This is your day to determine whether midwifery is the profession for you. You will learn the heart and joy of the calling, as well as the challenges. We will concentrate on normal, miraculous birth.

A midwife with vast knowledge of traditional Mexican massage will explain some of the many techniques used by midwives in Mexico. Angelina will discuss positioning, remedies and customs from Mexico, with time to practice these techniques. Mexican traditional massage goes back thousands of years and is used for everything from fertility treatments to prenatal, birth and postpartum indications. Learn how to turn posterior and other presentations using a rebozo and massage.

Labor outcomes depend on women entering labor in a healthy state. Gail and Ina May will discuss preventing labor complications with prenatal care. Learn how individual care and good communication can positively affect labor. They will also share the protocols and techniques they use to help the mother move through the first stage of labor. This discussion will include prolonged rupture of membranes, failure to progress, abnormal labor patterns, non-medical intervention and more. Second stage is a time of watchfulness and sometimes mounting tension. Listen to these experienced midwives discuss constructive and effective ways to handle both normal and difficult situations.

Open to all registrants

From earliest history, women have shared their personal experiences of strength and healing. Stories wrapped with love and trust in the birth process have transmitted wisdom and confidence to each generation. Come to share or just to listen.

Michel will teach you how to look at birth through the eyes of a physiologist, which is a valuable asset to any midwife. In an easy-to-understand manner, he will cite important findings from many areas of research and explain how this information can affect mothers and babies, not only during birth, but also over the course of their lives. There will be time for questions and discussion following the presentation of leading-edge research and analysis of current problems.

Take a look at the current literature on doulas, upright positions, massage, hydrotherapy and touch as ways to offer comfort and facilitate rotation and descent for an easier, more satisfying birth experience. Women who are coping well with labor have some things in common: relaxation, rhythm and ritual (the 3 Rs). Comfort measures for labor such as the gate control theory of pain, hot and cold compresses, music, massage/touch, acupressure, aromatherapy and the birthing ball will be discussed. Techniques for second stage, such as the support squat, dangle, toilet, "tug of war" and lap squatting will be discussed. Debra also will talk about labor support in difficult labors.

The midwife is the key in the natural process of birth, and her knowledge and keen insight help women conquer their fears about birth. In this seminar about physiology, Verena will deepen your knowledge of the complex process of pregnancy, labor and birth. From a rich, holistic perspective, midwives will learn new observational tools for maintaining women in good health and preventing risks. Lecture, exercises and body work make for a dynamic, inspiring day that will help revitalize your practice.

In medieval times, placenta powder and essences were part of holistic care by midwives in cultures around the world. If stored correctly, the placenta can be used after birth to prepare baby creams, cream gravidarum or labor-inducing preparations. Teach families you care for how to make the most natural remedy from their placenta. Learn how to dry placentas. Peter Schmitz will discuss how to use the placenta in acupuncture. Come learn about this important modality. The book, Placenta: The Gift of Life by Cornelia Enning available from Midwifery Today, makes a perfect resource for this important class.

A roundtable of pertinent tips on a wide variety of topics, from the use of herbs and preventing prolonged labor and perineal tears, to helping the slow-to-start baby and alternatives to drugs. The session will focus on techniques from around the world, with a concentration on Mexico. Bring your questions and your techniques.

Birth is a trip of a lifetime. Journey with us through the positive and negative aspects of birth and learn about how it is practiced around the world. Learn where islands of strong movement and best practices exist and how you can do your part to increase the positive factors and stem the tide of negative factors.

Traditionally it has been thought that a sleeping baby will not feed and a hungry baby will not sleep. During the first 24 hours, mothers whose babies are too sleepy to feed or who sleep too long are encouraged to gently wake the baby using alerting techniques. Suzanne has identified 20 primitive neonatal reflexes aiding latch and sustaining milk transfer. These were observed to release breastfeeding behaviours even when babies were in sleep states. Come and learn about neonatal behavioural states and how to use the sleep states to stimulate breastfeeding initiation.

Explore the many benefits of and skills required for homebirth. Our teachers present different ways to provide the homebirth client with the highest standard of care. They will explore the homebirth model and why it is best for mothers and babies. They will explain how to go about setting up and maintaining a homebirth practice.

Find out about biological nurturing and the BRA (Breastfeeding and Reflex Assessment), a new approach to breastfeeding initiation that is quick and easy to do. This sheds new light on variables such as neonatal behavioural state to underpin the assessment of successful breastfeeding. Come and learn more about the indicators of maternal/infant well-being from a feeding perspective.

Induction has become rampant, with more healthy pregnant women falling into this trap leading to a cascade of interventions. Dangerous methods of induction have also become epidemic. This alarming trend affects midwives and their clients. We will look at the change in postdate determination as it regards induction of labor.

Many episodes of excessive blood loss are either preventable or foreseeable and easily controlled. It is important to facilitate delivery of the placenta with patience. Learn techniques and approaches that render the need for pharmaceuticals rare. You will learn how to assess and deal with bleeding in a way that will increase your confidence.

This is a fantastic tool to restart labor. You will wonder how you practiced without it. “I saw this work at a birth in Mexico where Verena and I were present. This labor had stopped entirely at about 7 cm. Verena did this massage and the labor restarted. The woman had her baby a couple hours later,” says Jan Tritten.

What forces shape our approach to birth? Do we bring confidence and positive expectations, or fear and apprehension? We will share how we can develop the trust necessary to allow the patient unfolding of the process through the midwife/motherbaby relationship, while remaining alert and prepared for any problems or complications.

Learn how interactive birth, in which the mother and baby are not separated, creates mirror neurons in both of them. Mirror neurons induce imitation and intuitive motion, which are necessary to bonding and non-verbal communication. Birth is the moment in which babies switch between inborn patterns of behavior into adaptive patterns.

The importance of positioning, maternal sense of control and flexibility to approaches will be shared as well as how to do an early diagnosis.

Learn from amazing video footage about the subtle reflexes the mother and baby exhibit in birth and shortly after when born naturally in water. This class will help you sharpen your powers of observation.

Pregnancy, birth and the first hour after birth have incredible impact on the mother and baby. Come learn what you can do to protect the mother and baby so an excellent beginning is facilitated. Come learn to do little.

Do you have a dance, poem, song or act to share? This is always a time of fun and relaxation. Let's share our talents.
 
A tribute to Tricia Anderson will be included. We will have an open mike to tell a few stories of this amazing midwife's life.

Jan Tritten explains: "I was at a conference in Mexico when I heard this mistranslation of ‘Evidence-based Medicine.' It resounded so much with me that I knew we had to cover this important subject." So much research is poorly done, old or manipulated. We will cover the double standard applied to subjects such as midwifery and alternative therapies. Included will be medicine as pseudoscience and medical myths posing as research.

Many blocks have formed against midwives being able to practice the true art of midwifery. Come and learn what they are and how to stay true to motherbaby and their real needs.

To be effective we try to keep the woman the center and focus of holistic care. Women who are considered high-risk are more likely to feel vulnerable. If a woman can be helped to feel safe she will undoubtedly have a better birth experience. During this class we will discuss how we can provide a better birth experience to women at high risk.

The relationship between midwife and client helps create a trusting birth experience. Learn how women's bodies function differently when trust exists. Learn the heart of care during the prenatal period. Gail and Elizabeth will explain how to prevent birth complications by helping women achieve physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Is birth always painful? Can birth be an orgasmic experience? Follow the neurological and psychological path of pain interpretation and learn useful techniques to assist women in moving from pain to pleasure.

Sphincters are useful in explaining how birth works. Learn to prepare your pelvic muscles for birth. The Farm takes the art of birthing a step further. See the power of homebirth inoculate the culture against fear in birth. Everybody knows how sphincters work. Could you poop uphill, do it on command, open it no matter how much you are on display?

In this well-loved Midwifery Today format, you'll sit in on three interesting and inspiring roundtables of your choice. Roundtables will include:

Find out what biological nurturing is. Learn more about Suzanne's original research and ideas that will revolutionalize the field of breastfeeding support. Gain knowledge of leading edge research. You may be shocked by the video clips that support this concept. Study the supporting evidence for biological nurturing.

Verena will discuss ways of pushing and the transformation of the perineum. She will include maternal positions and effects on the mechanism of labor. She teaches this in a clear and comprehensible manner that helps you truly understand the baby's path through the pelvis and out into the world with the least resistance.

Besides inviting you to sing, we ask you to bring something to make sound with. Make sure the items are unbreakable and won't damage the pool. This evening promises to be filled with beautiful sounds.

We will explore some of the many changes we have made and are making. What are your ideas for making changes in the way birth is happening in the world?

Is the midwife who sits by the pool and watches the mother labor effectively in the water and breathe her baby out, and encourages the mother to pick up baby by herself heralding a new way for midwives to be "with women"? This session will look at the evolution of waterbirth and how to incorporate the psychological preparation for waterbirth into every practice.

Fear in pregnancy and birth can have many consequences for both family and healthcare provider. This class will help you define, understand and move through the fear that confronts us. Learn several ways of helping women, including midwives, turn fear into trust.

The fourth stage of labor (successful attachment and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact) is intricately linked to everything that happens for mother and baby during the birth sequence. The baby experiences two strong biological imperatives during labor. One is to be born and the other is to attach to a breast. Learn how to prevent common breastfeeding problems through prenatal preparation, birth management and skillful breastfeeding counselling postpartum.

Our speakers will discuss the mechanisms of normal and stuck breech birth and techniques for handling each. These midwives have great combined experience with breech deliveries. Fine-tune your skills at this important class.

Keeping birth normal is the biggest challenge in childbirth today. Learn how nutrition, love, communication, continuity of care, intervention and other factors can affect the normal birth process.

How do we get a long labor to progress? Long labors may be associated with complications ranging from social or emotional issues to physical problems. We will learn different reasons for prolonged labor, as well as methods for helping women move along in labor. Analysis of myth and reality will also be discussed.

Anxiety is a simple word, but psychology is a complicated concept. Psychology of birth is about not just anxiety, but much more. Psychology of labor and psychology of birth are multifactorial processes with many subtleties. Let's put together our scientific knowledge and our experiences as professionals to explore these processes from a practical point of view.

Angelina, a midwife with a vast knowledge of traditional Mexican massage, and Eneyda, a licensed massage therapist and US midwife, are your teachers. They will explain why massage is essential for pregnant and birthing women and show you how to do several types. Time for practice will be included. They will discuss the importance of healing touch as a loving and safe remedy for the pregnant and laboring body.

Observing cultural traditions and their impact on pregnancy and birth is fascinating. We will learn how to use a rebozo, a very useful tool in all parts of the childbearing cycle. Discover simple techniques that promote healthy pregnancy and birth. Angelina teaches traditional midwifery practices in a way that helps you improve your own practice. Take Mexican techniques back to your practice.

Through photos and words we will conclude our time together with an inspiring presentation. We will sing together in a closing circle.