Pregnancy, Labour & Childbirth Online Course(s) & Continuing Education

Saleemah McNeil is a Reproductive Psychotherapist, Certified Lactation Consultant, professionally trained Birth Doula and a traumatic birth survivor. Saleemah has dedicated her work to helping families of color heal from traumatic birth experiences and transition into parenthood. Saleemah has held several positions in the field of Maternal & Child Health and Wellness. Mrs. McNeil furthered her knowledge and experience with vulnerable birthing persons and served as a Philadelphia County Jail Based Case Manager at Riverside Correctional Facility. In this role, she assisted birthing women during their most vulnerable times as a Doula. Working in the Department of Corrections, ignited anger and passion which ultimately guided Saleemah to a masters in clinical psychology and counseling . After watching years of unfair treatment and inhumane conditions, reproductive injustice, systemic racism and trauma, Saleemah founded a nonprofit organization, Oshun Family Center. She launched a citywide initiative to reduce Black maternal mortality through the “Maternal Wellness Village” program and became a key figure and content area expert in the region. Mrs. McNeil's work is rooted in a deep appreciation and understanding that surviving the 4th trimester can mean life or death for some women. As a clinician, advocate, researcher and trainer, Mrs. McNeil’s work is grounded in helping families not only survive but thrive by utilizing an anti-racism and trauma sensitive framework. Her passion has driven her to explore new endeavors such as impacting policy change and ultimately shifting the provider - client dynamic in healthcare by addressing the disparities for Black women.

Susan Winograd, PT, owns and operates a private Pelvic Health and Wellness practice in Boca Raton, Florida called Pelvicore Rehab LLC.
She specializes in Woman's Health, Men’s Health issues, and Pre and Postnatal Care.
She has earned a Scar Release therapy Certification from Acumed and is certified in the Wurn Technique and Clear Passage Approach. Susan earned a masters degree from the College of Staten Island in 1998. In her 22 years of clinical experience she has gained extensive knowledge in the treatment of various populations such as orthopedics, manual therapy, geriatrics, pediatrics and men/women's pelvic dysfunction, and prenatal/postpartum care.
She has continued her post graduate educate through seminars with The Herman and Wallace Institute, MPS Scar Release Therapy, Myofascial Release, The institute for Birth Healing, Clear Passage Therapies, and is pursuing education in Cranial Sacral therapy with the Upledger Institute and Total Body Balancing with the D’Ambrogio Institute.
Susan enjoys teaching workshops throughout South Florida on pelvic health and wellness related topics.
Her hands-on treatment approach of treating the whole person has often led her to discover the primary or contributing cause of pain, dysfunction, or imbalance was pelvic floor related.
Her passion and commitment now is treating, healing, and educating her patients and healthcare providers with pelvic floor dysfunction using a whole body approach to relieve pain, restore optimal function, and improve quality of life.
She is committed to providing the highest quality of individualized that care that every patient deserves.

Haaritha Boltman-Binkowski completed her B. Cur (Cum Laude) at the University of the Western Cape in 2003. She then gained clinical experience in both private and government institutions in the labour ward. She completed her Masters degree in Advanced Midwifery in 2005. In 2007 she started working as a lecturer at the University of the Western Cape. During the 13 years of lecturing, she has lectured various disciplines, including General Nursing, Midwifery, Advanced Midwifery, Neonatal Nursing, Research Methods, and Gender Based Violence as a Public Health Issue. She has co-ordinated both theory and clinical for many of the modules and year levels taught. Since 2015, Haaritha has been co-ordinating and teaching the Masters in Nursing: Advanced Midwifery and Neonatal Nursing. Haaritha is passionate about collaboration and has organised two international collaborative visits in 2019 from different institutions in Belgium (UC Leuven and VIVES), and has been involved with NEPAD efforts since 2012. In 2019 she graduated with another Masters degree in Nursing Education (Cum Laude). Her curriculum development experience covers micro aspects as well as developing the new graduate programme in Midwifery. Her clinical and teaching experience is as varied as her research interests but her focus areas are: maternal and child health, evidence-based practice, postpartum haemorrhage, teaching and learning and decolonisation.

Dr. Ruth Oshikanlu MBE is a multi-award winning nurse, midwife and health visitor. A nurse entrepreneur, consultant, leader and parenting expert, she is passionate about supporting vulnerable children and their families to reduce health inequalities and improve their life outcomes. Her previous roles include: HIV specialist midwife, Family Nurse at one of the first pilot sites of The Family Nurse Partnership intensive home visiting parenting programme for vulnerable families, and Nurse Leader of The Lewisham Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Service. Ruth is a Pregnancy Mindset Expert and supports pregnant women who have had assisted conception or previous pregnancy loss. She is the author of Tune In To Your Baby: Because Babies Don’t Come with An Instruction Manual. Ruth is a Queen’s Nurse, Fellow of The Institute of Health Visiting, Royal College of Nursing and The Royal Society of Arts. She is the recipient of several national healthcare and business awards; a regular columnist and has published several feature articles in numerous national nursing and healthcare journals. Ruth was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year 2019 Honours List for being an Ambassador for the Health Visiting Profession and for services to Community Nursing, Children and Families. She is a Churchill Fellow and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from London South Bank University in November 2019.

Stephanie Tillman (she/her) is a midwife at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her undergraduate degree in Global Health and Medical Anthropology at the University of Michigan, and her graduate degree in Midwifery at Yale University. She is on the Boards of Directors of Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health (NSRH) and the Midwest Access Project (MAP), is an Advisory Committee Member of the Queer and Transgender Midwives Association (QTMA), and is a member of the ACNM Ethics Committee. She is currently a Clinical Medical Ethics Fellow at the University of Chicago's MacLean Center, where she is focusing on consent in intimate exams. Stephanie blogs under the name Feminist Midwife, and through that online platform, academic and public writing, and professional speaking engagements, seeks to interact with providers and consumers in conversations about consent in health provision, queer care, sex positivity, nurses and advanced practice clinicians in abortion care, and trauma-informed frameworks. Find her on social media @FeministMidwife.

Nell Tharpe, CNM, CRNFA, MS, FACNM began her journey to midwifery after the birth of her first child. She attended births as a nurse and with home birth midwives, and then obtained her Certificate in Nurse-Midwifery from the State University of New York in 1986. She began active clinical practice in Maine, offering women holistic health care, attending births in small community hospitals, and working in the operating room as a surgical first assistant which is where she honed her suturing skills.

A committed life-long learner, Nell received her Master of Science degree in Midwifery from Philadelphia University in 2003. Nell’s passion is bridging the gap between clinical practice and emerging evidence. Her focus is on teaching midwifery skills to foster excellence in midwifery and women’s health care in every practice setting.

Nell is the original author of the widely used midwifery text Clinical Practice Guidelines for Midwifery and Women’s Health, now in its 5th edition, and sold in over 24 counties. She is an adjunct professor at Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia and provides workshops as an independent Perinatal and Women’s Health Consultant.

Dr. Tanya Khemet Taiwo is an assistant professor in the Department of Midwifery at Bastyr University. She also provides midwifery care on a part-time basis at CommuniCare Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center with clinics in urban and rural communities around the Sacramento area. Dr. Taiwo is an epidemiologist whose research examines the role of maternal prenatal stress on child neurodevelopment, and how these stressors interact with environmental exposures. She serves as co-director of the Community Engagement Core at the UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center. She is also a research fellow at The Birth Place Lab at the University of British Columbia. At the Birth Place Lab she’s collaborating on the Giving Voice to Mothers Study, a community based participatory research project that examines how race, ethnicity and birthplace affect maternity care in the United States. Tanya comes from a family tradition of midwives, stretching back at least three generations, she received her midwifery training at Seattle Midwifery School, and apprenticed with midwives in Seattle, Senegal and Jamaica. She is committed to the revitalization of the tradition of midwifery within the African American community, and the eradication of the ethnic disparities in perinatal health outcomes.

Dr. Deborah MacNamara is a developmentalist and author of the bestselling book, Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (or anyone who acts like one). She is on Faculty at the Neufeld Institute and is the Director of Kid’s Best Bet, a Counselling and Family Resource Center. Her book has been translated into 7 languages – Korean, Italian, German, French, Danish, Spanish, and Russian.

Dr. Jeanne Ohm is. Co-owner and practicing DC in a family, wellness based practice since 1981.

She is a sought out, international lecturer on the topic "Chiropractic Care in Pregnancy and Infancy" to practicing Chiropractors and affiliated care providers and is a post graduate instructor for numerous chiropractic colleges. She has written numerous articles on pregnancy, birth, children and chiropractic and is co-author of multiple research papers published in major journals.

Dr. Ohm is the founder of Makin' Miracles...Connecting Kid's n' Chiropractic, community outreach programs and resources to educate children and adults about the life saving benefits of chiropractic. www.makinmiracles.com She is also producer of the educational video, "Birth Trauma: A Modern Epidemic"

Her professional positions include: CEO for the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association: www.icpa4kids.com Executive Publisher and Editor of Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine: www.pathwaystofamilywellness.org ICPA developer and instructor of the Webster Certification. Co-developer of the ICVPA/ PBRN Research program. She is an active Board member of: The Academy of Chiropractic Family Practice: chiropracticfamilypractice.org, Life Chiropractic College West: bhttp://lifewest.edu/, Holistic Pediatric Alliance: hpakids.org and the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation: vertebralsubluxation.health.officelive.com

Dr. Ohm's professional mission is to provide birth care providers with the skills to care for more pregnant mothers and children. She is committed to educating other practitioners with the information to support natural birthing in their practices. It is her understanding that birth trauma is a public health concern, and therefore it has become her goal to eliminate its damaging effects on the newborn. She intends to accomplish this by:

• adequately training DC's in specific chiropractic techniques and care for pregnancy, birth & infancy for the promotion of natural birthing.

• forming national alliances for chiropractors with like-minded birth practitioners and attendants

• empowering mothers to make informed choices in pregnancy and birth

• offering patient educational tools which address this issue

Dr. Ohm is married to Dr. Thomas Ohm, Chiropractor. They have six children and eight grandchildren who have all received chiropractic care since conception. They were all born at home and are living the chiropractic family wellness lifestyle.

Dr. Teri Hernandez is the Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship in the College of Nursing and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Nursing at the University of Colorado. Over 19 years at CU, she has developed a program of research exemplified by the execution of carefully controlled clinical studies focused on nutrition, metabolic health, and early life exposures. The goal of these studies is to illuminate ways to improve the lives of women, infants and their families using a multidisciplinary team science approach. Teri is a cardiac nurse by training. She has a dedicated commitment to understanding insulin resistance as both an adaptation and as pathology. Her research focuses on diabetes/obesity, pregnancy, and fetal growth, with an emphasis on how nutrition and metabolism influence these conditions. She and her research team (Infant GOLD, Investigations in the Gestational Origins of Lifelong Development) have a research program focused on in-utero programming influences and through this platform, she is committed to training high-caliber clinical investigators. Dr. Hernandez is an educator in the graduate school at CU, serves as Director for the Colorado Clinical and Translational Research Institute Early Life Exposures Research program, and is a Pediatric Nurse Scientist at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Shannon Kane is a Registered Social Worker in Calgary, Alberta. She earned her Master's degree of Social Work at the University of Calgary. Shannon is an EMDR trained therapist, and her work is focused on using psychotherapy to support people who have experienced birth trauma and prenatal/postpartum mental health.

She has worked in the area of perinatal mental health and trauma for the past 12 years in settings including: a school for young mothers, outreach mental health, women's shelters, mental health clinics and now runs a private practice which you can find here: www.birthnarratives.ca. Shannon is passionate about supporting families during the childbearing years and keeps busy with her 2 young boys.

Kamilla Gerhard Nielsen is as obstetrician and psychotherapist part of the delivery unit in Aabenraa in Southern Denmark. A unit that has worked towards minimizing intervention in a safe environment with good outcome for mother and child. After joint effort from doctors and midwifes the department now has a cesarean section rate of 13 %, which is the lowest in Denmark. The rate of elective cesarean is 3 % and the unit has a high rating of satisfaction in Denmark from women giving birth.

Kamilla teaches with Obstetriwise.dk in several countries on the Upright Breech Birth, Fear of Childbirth and Occiput Posterior workshops. All theoretical and practical workshops with the aim of reducing unnecessary intervention in childbirth.