Birth Advocacy Online Course(s) & Continuing Education
Access the latest clinical skills and research for Birth Advocacy for MIDWIFERY professional training. These Birth Advocacy online courses provide practice-changing skills and valuable perspectives from leading global experts. This Birth Advocacy education has been accredited for a variety of CEUs / CERPs and can be accessed on-demand, at your own pace.
Birth at the Border: A Case Study of Refugees and Migrants at the Tijuana-San Diego Border
CNM Ximena Rojas Garcia is a Midwife and licensed Obstetric Nurse from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, she comes from a line of traditional midwives. Ximena has 15 years of experience in her field and as a Midwifery Professor, she has certifications in Obstetrical Emergencies, Neonatal Resuscitation, Water birthing and Acupuncture. Ximena founded "Partería y Medicinas Ancestrales," the only Mexican Midwifery NGO that includes Midwives from all paths and programs, which was instrumental in providing maternal health access during the humanitarian crisis after the arrival of thousands of asylum seekers from Haiti, Congo and Central America to the US-Mexico border.
Ximena has been collaborating with Stanford University's Obstetricians, Gynecologists and Pediatricians to train Midwives and Health providers at the US San Diego-Tijuana border to improve birth outcomes. She organizes direct relief to support trauma recovery responding to crises and disasters as a member of Acupuncturists Without Borders. Ximena also created a Doula training program, responsible for training more than 300 Doulas in Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala, aimed at eradicating obstetric violence, lowering the frequency of unnecessary c-sections, and decreasing maternal and newborn mortality.
Ximena is one of the founders and co-directors of Refugee Health Alliance and currently practices clinically at Justicia en Salud RHA Sexual & reproductive health free clinic. She established the first free birth center in Baja California, Mexico that serves vulnerable populations including displaced migrants, asylum seekers, deportees, sexual assault survivors, black, brown and indigenous families who historically had faced forced sterilizations, higher maternal death and newborn death. Her philosophy of birth is: Birth is a unique experience like a ceremony that heals trauma and the next generations when we hold space for it to happen.
Over the past years, Tijuana, Mexico, has seen an influx of U.S.-bound refugees and migrants, many of whom have escaped incredibly difficult situations in their country of origin. With no or little access to healthcare, pregnant women and girls are often most vulnerable.
Parteras Fronterizas / Borderland Midwives caters to the unique needs of this underserved patient population by utilizing a holistic approach that combines midwifery, traditional and Western medical practices.
This presentation explores the unique challenges pregnant migrants and refugees face at the US/Mexico border.
It highlights the importance of the midwifery model of care and dives into how midwives and healthcare providers can provide compassionate, trauma informed and comprehensive care despite difficult and limiting circumstances. The presentation will also discuss global health and midwifery skills that can help dismantle health disparities.
View Details / Enroll
Midwifing the Midwife: Key Elements to Scaling Up and Sustaining our Workforce
Dr. Breedlove is a past president of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. In 2017 she formed a consulting company, Grow Midwives LLC, to educate Physicians and Hospitals and support Midwives in the design and scaling of best practices in collaborative care models. Prior to consulting she was on faculty 17 years as Professor of Nursing and Midwifery at Shenandoah University and University of Kansas School of Nursing. She co-founded the first free-standing birthing center in Topeka, Kansas in 1979, the first Midwife service in Kansas City, Missouri in 1994, and established the University of KS Midwifery program in 1999. In 2016 she co-founded March for Moms with Dr. Neel Shah and has served as President three years. March for Moms is a new non-profit organization working to align and coordinate the efforts of families, healthcare providers, policymakers and other partners acting to achieve the best possible health and well-being of all mothers. In 2019 over 40 stakeholders joined for the third national rally on the Washington DC Mall. In 2018 Dr. Breedlove edited and launched a book for first-time parents navigating the first six weeks of pregnancy titled, Nobody Told Me About That!
Topic: Postpartum Pause: Identifying Gaps In Preparedness for Parenting - [View Abstract]
Barriers to accessible, affordable and respectful midwifery practice exist in every country. These barriers inevitably reduce the ability for midwives to provide their full scope of care and can impact the scaling up or sustainability of the workforce. Barriers range from pay inequity to lack of recognition, to regulatory practice barriers and poor reimbursement for services. Regardless of the contributing barrier, there are fundamental steps that can be strategically planned to advance change. Although midwives may lead the call for change, purposeful planning is the focus of this presentation. Have you documented a current, compelling story about why – what is the issue and why is it important? What barriers are the most pressing, and, what can you bring forward as a proposed solution? Who are your supporters on the side that perhaps should be promoted as front and center advocates? Do you know how to organize an effective public advocacy movement? Are you skilled in the art of negotiation – getting everyone to YES? This presentation aims to guide midwives to critically evaluate the process of self-preparedness in order to scale up and sustain the profession. Information to "midwife the midwife" beyond clinical expertise toward a voice and champion for change.
View Details / Enroll
Cristen Pascucci is an advocate for human rights in childbirth. She is the founder of Birth Monopoly and working on a documentary film exposing the epidemic of obstetric violence and the state-sanctioned suppression of midwifery in the U.S. With a background in public affairs, Cristen has led multiple consumer-based advocacy campaigns to get birth trauma and institutional mistreatment in maternity care into the media. Today she teaches birth and healthcare workers about their patients' human rights.
In this session, we'll explore a deeper understanding of what obstetric violence is and the many ways it manifests to undermine and harm birthing people—as well as puts their caregivers and support teams in compromising positions. We'll discuss how birth professionals can avoid committing or contributing to obstetric violence themselves and how they can help make trauma informed care--including self-healing--the industry standard.
View Details / Enroll
The Ethics & Realities of Forced Cesarean Surgery
Jen Kamel is a VBAC strategist, national speaker, and founder of VBAC Facts®. VBAC Facts was born out of her own frustration as a cesarean parent attempting to understand the medical literature and political barriers surrounding VBAC. Her mission is to increase VBAC access through educational programs, legislative action, and amplifying the consumer voice. She envisions a time when every pregnant person seeking VBAC has access to unbiased information, respectful providers, and community support so they can plan the joyful birth of their choosing in the setting they desire. She travels the country presenting her signature program, “The Truth About VBAC” and speaking at various regional and national conferences, including Human Rights in Childbirth, DONA International, and the Indiana Midwives Association. She has testified multiple times in front of the California Medical Board on the importance of VBAC access and is a board member for the California Association of Midwives.
Are women forced into cesarean surgery? How is this possible? When does it happen? Why does it occur? And what do forced/coerced cesareans really look like? This session will explore the extreme disconnect between medical evidence, national guidelines, ethical responsibilities and the current maternity care system. We will focus on the role of hospital “VBAC bans” which restrict access to vaginal birth after cesarean and mandate repeat cesarean as well as the public health fallout of such policies. We will review how forced cesareans can occur in the face of national guidelines that denounce them while professional ethics simultaneously affirm and honor the autonomy of the pregnant person. Finally we will close with how we can turn the tide, create change, and improve the care our clients and children will ultimately receive.
