights from real-life situations.
Mentor: Angela Love
About 20% of women and 10% of men will experience postpartum anxiety or depression. Midwives need to be able to recognize the signs of mood disorders, use screening tools appropriately, and know how to help their clients heal. Lives hang in the balance and the wellbeing of the whole family is affected when a parent is suffering from mood disorders. Angela Love, CNM, APRN presents the latest guidelines on how to assess and treat mood disorders. Participants will learn how to recognize signs of OCD, PTSD, bipolar disorders, psychosis, depression, and anxiety. Come to learn about the impact of untreated PMAD. This session covers pharmacological methods and their safety profiles during pregnancy and lactation as well as complementary therapies and known effectiveness. Midwives will learn how to find local resources and when to collaborate with other providers. Cultural and spiritual differences in PMAD will be addressed as well. Case studies will be presented showing examples of midwife management. There will be a Q & A session after the presentation.
Mentor: Melissa Nealy
The provider’s guide to tongue ties, suction, and other less common newborn issues. Learn advanced breastfeeding assessment skills, go beyond latch, positioning and basic troubleshooting, learn how to assess for the root cause of persistent latch and transfer issues.
Mentor: Nathan Riley
Maternal mortality rates in the U.S. have increased by roughly 25% from 1990 to 2015, while rates in other developed nations have declined. During this same time period, mortality from hypertensive disorders has fallen from 17% to 7.5%. Hypertensive disorders affect around 15% of pregnancies in the U.S. Rates have increased over recent decades. Per a recent report by the CDC, 6.6% of deaths during pregnancy, 10% of deaths within the first 6 weeks postpartum, and 5% between 6 weeks and 1 year postpartum are attributable to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Given the very successful efforts to systematically prevent, surveil, and manage hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, we must remain vigilant and do everything in our power as maternity care providers to continue to improve these trends. Normal pregnancy-related physiologic changes to the cardiovascular system include a decrease in blood pressure in the 2nd trimester due to a plateau in progesterone with a rise in the third trimester primarily due to increased blood volume, but a variety of factors are at play. The ability of the heart and blood vessels to maintain perfusion to vital organs – including the feto-placental unit – is key. Women with high pressures prior to 20 weeks likely entered pregnancy with pre-existing hypertension. Superimposed preeclampsia in these patients has the highest mortality rate of all disorders on the spectrum. Baseline labs should be individualized. Risks and benefits should be considered before starting oral antihypertensive therapy for patients with chronic hypertension. If hypertensive disorders are not recognized and managed early on in pregnancy, you put your client at risk of iatrogenic preterm birth, seizures, stroke, IUFD, placental abruption, fetal growth restriction, and c-section. For those with risk factors, monitoring for changes in kidney function, liver function, and blood pressures should be offered regularly. Severe preeclampsia carries its own set of diagnostic features, all pertaining to changes in kidney function, liver function, and blood constitution. Proteinuria may not necessarily be present. Preeclampsia is best managed collaboratively with an OBGYN. HELLP syndrome is a true medical emergency that requires counseling around risks/benefits of continuing pregnancy versus expediting delivery. Postpartum is a time during which a large number of patients end up in trouble. Auto-transfusion after delivery of the baby and placenta leads to large fluctuations in total maternal body fluids, often leading to an acute exacerbation in BPs. We will discuss prevention, management, and follow-up for hypertensive disorders in pregnancy in this session.
Mentor: Sarah Thompson
Thyroid disease is the second most common endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age. Left undiagnosed and untreated, thyroid disease can be a cause of miscarriage, preterm labor, placental abruption, hypertensive disorders, fetal growth restriction, delayed onset of labor, and/or complications with childbirth such as postpartum hemorrhage. Thyroid disease is often under diagnosed in pregnancy and when diagnosed treatment is limited to the use of thyroid medications. New and advanced research is beginning to highlight the gaps in thyroid testing and use in prevention and management of pregnancy and postpartum complications. Thyroid physiology during pregnancy changes throughout gestation and the need for maternal healthcare practitioners to develop advanced knowledge of thyroid function and nutrition in pregnancy are critical to the prevention and management of pregnancy and childbirth complications.
Mentor: Brittany Thornton
Brittany was introduced to IUIs 10 years ago when she became a traditional surrogate and had to have the procedure performed on herself. In her years working as and with a surrogate, she became interested in how to make IUIs more attainable financially, as well as provide the service under the midwifery model of care as opposed to the medical model of care. She was fortunate enough to find doctors, nurse practitioners, and fellow midwives who provided the service that were willing to train her. Now, she aims to provide the same opportunity to other midwives who are interested in training. In this session, participants will learn how an IUI works (at home vs. intrauterine), how IUIs can be an integral part of community based care, how to determine if someone is a good candidate for IUI including how to determine if someone is adequately tracking or if there are other steps that need to happen before discussing IUI, and legal and ethical considerations for IUI regarding relationship status according to state regulations (surrogacy, same sex couples, heterosexual couples, required contracts, etc.)
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: Wantina Brooks-Roach
It is hard to teach midwifery students. It is hard to be a midwifery student due to gatekeeping. And it is so hard to find a safe preceptor to learn with. It is an eye-opening educational moment when we realize how neuro-divergent tendencies can have a negative or positive effect on professional midwifery relationships.
This session brings awareness to the ways to increase potential for a safe space for the apprentice/preceptor relationship. It will cover the many physical and mental challenges, abuse of boundaries, and lack of clear communication, which has led to generations of nightmare-style relationships between preceptors and students. It is vital to safeguard both sides of the relationship to ensure that abuse does not happen. Clients deserve more midwives all around the world and midwifery will not be sustainable unless we find ways to keep the training process from being so traumatic. The trauma should stop here – In this generation of midwives. Let’s not continue to pass on the unreliable methods that have existed for the last 40+ years. Elder midwives can help create more midwives who are safe and keep midwifery sustainable by identifying problems and finding solutions. It takes people who think outside the box, to come up with solutions. And that is who we all are and should be.
Mentor: Caitlyn Hartigan & Augustine Colebrook
Iron deficiency is the most frequent nutritional deficiency disorder in the world. A recent estimate based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria indicated that around 1.74 billion people worldwide have a marked iron deficiency anemia, with 39.7% of the global population suffering from iron deficiency without anemia. In industrialized countries, the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia is much lower and usually varies between 2 percent and 8 percent. However, the prevalence of iron deficiency, including both anemic and non-anemic subjects, is much higher. “In industrialized countries, for example, an absence of iron stores or subnormal serum ferritin values is found in about 20-30 percent of women of fertile age. In adolescent girls the prevalence is even higher”, (World Health Organization, 2005). But since the pandemic where the rogue virus consumed a lot of iron to replicate, as much as 50% of the western world is no iron deficient and menstruating people are nearing 80%.Guidelines for the Management of Iron Deficiency Anaemia of the British Gastroenterology Society says, “Iron deficiency/depletion without anaemia (as proven by a low serum ferritin – hypoferritinaemia) is three times as common as iron deficiency anaemia and may cause fatigue, cognitive dysfunction and restless legs – and many other symptoms.” Join Augustine and Caitlyn, both researchers and patient advocates and themselves survivors of severely debilitating acute iron deficiency, as they share their oral and IV protocols for testing and treating for iron deficiency and its co-factors.
Mentor: Kimberly Haines
Midwifery is more of a lifestyle than a career choice. Every aspect of our life and the lives of those who matter most to us are greatly affected by this lifestyle. We give so much to those around us that we oftentimes lose focus on why we started down this path in the first place. By committing to implement a few golden rules into our lifestyle, midwives can practice in a way that allows us to be mentally balanced, emotionally healthy and financially sustained. It is absolutely possible to learn how to thrive in the chaos of birthwork and more importantly, we truly can find happiness in midwifery.
Mentor:Jessica Johnston
The Paradigm Shift: Midwifery Will Not Be Indoctrinated. Ever wonder why it was so easy for doulas to immediately lose their livelihood during the pandemic? Or why midwifery keeps getting stalled nationwide even though it is the answer to the maternal health crisis in the US? Join Jessica Johnston CPM, CDM as she walks us through system ideologies that keep us trapped in crisis mode, how we inadvertently become part of the problem, and how we can start living in solutions now.
Mentor: Whitney Pinger
Whitney was conceived a midwife, born a midwife, raised a midwife, and, after 62 years, is continuing to incarnate, learn, and grow as a midwife. From the wild beaches of California to the hallowed halls of The George Washington University, she has walked the path of a midwife. Whitney has trained formally as an Apprentice, a “Lay Midwife”, a Nurse Midwife, a Priestess, and a Death Doula. She worked tirelessly over 35 years to create safe spaces for birthing people in hospital institutions, spaces that honor both the scientific evidence as well as the innovative magic of midwifery care. She is considered an expert in evidence-based maternity care, natural childbirth, optimal nourishment, movement, and lifestyle during pregnancy, primary cesarean prevention, vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), vaginal breech delivery, health disparities, collaborative practice, and the education of the next generation of midwives, nurses, physicians, and students of all backgrounds who want to support birthing people optimize their chances of normal birth. And, Whitney, like so many of us, experienced trauma…and faced trauma…profound trauma that shook her to her core and made her think she could not live another day. And this is her story. It is the story of her soul being awakened, speaking truth, and being called out of the institution that she had created. Like cutting an umbilical cord, she had to release the very thing she had given birth to in order to save herself. This is a story of facing trauma, remembering ourselves, healing, and giving birth to ourselves anew.
Mentor: Ilka Fanni Szilágyi
In this experiential class, the participants will be introduced to deep listening and somatic skills of touching bodies, babies and self. We will explore the different qualities of touch and presence to access the different layers and systems of the body. We will learn the language of bones, muscles, organs, connective tissue, fluids, skin and nervous system and how to communicate with these layers. We will put special focus on communicating with the nervous system of birthing bodies and newborn babies, while centering self awareness. This class is rooted in Body-Mind Centering, Alexander Technique, Somatic Movement Therapy principles and experiential anatomy. We will move, touch and explore. Dress in comfortable, stretchy clothes.
Mentor: Jessica Weed
Attending births is very rewarding but can also be emotionally difficult. As midwives, we often preach to our new moms about the importance of self-care. As birth attendants, we also know the importance of caring for ourselves. But what is self care? In this presentation, you will learn evidence-based techniques for self care that surround seven different category types. You will learn the importance of self care in the prevention of compassion fatigue and burnout. You will also learn about the signs of unprocessed trauma as well as techniques to process through.You will leave this class with a toolbox full of techniques to keep your cup refilled and keep you happily attending births.
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Join us November 6-12, 2024 in New Orleans!
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