Science & Sensibility

I taught hospital based childbirth classes for 6 years prior to changing gears and teaching independently in my community.  Teaching evidence-based information and current best practice in my hospital class always left me feeling anxious and on edge.  Eventually, I made the decision to hang out my own shingle, and after just a few of my “own” classes, I knew I had definitely made the right choice for me.

If you have ever struggled with the same challenge, are considering what your teaching options are or feel alone in your attempts to cover the best evidence in your hospital classes, then Lamaze International has a free webinar for you that you won’t want to miss. 

Kathryn Konrad, MS, RNC-OB, LCCE, FACCE will be leading a webinar, “How to Teach Evidence-Based Childbirth Classes and Still Keep Your Job” on Wednesday, May 22, 1:00-2:15 PM EST.

Childbirth educators including RNs, LPNs lactation consultants, midwives, doulas and others who teach childbirth education in a hospital setting may find it challenging to push for safe and healthy birth outcomes. The purpose of this webinar is to examine the conflicts that may arise when hospital-based childbirth educators teach evidence-based content that is in conflict or inconsistent with hospital and/or provider policies and practices, and to investigate strategies for promoting best practices.

After attending this webinar, learners will be able to:

• Identify potential conflicts of interest when teaching childbirth education classes in a hospital setting;

• Describe strategies for empowering pregnant women to advocate for their preferences regarding evidence-based maternity care and;

• Develop strategies for promoting evidence-based birth practices within a hospital setting.

Contact hours are available.  This program has been planned by Lamaze International for 1.1 hours of CNE credit. To earn credit, attendees must register for the event, attend the entire 75 minute webinar, and complete an online evaluation within the specified time period.  This program has also been approved for 1.0 Lamaze contact hours.  See the registration page for more details.  You do not have to be a Lamaze member to attend the webinar, but you are asked to create a profile in order to register.

This is a great opportunity to learn how to be successful as a hospital based childbirth educator and navigate some of the challenges that occur when you teach for a hospital.  You will not want to miss this webinar scheduled for tomorrow.  Make some time in your schedule, and register now!  Come back and share your thoughts in our comments section on the topic and your experiences as a hospital based childbirth educator.  I know the discussion will be lively.

Kathryn Konrad has educational experience overseeing the development and presentation of childbirth, breastfeeding and parenting classes in both hospital and community settings.  Currently she is an instructor at The University of Oklahoma College of Nursing.  She received a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2000 and a Masters of Science degree with an emphasis in Nursing Education from The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in 2008.  She has been Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator since 2006, an RNC-OB since 2005 and a labor and birth nurse since 2000.  She was inducted as a Fellow in the Academy of Certified Childbirth Educators in 2011. She offers workshops on evidence-based labor support for nurses and nursing students.

Sharon Muza Childbirth Education, Continuing Education, Evidence Based Medicine, Healthy Birth Practices, Healthy Care Practices, Lamaze International, Maternity Care, Medical Interventions, Uncategorized, Webinars Childbirth Education, Continuing Education, continuing education for nurses, Evidence Based Medicine, hospitals, Kathryn Konrad, Lamaze International, Lamaze webinars, Sharon Muza, Webinars

This Thursday 1-2 pm ET, you are invited to speak with national health care leaders about findings from Listening To Mothers III — the third in a series of major national studies that examines women’s maternity experiences from before birth through the postpartum period. Among many other findings, the survey reveals the overuse of risky procedures and the fact that many women feel pressured to undergo them.

Listening to Mothers III is the third in a series of landmark, national studies that poll American women about their maternity experiences. This online press conference will highlight new findings about the American maternity experience, including:

• Exposure of women and babies to the overuse of risky procedures, and underuse of beneficial practices;
• Women’s experience of pressure to undergo consequential and costly procedures;
• How informed women are about the risks of those procedures;
• Failure of the health system to provide shared decision-making processes for major decisions;
• Trends across the three national Listening to Mothers surveys.

Leading national health experts representing clinical quality improvement, employer, and consumer perspectives will discuss major findings. The in-depth report describes many experiences from before pregnancy through pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Harris Interactive conducted the survey of 2,400 women who gave birth from July 2011 through June 2012.

What

The American Birth Experience: Results From Listening to Mothers III

Who

Leah Binder, President & CEO, The Leapfrog Group

Maureen Corry, Executive Director, Childbirth Connection

Eugene Declercq, Assistant Dean, School of Public Health, Boston University

Carol Sakala, Director of Programs, Childbirth Connection

Thomas Westover, MD, Co-Chair, New Jersey Hospital Association Perinatal Safety Collaborative, Assistant Professor, Maternal & Fetal Medicine & OB&GYN, Robert Wood Johnson Medical and Cooper Medical School

When

Thursday, May 9, 2013; 1-2:00 pm EDT

Details

Please use this link to register for this online press conference at:

If interested in an advance copy of the report, contact Kat Song 

Sharon Muza Childbirth Education, Healthcare Reform, Maternal Quality Improvement, Maternity Care, Research, Webinars Carol Sakala, Childbirth Connection, Eugene Declercq, Leah Binder, Listening to Mothers surveys, Maureen Corry, Sharon Muza, Thomas Westover, Webinar

Starting on May 22, 2013, current LCCE Educators will have a new venue for sharing thoughts, ideas, and suggestions with each other. The “Monthly Meet-Up” is a live, online discussion that allows LCCE Educators around the globe to come together to solve problems, share solutions, and stay connected. Monthly Meet-Ups are hosted by Lisa Baker, LCCE Educator Member At-Large for the Lamaze Education Council. The LCCE Educator Member At-Large provides a voice for the LCCE Educator population on issues addressed by the Education Council.  Monthly Meet-Ups are a great way to give your input on all things Lamaze and to gather helpful strategies and ideas from other LCCE Educators who share your passion. 

What is a Monthly Meet-Up?

 The Monthly Meet-Up is a casual, online gathering of Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educators. The online chat will last 45 – 60 minutes and will provide a chance for LCCE Educators to share their thoughts, ideas, questions, and concerns on specific topics. The LCCE Educator Member At-Large for the Education Council will host the event and will present all relevant suggestions and questions to the Education Council.

 When is the Next Monthly Meet-Up?

 The first Monthly Meet-Up will occur on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 11:00am EST. To register for the event, visit http://www.lamazeinternational.org/MonthlyMeetUp. A maximum of 20 participants will be able to attend each session, so register early! Monthly Meet-Ups will be held on the fourth Wednesday of every month.

Meet Lisa Baker, Monthly Meet-Up HostLisa Baker, BSc (Hon), BEd, LCCE, is a hospital-based childbirth educator and founder of Labour and Love Childbirth and Early Parenting Education. She is also an active blogger on her own site, labourandlove.ca. An award-winning educator, Lisa has been empowering and educating people from a very early age. Lisa is also mom to two little boys and currently resides with her husband and children in Alberta, Canada.

Where can I go for more information on Monthly Meet-Ups?

 Discussion notes for the previous Meet-Up and topic suggestions for the upcoming Meet-Up can be found at the Lamaze “Monthly Meet-Up” Discussion Forum. Be sure to watch Facebook and Twitter for reminders of upcoming Monthly Meet-Ups and set your calendar for the fourth Wednesday of every month. 

What is the Lamaze Education Council?

 The purpose of the Education Council is to ensure that all childbearing women have access to Lamaze education through developing, implementing, and evaluating:

• High quality evidenced-based training for childbirth educators;
• High quality evidenced-based continuing education for childbirth educators and other health care professionals;
• High quality evidence-based consumer education.

 For more information on the Education Council please review this policy document.

If you are interested in joining Lamaze International, please click through to our membership page.

Sharon Muza Childbirth Education, Continuing Education, Lamaze International, Uncategorized, Webinars Childbirth Education, Lamaze International, Lamaze membership, Lisa Baker, Monthly Meet-Up, Sharon Muza

Taking the hospital tour is considered to be a right of passage for expectant parents choosing to birth in the hospital.  They gather together in a group, a bit nervous, a bit excited, following the tour guide, quietly tiptoeing through the labor and delivery unit, hearing and seeing women in labor, peeking into empty rooms, learning where to park and finding out about the amenities that the facility has to offer.  They smile slightly to themselves and begin to imagine themselves birthing in one of these very rooms in the not too distant future.

A few families may ask questions, inquiring about policies and what they are “allowed” to do once admitted.  In fact, some of these questions may come up in your classes or you may hear stories about what the students learned on their various tours.

Lamaze International is offering a Parent Webinar: Getting the Most out of Your Hospital Tour next Wednesday, April 24th. at 12 PM EST.  This one hour webinar is being presented by Allison Walsh, IBCLC, LCCE.  This engaging learning opportunity can help parents to prepare for their tour,  ask questions that count and really understand what they need to do to have an active, upright birth within the hospital setting.

I encourage childbirth educators to inform their students about this webinar opportunity and suggest your CBE families register now.  The webinar will be made available in recorded form in a timely fashion after the live presentation is completed.  As an educator, I see lots of opportunities to bring this webinar into your classroom for discussion, watch snippets of it throughout your series, or ask your students to do a fun role play, incorporating what they learned from the webinar.

Some CBEs and L&D nurses may be the tour guide at the hospital, and this webinar can help them to offer an effective and evidence based tour that thoroughly meets the need of participants.

Tweet about this opportunity, post it on Facebook and share with students and your community of pregnant families, encouraging them to register now!  By attending this free webinar, families will become more informed maternity care consumers and in a better position to “Push for Their Baby.”

The Lamaze Parent blog, Giving Birth With Confidence highlighted this webinar in a comprehensive blog post yesterday that you may also want to share with your families.

To learn more about the Parent Webinar: “Getting the Most out of Your Hospital Tour” and to register, please click here.  See you at the webinar!

Sharon Muza Childbirth Education, Continuing Education, Evidence Based Medicine, Giving Birth with Confidence, Healthy Birth Practices, Healthy Care Practices, informed Consent, Maternity Care, Patient Advocacy, Push for Your Baby, Social Media, Webinars Allison Walsh, CBE, Childbirth Education, Giving Birth With Confidence, Lamaze webinars, maternity care continuing education, Sharon Muza

Everyone loves a good conference and birth professionals are no different.  The opportunity to attend a conference, learn about new research, hear current evidence, and acquire new skills, while also networking with other people who share your professional interests is very valuable.  Coming home with information to share with your local colleagues, and apply in your workplace is an added bonus.  There is the additional lure of contact hours and continuing education hours that can be applied towards your certification or licensing requirements.

Science & Sensibility in partnership with Birthswell has created a calendar (with links) of all the upcoming Maternal Health, Birth and Breastfeeding conferences we could find.  We will continually update this list as new ones are added or more information becomes available.  And we are asking for your help! If you have a conference to share with our readers, or you have some updated information on a conference already listed, please use our conference contact form to pass the info along.  We will then make sure to update our information!

You can always find the most updated conference list by clicking on the “calendar” logo that resides in the right hand column of this blog!  That will always take you to the current list!

Did we miss anything for 2013? Have you set your schedule for 2014 and beyond? Share your conference schedule updates here.

2014

April 6-9: NASPOG Annual Meeting, Columbus, OH

2013

November 14-17:  Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health’s  Annual Conference On Birth Psychology in Asilomar, CA

November 6-9:  Birth and Beyond Conference in London, ON, Canada

November 6-8: Perinatal Mental Health Conference, Chicago, IL

November 2 – 6: American Public Health Association Conference in Boston MA

October 25 – 27: CAPPA Anniversary Conference in Destin, FL

October 24 – 27: Midwives Alliance of North America Annual Conference in Portland, OR

October 24 – 25: PSI PMAD Training, Grand Rapids, MI

October 11 – 13: Lamaze Innovative Learning Forum in New Orleans, LA

October 4 – 6: LLL of the Sunshine State Conference in Daytona Beach, FL

September 29 – 30: Bringing Light to Motherhood Training, Los Angeles, CA

September 28-29: VBAC Summit, Miami, FL

September 26 – 29: American Association of Birth Centers Conference in Minneapolis, MN

September 25-26: Midwest Lactation Conference, Indianapolis, IN

September 18-22: Trust Birth Conference in Sydney, Australia

August 29 – 30: PSI PMAD Training, Winfield, IL

August 3: Northwest Area Childbirth Educators Forum, Tualatin (Portland), OR

August 2 -3: Squat Birth Journal Squatfest, San Francisco, CA

July 29-30: Bringing Light to Motherhood Training, Los Angeles, CA

July 26-28: Birth Activist Retreat, Salt Lake City, UT

July 25 – 28: International Lactation Consultant Association Annual Conference, Melbourne, Australia

July 19 – 20: DONA International Virtual Conference 2013, ONLINE

June 21 -22: Postpartum Support International Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN

June 21 – 22: Inequity In Breastfeeding Support Summit in Seattle, WA

June 20-23: 2013 Tongue-Tie Summit,  Orlando, FL

June 15 – 19: AWHONN Annual Convention in Nashville, TN

June 9: The Importance of Core Strength in the Prenatal and Postnatal Client, Elgin, Illinois

June 7-9: Breastfeeding and PSI of Washingtion Professional Training, Spokane, WA

June 5 – 7: Normal Labour and Birth: 8th Research Conference, Grange Over Sands, English Lake District,
UK
May 30 – June 4: ACNM 58th Annual Meeting in Nashville, TN

May 24 – 26: LLL Regional Conference – Southern California/Nevada Region, Newport Beach, CA

May 22 – 24: ISPOG Conference, Berlin Germany

September 28-29: VBAC Summit, Miami, FL

May 17 – 19: LLL Leader Education Weekend and Parent Day, Denver, CO

May 16 – 19: American Association for the History of Medicine Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA

May 14: Partners in Perinatal Health 24th Annual Conference, Norwood, MA

May 5 – 6: California Maternal Mental Health Collaborative, Sacramento, CA

May 4 – 8: ACOG 61th Annual Clinical Meeting in New Orleans, LA

May 3 – 5: United States Lactation Consultant Association Annual Conference in St. Louis, MO

May 2 – 3: Baystate Medical Center Lactation Services Annual Breastfeeding Conference, Holyoke, MA

April 26: A Day with Jack Newman Workshop, Bellaire, MI

April 22 – 27th: Christian Midwives International Conference in Savannah, GA

April 22 – May 31: GOLD Online Conference 2013 ONLINE

April 15 – 16: PSI PMAD Training, Indianapolis, IN

April 11 – 12: Perinatal Professionals Consortium, West Jordan, UT

April 6: LLL of Massachusetts/Rhode Island/Vermont Breastfeeding and Parenting Conference, Lowell, MA

April 4 – 5: PSI PMAD Training, Jacksonville, FL

April 3 – 7: Midwifery Today Conference in Eugene, OR.

April 3 – 6: Breastfeeding; The Gold Standard, New Orleans, LA

March 22: REACHE Conference, in Renton, WA

March 20: New Jersey Birth Network Symposium on Birth Practices in New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ

March 21 – 22: 8th Breastfeeding & Feminism Conference, Chapel Hill, NC

March 18: Boston Association for Childbirth Education & Nursing Mother’s Council Breastfeeding Conference, Boxborough, MA

March 6 – April 6: iLactation Conference, Premies, Priorities, and Practice, ONLINE

March 1 – 3: MANA region 1 Conference in Nashua, NH. Contact birthart@metrocast.net for details.

March 1 – 2: CIMS 2013 Forum, Kansas City, MO

February 2-3: When Survivors Give Birth Workshop, Seattle, WA

January 25-26: When Survivors Give Birth Workshop, San Diego, CA

TBA:
9th International Black Midwives and Healers Conference 2013

updated 05/08/13

This list is developed and maintained in partnership with our friends at Birthswell. 

 

 

 

Sharon Muza Breastfeeding, Conference Calendar, Conference Schedule, Continuing Education, Evidence Based Medicine, Lamaze International 2013 Annual Conference, Maternity Care, Social Media, Uncategorized, Webinars Birthswell, Conference Calendar, Lamaze International, Lamaze International 2013 Annual Conference, Sharon Muza