Birth Currents! Midwifery Events in California

…a place where love for the LORD and fellowship abounds!
You can register online, right now!
Go to www.ChristianMidwiv es.org for registration and more information

NEW DEVELOPMENTS!
Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, M.D., J.D., M.P.H of Homefirst® will be our special guest. Meals with Dr. Eisenstein will be auctioned and he will be available for book signing of his new book; Home Birth Advantage! Homefirst have delivered over 14,0000 babies at home!!
Shonda Parker and Jennifer Vander Laan will also be available for book signing!
This is a great conference for midwives, doulas, CBE’s, L&D nurses, LC’s and anyone involved in childbirth!!
Also…..

Great Speakers and classes
27.5 hours through MEAC & ACNM!
The goody bags are worth over 100 bucks!
The door prizes are fabulous and abundant!
The raffle items are amazing this year

BREASTFEEDING PEER COUNSELOR TRAINING WORKSHOP – MAY 16-18, 2008 –PASADENA, CA

Support the Gift of Health That Lasts a Lifetime — Breastfeeding! A 3-day training workshop is offered by the Pasadena Public Health Department Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Outreach and Black Infant Health Programs to give women the skills to help other women breastfeed. Breastfeeding is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization and is one of the public health goals established by the U.S. Healthy People 2010 campaign to improve the health of mothers and infants. You do not need to have any experience with breastfeeding to participate. We will teach you everything you need to know to help new mothers give their babies the gift of health that lasts a lifetime – breastmilk. We will also teach you how to promote breastfeeding in your community. Women of all ethnicities, ages and backgrounds are welcome to attend.

Mothers, grandmothers, health outreach workers, aspiring/assistant midwives, childbirth educators, aspiring lactation consultants, Doulas and labor assistants, nurses, nursing assistants, nursing students, health educators, perinatal health workers, prenatal office staff, student teachers, early childhood educators, child development specialists and case managers working with mothers and infants. This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who wants to promote breastfeeding, anyone who is currently working with mothers and infants or anyone who would like to do so…don’t miss out!

By the end of this 3-day (18-hour) workshop, participants will be able to:

Describe four benefits of breastfeeding for mothers and infants.

Discuss four components of breastmilk.

Identify breast anatomy and describe the physiology of breastfeeding.

Describe three barriers that confront breastfeeding mothers.

Describe three ways to provide support to a breastfeeding mother.

Explain basic breastfeeding management.

Demonstrate three positions for breastfeeding.

Provide three resources for breastfeeding mothers.

Demonstrate two techniques for assisting infants to latch on.

Demonstrate an ability to apply the Three Step Counseling Strategy for communication.

Geraldine Perry-Williams, PHN, MSN is a public health nurse and Maternal Child and Adolescent Health Coordinator for The City of Pasadena Public Health Dept., newborn nursery nurse, and a mother who breastfed her four children.

Cordelia S. Hanna-Cheruiyot, BA, CCE, CBA, MPH-C , is an ALACE Certified Childbirth Educator, ALACE Certified Birth Assistant, Assistant Midwife and is a Masters in Public Health Candidate in Health Education and Promotion/Maternal Child Health, and the Health Educator and Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program coordinator for The City of Pasadena Public Heath Dept. Black Infant Health Program, and a mother who breastfed her two children.

Registration Information: $175 per person. Fees include continental breakfast, a training manual and 2 textbooks. Limited partial scholarships are available for women who can commit to volunteering.

Deadlines: Scholarship application deadline April 16, 2008. Deadline to enroll in the training is May 1, 2008. Please contact us for application.

CEUs: Continuing education credit will be offered for Registered Nurses. CEUs for Certified Childbirth Educators and Certified Childbirth Assistants are pending. Contact us for more information.

For more information, contact:
Cordelia S. Hanna-Cheruiyot, BA, CCE, CBA (ALACE), MPH-C
Community Services Representative III
Black Infant Health Program and
Maternal Child, Adolescent Health Outreach Program

City of Pasadena Public Health Department
Black Infant Health Program
1845 N Fair Oaks Ave., 2nd Floor
Pasadena, CA 91103
626-744-6093
626-396-8712 (fax)
Email: channa-cheruiyot@cityofpasadena.net

CIRCLE OF LIFE, CIRCLE OF LIGHT" - CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF MIDWIVES 30TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - MAY 16-18, 2008 -
OCCIDENTAL, CALIFORNIA

Topics: An inspiring weekend with fun and education. Offering fascinating speakers, enticing vendors, stimulating entertainment, great midnight stories, great networking, and the latest about midwifery politics in California.

Speakers and Activites include: Robbie Davis-Floyd, PhD, Mary Jackson, LM , RN, Ray Castellino, DC, Pam England, CNM, and more…Learn about suturing, neonatal ressucitation, caring for twin pregnancies, Perinatal Depression, management of miscarraige, the politics of renegade midwifery as asset or liability, the history of midwifery and much, much more…see flyer for details

Who Should Attend: Midwives, Aspiring/Student Midwives, Midwifery Assistants, Doulas, Childbirth Educators, Expectant women, obstetricians, family practice doctors, public health professionals interested in maternal child health.

ADVANCED DOULA TRAINING WORKSHOP
Saturday, May 3, 200810 AM- 5 PM – Santa Monica

Topic/Speaker:

“BIRTH, THE JOURNEY THAT SHAPES OUR LIFE”

An Audio-Visual Presentation by Anna Verwaal, RN, CLE, Birth Photographer/Doula/Educator

Description:
During an all day presentation we will explore:

· How the cellular memory of our own conception, womb-life and birth experience
is still effecting us today.

· Understanding the origins of our own behavior in relationship to supporting our clients
· How to help our clients understand their fears & beliefs may come from their own prenatal and birth imprinting

Whether you are ‘experienced’ or ‘new’ to the doula profession you won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from Anna’s wisdom, passion and many years of experience.

DONA, DASC and ALACE trained doulas are welcome

Fee:
$125 per person
(Doula’s unable to attend due to a birth will receive a full refund. Please bring lunch! )

Registration: Please call Judy Chapman at 310-453-5144 for directions and to RSVP. Space is limited, to reserve your seat please send check for the full amount to “Chapman Family Center”, 521 Montana Ave # 102, Santa Monica, CA 90403

About the Workshop Facilitator:

Anna Verwaal, RN, CLE is a Maternal-Child Health Nurse, Birth Consultant, Labor Doula and UCLA Certified Lactation Educator. Currently, Anna has a birth consulting, labor-doula service, educating and encouraging couples to make informed decisions with regards to their birth choices. She prepares and empowers women to give birth naturally instead of “being delivered” and frequently lectures about the cellular memory of our own birth experience, mother nature’s divine physiological blueprint for birthing & bonding as well as the deeply psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects of giving birth.
For more info on Anna please go to http://www.fromwombtoworld.com

Childbirth Connection is planning their 90th Symposium for April 2009, Transforming Maternity Care: A High Value Proposition “to assess the current maternity system, clarify optimal maternity care quality, access and value. The conference will result in concrete action steps for using performance measurement and the alignment of economic incentives with optimal practice to achieve the safest, most effective care processes and outcomes with least harm to mothers and babies.”

Childbirth Connection is calling for Stakeholder Sector Workgroup Participation. “Leaders in healthcare are invited to participate in a collaborative effort to develop a strategic plan for improving maternity care quality and value that is achievable, evidence-based and inclusive of the broadest possible range of stakeholders while giving priority to needs and interests of childbearing women.” They are asking “who needs to do what, to, for, with who to improve quality of maternity care over the next five years.”

You are invited to review the attached information and submit your recommendations for stakeholder workgroup participants in each category. See attached worksheet in the document that is attached and fax or email your suggestions. Workgroup participants are needed in each of these areas:

The Maternity Care Association (MCA) was founded in 1918 to reduce maternal and infant mortality in New York City. The organization changed it’s name to Childbirth Connection in 2006. They have spent 90 years working on ways to improve the quality of maternity care and to address the best interests of mothers and babies. They established the first out of hospital birth center in 1975 and helped establish the American College of Nurse-Midwives and the first nurse-midwife program in the U.S. They also have commissioned systemic reviews to clarify best evidence about birth outcomes and pioneered the Listening to Mothers Survey (www.childbirthconnection.org) that described American women’s childbearing experiences and clarified evidence-practice gaps.

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE UNITED STATES HAS RECENTLY SEEN AN INCREASE IN INDUCTIONS, CESAREANS AND MATERNAL MORTALITY? NOW YOU CAN BE PART OF THE SOLUTION…

…increase transparency in maternity care by helping doctors, midwives and birth facilities improve the quality of their care. You can’t make maternity care the best it can be if you don’t have the data women need.
Share. Connect. Learn.

SHARE your birth experience with others who are deciding where and with whom to

CONNECT with a provider or birth setting that meets your needs and philosophies by

viewing consumer feedback on local hospitals, birth centers, doctors and midwives from other women in your community.

LEARN about and view information on hospitals and birth centers in your community that will help women make important birth care choices.

The Transparency in Maternity Care Project was started in February 2006 by the Grassroots Advocates Committee (GAC) of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) (www.motherfreindly.com), a volunteer group of leading maternity care providers, researchers, and organizations dedicated to ensuring public access to quality of care information specifically related to maternity care providers and institutions. CIMS believes that granting expectant parents access to information is a vital step in increasing transparency in maternity care. Now your clients can share their birth experience with other women in your community at www.thebirthsurvey.com. Help other women in your community find quality providers and birth settings that are compatible with their needs and philosophies. The Birth Survey at www.thebirthsurvey.com works by asking birthing women who have given birth in the US in the last three years to provide feedback about their doctor, midwife, and birth environment. Responses are made available online to other women in their community who are deciding where and with whom to birth.

Paired with this consumer feedback data will be official statistics from Health Departments, this will be an invaluable tool to help women make truly informed choices in childbirth and help maternity care providers provide evidence-based care.

FREE
Available to women who have given birth in the US in the last three years, beginning August 2008. Pilot project was in NYC and Philadelphia. You can view results at thebirthsurvey.com and sample the survey for yourself.

Accessible online 24/7
Visit www.thebirthsurvey.com.
Asks birthing women nationwide to provide feedback about their doctor, midwife, and birth environment. Responses are made Available online to other women in their community who are deciding where and with whom to birth. You will be able to look up a specific hospital and a specific doctor and get their rates of induction, c-section, VBAC, episiotomy, etc.

Giving women a voice about their pregnancy and birth care
A way to Connect: Its like a consumer reports for birth
For women who want a doctor or midwife or hospital who is compatible with their philosophies and needs .
For expectant parents looking for a hospital, birth center, or homebirth service that is highly rated by other women in your community

The Birth Survey at www.thebirthsurvey.com is an online resource for expectant parents, much like a “consumer reports” for quality of care for maternity care providers and institutions, so that parents can make informed choices for their pregnancy and birth care that are compatible with their own philosophies and needs.

The Birth Survey at www.thebirthsurvey.com works by asking birthing women nationwide to provide feedback about their doctor, midwife, and birth environment. Responses are made available online to other women in their community who are deciding where and with whom to birth.…find what other women have to say about specific doctors, midwives and birth options in your community.

Learn: Get the information you need about hospitals and birth centers in your community…

Want to know what the cesarean section rate is at your local hospital or birth center? Check out www.thebirthsurvey.com

You can’t make informed maternity care decision if you don’t know the numbers. Find the information you need at www.thebirthsurvey.com.

Information on hospital and birth center intervention rates, such as cesarean sections, inductions, pain medications, and breastfeeding initiation rates, are provided from official statistics from state departments of health. To view the rates for your community visit: www.thebirthsurvey.com.

The CIMS Transparency in Maternity Care Project is connecting expectant parents, doctors, midwives and birth facilities with the information they need to receive and give quality mother-friendly maternity care.

Help expectant parents find doctors, midwives, and birth settings that best match their needs and philosophies.
It can be easier to get consumer satisfaction and quality information about a car or even a blender than it is to get information about maternity services. The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) has developed The Birth Survey so families can share information, learn about the choices and birth experiences of other women in their community, and view data on hospital and birth center intervention rates and practices. Consumers have the right to compare the practices and attitudes of health care providers and institutions and health care experts agree that transparency is a priority for making the best health care decisions.

The Survey will be available nationally August 1st, 2008. Thank you for taking the time to help other women in your community. Any woman who gave birth in the last 3 years is welcome to take the survey online.

Send an email to info@thebirthsurvey.com to find out ways you can get involved, big or small. And it would be a tremendous help if you forward this email to your contacts or publish this in your newsletters.

The Birth Survey at www.thebirthsurevy.com is an online resource for expectant parents, much like a “consumer reports” for quality of care for maternity care providers and institutions, so that parents can make informed choices for their pregnancy and birth care that are compatible with their own philosophies and needs.

…increasing transparency in maternity care and helping doctors, midwives and birth facilities improve the quality of their care. You can’t make your care the best it can be if you don’t have the data you need.

A voice for birthing women. A voice for providers and facilities. A voice for mother-friendly care.

CALIFORNIA BREASTFEEDING COALITION (CBC) MEETING AND TRAINING – MAY 5, 2008 - SAN DIEGO, CA
Description: An exciting and substantive agenda is planned for our statewide meeting, co-located with CWA Annual Meeting. Agenda includes coalition building, advocacy and media training, lactation support in the workplace training, report on the USBC National Coalition meeting, and plans for the annual breastfeeding walk and employer awards. Let's celebrate with an awards ceremony!
Cost: Contact sue7211@aol.com for details.
Registration and cost: Contact Sue Wirth at sue7211@aol.com with questions and/or registration materials.

BREASTFEEDING TASKFORCE OF LOS ANGELES GENERAL MEETING – TUESDAY APRIL 22, 2008 –INGLEWOOD, CA

Description: Come find out about the breastfeeding education and promotion activities of the taskforce. Network with other breastfeeding promoters throughout Los Angeles County. Share about your program.

Location:
South Los Angeles Health Projects
2930 Imperial Hwy., Ste. 601
Inglewood, CA 90303

Registration and Cost: Contact www.breastfeedla.org Breastfeeding Taskforce of Los Angeles.
For more information, or to get on their mailing list for future meetings and seminars.

OUT OF HOSPITAL VS. HOSPITAL BIRTH WORKSHOP – MONDAY EVENINGS – IRVINE, CA

This FREE workshop is offered to anyone pursuing an interest in an out-of-hospital birth. This workshop is also ideal for all you skeptics out there! Highlights will include benefits of birthing out of the hospital vs. in the hospital, midwifery vs. medical doctor care, research and statistical evidence supporting out-of-hospital and midwives and much more!

.
A complementary vegetarian dinner will be served, so please put in your reservation today! Workshops are held twice per month on Monday evenings. Call for our upcoming schedule.

You will leave this workshop with empowering information to enable your important decision about choosing a prenatal care provider.

Target Audience: Expectant Parents or those who are planning on getting pregnant

South Coast Midwifery & Women's Health Care
4650 Barranca Parkway
Irvine, CA 92604
949.654.2727

Westside Women's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, a community clinic offering comprehensive ob/gyn and family-planning services by UCLA's Certified Nurse-Midwives, has a doula program for their Medi-Cal patients. Doulas will be matched with pregnant patients who deliver at UCLA Medical Center with Nurse-Midwives. If you are a Certified Doula or Birth Assistant and would like to volunteer, contact Anto Maria Honon, Perinatal Coordinator, at 310-450-2191 ext. 229.

"Hearts and Hands Doula Program" at UCSD Medical Center Hillcrest is looking for certified and/or experienced labor support providers, doulas or birth assistants. Also, those with personal experience helping families during labor may apply. This is a great opportunity to make a contribution to women and to gain valuable new experiences. Contact: Karen Lindquist, Director of Volunteer Services, UCSD Medical Center at 619-543-6370. "Heart and Hands Doula Program" is a cooperative effort between UCSD Medical Center and Athena Women's Health and The BirthPlace, a low-risk, in-hospital birthing center with care by Certified Nurse Midwives.

The Pasadena Public Health Department Black Infant Health Program Caring Companions Doula Referral Service offers free doula services to women who receive prenatal care at Pasadena Public Health Department prenatal clinic, and to all women in Los Angeles County who have Medi-Cal or who are low-income.

Doulas seeking births needed for certification who would like to make a difference in the lives of African-American and Hispanic women and babies are invited to volunteer to do labor support. Most clients deliver at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. African-American Doulas and Spanish speaking doulas are encouraged to apply; but doulas of all backgrounds are welcome.

Application and TB testing are required before being put on a referral list that will be given to clients seeking Doulas.

The Black Infant Health Program is funded by The California Department of Health Services Maternal and Child Health Branch to address the issue of premature birth, low birth weight and infant mortality in the African-American community. The program utilizes a framework of social support and empowerment to reach these objectives.

Your right to give birth with a midwife in a birth center or your home is under threat! Your help is needed!

There are many barriers to midwifery practice in the state of California at this time. The issues of 1) Licensed Midwives obtaining Physican Supervision as required by law, 2) homebirth and birth center midwives being able to procure malpractice insurance, and 3) the difficulty in obtaining licenses for new midwives since the Seattle Midwifery School California Midwifery Licensing Challenge Process has been discontinued, present complex political challenges for midwives, aspiring midwives and parents who use their services.

All midwives, midwifery students, apprentices and parents who use midwifery services are urged to get involved and participate in the strategy to remove these crucial barriers to midwifery practice. Be sure that your midwife will be there when you (or your friend, daughter or neighbor) need her services!

We need to raise ten thousand dollars for legislative actions, legal services and community education to preserve California midwifery.

Community meetings for all persons who want to preserve a parents right to give birth with midwives are forming to address these important issues and strategies. Frank Cuny, from California Citizens for Health Freedom along with California Licensed Midwives will be facilitating the meetings. For more information, please contact Faith Gibson at: 650-328-8491 or E-mail: goodnews@best.com to be placed on the meeting notification list, or to sign up to work on community organizing/education and fundraising projects.

IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND A MEETING, PLEASE MAKE A FINANCIAL DONATION OF ANY AMOUNT TO:

Citizens Adovating Licensed Midwifery
(CALM)
3542 Fruitvale Ave. #205
Oakland, CA 94602-2327
Renee Anker, Secretary
E-mail: renee@marcie.com
650-851-6833
www.calmidwifery.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO GET INVOLVED, CONTACT THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS:

Joined together with other citizens who support alternative health modalities, we will form a effective community-based alliance to preserve our right to choose to give birth with midwives. Please lend a hand to keep community-based midwifery and childbirth at home from becoming extinct! Be part of the action to right this historical wrong. Please join the The Health-Medical Freedom Movement and the be part plans to preserve homebirth and midwifery in California.

The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC), an organization dedicated to ending preventable morbidity, mortality and racial disparities in California maternity care, recently launched a new Web site at www.cmqcc.org. CMQCC is a group of clinicians, maternity care leaders and birth advocates that works with organizations and individuals to bring resources, tools, measures and quality improvement techniques to providers, administrators and public health leaders in California. Their new site provides current information about California maternal outcomes, key links, as well as resources and tools to assist organizations in quality improvement in maternity care. For more information about CMQCC's initiatives, visit www.cmqcc.org.

In a recent post at the Lamaze Normal Birth Forum, moderator Henci Goer offers some quick and useful suggestions for doulas when assisting mothers in birth. Her tips, which also apply to anyone assisting a laboring woman, include:

To read the rest of Henci's tips, as well as discussions on other informative birth topics, visit the Normal Birth Forum. Hosted by the Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth, the Forum is a free Web board where expectant parents, birth advocates, professionals and childbirth class students all can find honest, evidence-based answers to their questions about conception, pregnancy, birth and beyond.

Save the date and plan to attend the Lamaze International 2008 Annual Conference, "Off and Running for Normal Birth," in Louisville, KY, September 11-14. Challenge yourself to achieve your potential by sharing information and experiences with other childbirth educators, nurses, midwives, doulas, administrators, doctors, physical therapists, birth advocates, social workers, authors and researchers. Attendees at this year's conference will enjoy inspiring presentations from our plenary speakers, as well as thought-provoking educational sessions.

Registration for the Lamaze 2008 Annual Conference will open soon. As an e-News subscriber, you'll receive the latest conference-related updates and deadline information.

Lamaze homestudies offer a convenient and affordable way for childbirth educators, nurses and other maternal-child health professionals to earn contact hours. Lamaze International is an approved provider of continuing education in nursing by the Virginia Nurses Association, which is accredited as an approver of continuing education in nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

View the Lamaze homestudies page for more information and to register for these and all available homestudies. Be sure to check back later in March for the new JPE 17.1 homestudy.

Looking for ways to motivate your community this spring? Bring together local childbirth educators, nurses, doulas, midwives, breastfeeding specialists and other maternal-child health professionals and help them gain confidence in their ability to educate women and families on pregnancy, labor, birth, breastfeeding and parenting by hosting a Lamaze Specialty Workshop.

New this year, Lamaze is offering all workshop hosts a $50 gift certificate to the Lamaze Bookstore & Media Center, along with new registration incentives. In addition to the one complimentary workshop registration, if 15 or more participants attend your public workshop, you will receive one additional free registration; two additional free registrations for 30-44 participants; and three additional registrations for 45 or more!

visit www.lamaze.org and click on "Sign Up for Free Newsletters" on the right-hand side.

If you would like your childbirth, breastfeeding, women's health, parenting or midwifery-related event in Southern California listed here, please e-mail the details to cordelia@socalbirth.com.