Begin unlocking a stuck birth with the spatial understanding of how three turns in the pelvis will allow
baby’s descent. What needs precede a baby to make these turns? Explore complex shoulder and
breech dystocia, while getting insights about rotation for all babies, too. Gail deep dives into Pelvic
Levels Solutions SM her new paradigm of seeing birth called Spinning Babies ®️ .
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, 6.5 hours of instruction, 90 min break for lunch, ACNM CEs for 6. 5 contact hours

Manual Medicine for Midwives will revolutionize your birth work with over 50 hands-on techniques to improve your clients experience, birth outcome, and healing journey. Participants learn to assess for prolapse (cystocele and rectocele) and techniques to support recovery, identify a malpositioned uterus and learn treatment techniques to restore optimal positioning as well as assess and treat diastasis recti (manually and will directed exercises). This class usually has MEAC CEU’s and we are in the process of confirming that is still the case. We are currently working to increase it from 8hrs to 12hrs of CEU’s.

The Mentor Birth movement is the dreamchild of Roxanna McEwen. Based on connecting hope to purpose, and furthering your intentions as you guard the sanctity of birth. Protégé’s are the first step in becoming a Birth Mentor through the Mentor Birth modality. This workshop incorporates NLP techniques as well as those from non-violent communication and other sources. After this workshop, attendees will be Proteges in the Mentor Birth Community, with the opportunity to go further and become full Mentors themselves. All experiences are lessons, few are as profound as those taught by pregnancy and birth.

We start the morning with an amazing presentation from Gail Tully titled Standing in midwifery sovereignty requests us to claim
midwifery as a unique pathway and not as a substitute for low-risk obstetrics.
Midwifery sovereignty begins with identification of our unique purpose and
perspective. This session explores an emerging perspective, or new paradigm,
based on new understandings of birth physiology. The body is our Teacher. Gail
Tully’s Pelvic Levels Solutions^(SM) will offer several practical examples for application. Participant curiosity may then explore potential strengths and gaps between midwifery and the new physiology. Ideology and a currently popular force-based breech maneuver is one example proposed for immediate practice change to adapt neurophysiology over body mechanics.
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM, 3 hours and 45 minutes of instruction
ACNM CEs for 3 contact hours

Joyce Vogel is a well known name in the birth world and her Helping Babies Breathe class is the fantastic first step in her global health classes. We are excited to offer this incredible hands-on and engaging course at our conference.

Gail Hart is a name that needs very little introduction and her knowledge of the body is renowned. Hidden Anemias and Mysterious Bloodwork is a must for any provider who keeps getting those confusing clients that they can’t seem to pin down how to help.

Dr. Phindile Chowa joins us for the first time this year and is teaching a 5 part class series on Postpartum care. Her experience as a hands on birth worker and Emergency Room Physician gives her a unique view into the care protocols and helping everyone have better outcomes. Part 1 is Identifying Early Warning Signs: Post-partum, a quick dip into which signs say you might be seeing her in the ER soon. Part 2 is right after that and is about how to Develop Collaborative Postpartum Care Models so the patient can go from midwife to doctor and back again feeling safe and supported even when difficulties arise.

Sometimes there are a lot of people in the birth space. Between the midwives, the parents, the assistants, other family, maybe a few siblings, a doula and a photographer, it can get pretty full. Some birth workers do photography themselves as well. Suzanne Ledbetter is here to help you navigate birth photography in your space. What to expect from the photographers, what shots they may be trying to get around you and maybe how to get into it yourself.

Left Handed learning with Right Handed Preceptors is a class for everyone who has tried to learn a new skill using a mirror. Eudine Stevens talks about the unique learning challenges that come with having only right-handed teachers, models, tools and equipment and how you can overcome those challenges yourself.

Eudine Stevens is our go to gal for massage teaching, students love taking her classes so much, we have to offer them twice! Your first chance to learn Massage in the 3rd Trimester happens on Friday afternoon, we’ll have another chance to take it but space is limited due to the in-depth teaching all students receive so we suggest getting in early.

You’ve heard of sing-a-longs but have you heard of write-alongs? Shannon Mitchell guides us step by step through creating protocols and guidelines and the legal differences between them. Everyone who attends will get to copy along and help build a collaborative protocol to take home. We love our regular write-along and leave the notes up throughout conference so you can take pictures and work with your fellow practitioners on writing a few more before you leave.

Learning to Study Skillfully is taught by a new speaker this year, Crista Swift. Crista has spent the last several years as a student and now is a fully-fledged midwife in her own right and she has some notes to share about how to make sure all those amazing things you learned in class, stay in your brain! A fun and extremely helpful class, we look forward to this becoming a new favorite for conference go-ers.

Transitioning through Midwifery, it’s a scary thought about what could be on the other side. Midwifery is an all encompassing life calling and often it consumes us until we have to move on to something else. This class discusses after midwifery what can you do with your skills. Many people identify themselves based on their work, so we’ll be discussing how to detangle your work and your identity and how to retread yourself into your next chapter.

TBA – Watch this Space! TBA just means we have too much to pick from! We have dozens of speakers lining up and can’t wait to show you who will be in this space!

Dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun, it’s a fight to the death! Or is it? Dueling with Doulas is a fun and helpful class about how to succeed together and how to build long lasting relationships with those on the other side of the fence. Shannon and Suzanne take us through how their work turned into friendship and yours can too, after all, everyone deserves a doula.

Part 3 in the Postpartum Care series with Dr. Chowa sheds light on Addressing Maternal Disparities and how these can make all the difference in how the client is cared for before, during and after birth.

After lunch its time to talk about something a little hairy. Shannon Mitchell talks about Student Preceptor Relationships in an honest, down to earth and loving manner. This class was requested by several of her previous students and those who went through training alongside her and is becoming a staple discussion point at conferences.

Needing some sign-offs or skill practice? We have that for you! Joyce Vogel is leading the charge and helping you get your paperwork in order. We understand that it can be hard to get all the boxes ticked in time for testing so we offer trained midwives and preceptors to help you get the practice and paperwork squared away.

It’s the end of the day and to quote Lakeisha, we gotta make it through these hotflashes you know? Midwifery and Menopause is a new class being offered this year because it blossomed out of a discussion at the last conference. When your body is changing and maybe slowing down a bit, how do you handle that while still working a full case load? How do you care for yourself so you can care for others? Sit down with some light refreshments and relax as you swap tips and listen to the differences menopause makes in your work.

We’ve got a lot of learning from Gail this week but this class is taught by Gail Hart not Tully. Shoulder dystocia and malposition workshop is a great primer in how to handle these specific issues during birth. Gail Hart is well known for her incredible work and science based approach to life so come prepared to take a lot of notes and ask a lot of questions as she guides you through a malposition and how to overcome it.

After Lunch it’s the Parent Track! Our parent track is a way for locals to come in and learn about midwives and birth! This is also a great time for experienced speakers and new ones to come together and hone their skills. Parent Track is an all afternoon event so feel free to drift by or drop in and hear these 15 minute snippets of parent education and maybe pick up a few new tricks yourself!

Sunrise on New Souls, welcoming the first day and what it holds is an interactive panel discussing all of the outcomes of birth and how to welcome and hold space for them. It is a blessing and a calming, a caring and quiet moment all in one when that first new day dawns on a new soul.

Join us as we examine Transferring into Hospital Care from beginning to end. A panel discussion with a doula, a midwife who has worked home and hospital settings and an ER Doctor that will take you on the journey of a transfer. We’ll discuss how to know when it’s time to go, who to call or how to handle the transfer of records and information, what the staff on site need to know to provide the best care for your client and how to receive that client in their postpartum processing.

Will You Cover Me? taught by Shannon Mitchell is a class about the realities of midwifery. There will always be a day where you are too sick to go to a birth, two clients are giving birth at once or your car gets a flat tire. Having coverage in advance and agreeing to be that coverage is vital to homebirth midwives, but so often we don’t know how to have those conversations to start those kinds of relationships or hold each other accountable or move on when they don’t work out.

The last part of Dr. Chowa’s fantastic lecture series about Postpartum care is all about how to Implement Sustainable Postpartum Care Systems. Whether you have a hospital, birth center or homebirth setting there is always a risk of burnout or things falling through the cracks. This helps to eliminate those issues and provide real tools for real work.

TBA – Watch this Space! TBA just means we have too much to pick from! We have dozens of speakers lining up and can’t wait to show you who will be in this space!

This is your last chance to take Massage Techniques in the 3rd Trimester for the year so you better get in quick if you didn’t make it to the first one! Eudine Stevens’s class is so popular we have to offer it twice! You want to register for this one early because space is limited given the hands-on teaching style and practice.

Joyce Vogel and Eudine Stevens will be keeping up with your skill practices and sign-offs after lunch so make sure you come ready to wrestle a chicken! Don’t worry, it’s just part of a chicken and used for suturing practice. This is also the perfect time for those left handed students with right handed preceptors to have Eudine walk them through alternative ways to do certain skills safely.

Working With Deaf Clients is a brief introductory class on Deaf culture, sign languages and navigating using interpreters and other accessible communication. Often deaf parents are pushed towards hospital births because they are labeled high risk simply because of being deaf, in the hospital there are hearing tests and doctors and people constantly coming and going, often with little to no communication to the parents. Homebirth can be an incredible experience for these families, but several forms of deafness also come with other health problems and knowing that can help you and your clients make safe informed decisions about their care. Taught by Lashley Milligan, this is a new class on a delicate topic but worth the listen in if you live in an area with a high deaf population.

Breakfast for Dinner is a class about realistic scheduling strategies for you, your family and your work. As an admin Lashley Milligan has rarely heard a midwife who actually had business hours they stuck to. This can cause problems for you, your family, your support team and your clients. So instead of trying to make spaghetti happen when all of your ingredients are for fish tacos, let’s sit down and work with the ingredients we have and make something that works for everyone.

Eudine Stevens is teaching Newborn Massage, please feel free to bring a newborn to snuggle. Seriously though Eudine and her assistant will walk you through the art of newborn massage which is a wonderful bonding tool for your clients and their babies, a great class that fills up fast, register ahead for this one.

Preparing for First Flight is a class led by admin extraordinaire Lashley Milligan and geared towards new midwives, and those that need to brush up on their business skills. The first in a series that will also be offered online, basic business skills walks you through setting up your business, running it and beyond, one class at a time.

TBA – Watch this Space! TBA just means we have too much to pick from! We have dozens of speakers lining up and can’t wait to show you who will be in this space!

Thursday Night

Get yourself some dinner or have it delivered and join us for snacks and chats about what midwifery looks like around the world. We’re planning some small pampering steps like sharing our favorite bath salt recipes and discussing the importance of caring for the caregivers while we chat and get ready for the weekend ahead. We can’t wait to hear what you do to recharge from every corner of the continents.

Saturday Night

Midwifery Today CABARET! We host our own version of a talent show here folks. We have skits, songs, plays, someone might be dressed as a uterus, someone might be sharing an important and moving moment in midwifery, maybe even an admin or two hidden under a table. It’s all fun and games and don’t forget to stick around for the RAFFLE!!!

Midwifery Night Market! A new favorite tradition the night market is for all of our hobbies, side gigs and used but still good stuff. The rules are so long as something is legal to sell, in good working condition, and yours to sell, pretty much anything goes! Books, stethoscopes, that soap you make in your spare time. Make your own forum on our discord channel and hawk your wares, buy some extra raffle tickets and join the fun!!

Sunday Night

In the tradition of Trust Birth and Carla Hartley we’ll be having a stragglers breakfast for dinner Sunday Night. We wish it was a straggler’s breakfast but we’re going to make do and discuss our new memories and knowledge. So stick around and chat with us about what the year ahead looks like for you.