Postpartum Online Course(s) & Continuing Education
Access the latest clinical skills and research for Postpartum for Access the latest Pregnancy, Labour & Childbirthprofessional training. These Postpartum online courses provide practice-changing skills and valuable perspectives from leading global experts. This Postpartum education has been accredited for a variety of CEUs / CERPs and can be accessed on-demand, at your own pace.
Kimberly is a Sexological Bodyworker, Somatic Experiencing trauma resolution practitioner, Structural Integration practitioner, culture worker, and single mom. She specializes in helping women heal from birth injuries, gynecological procedures and sexual boundary ruptures. She is the author of the early mothering classic The Fourth Trimester: Healing Your Body, Balancing Your Emotions and Restoring Your Vitality and Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Own Power and Use It for Good- a feminist nervous system treatise, as well as the newly released Reckoning, co-authored with Stephen Jenkinson. She is the host of the Sex Birth Trauma podcast.
Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented therapeutic model that supports the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Reframe your approach to the fourth trimester by learning how to work with your client’s physiology to promote healing. Learn more about the four domains of health that influence the postpartum experience, the five cross-cultural universal postpartum needs and the five channels of inner and outer experience, as a tool to help clients get out of looping cycles of shame and blame.
Biological Nurturing--- applying the continuum concept to breastfeeding
Suzanne Colson, PhD, MSc, BA, is a midwife and a nurse. Her thesis introduced a new breastfeeding paradigm called Biological Nurturing and won the prestigious English Royal College of Nursing Inaugural Akinsanya Award for originality and scholarship in doctoral studies. Suzanne is an Akinsanya scholar 2007, and a Visiting Principal Research Fellow at Canterbury Christ Church University. She is an honorary member and a founding mother/leader of La Leche League France. She is also on the professional advisory board of La Leche League of Great Britain. She has more than 40 years clinical experience supporting breastfeeding mothers in both hospital and community settings. Suzanne is the author of numerous articles, research papers, a book, translated into 4 languages and three DVDs. Retired from active midwifery practice, she organizes 5-day biological nurturing certification workshops, remains available for clinical consultation, and lectures widely across the world.
Biological nurturing (BN), a mother-led approach, promotes body contact even when the baby is asleep. BN theories link hormonal continuity from pregnancy to postpartum and reflex continuity from womb to world. During the last weeks of pregnancy, oxytocin levels rise, peaking immediately following birth. Early baby gazing and eye-to-eye contact help maintain this high oxytocin pulsatility associated with increased breastfeeding duration. Experts in Body-Mind Centering suggest that fetal reflexes radiate from the navel--- the core, thus preparing neonatal movement. Whilst suckling in BN positions, pressure radiates from navel to limbs triggering neonatal reflexes facilitating latch and sustaining milk transfer. During BN, mothers and babies are often lightly dressed challenging the current emphasis on skin-to-skin as the only early intervention aiding breastfeeding initiation. Importantly, BN research suggests that ventral pressure is the neonatal behavioral releaser for both interventions, not dress state. Attend this presentation to clarify continuity theory and discover some unexpected breastfeeding “myths”.
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Over twelve years ago Amanda began to challenge the practice of immediate cord clamping after realizing that this common routine practice was not evidence based and deprived babies of their full blood volume causing iron deficiency anaemia. Amanda has been nominated and won several awards for this work including Midwife of the Year 2015, British Journal of Midwifery and Midwife of the Year 2012, Yorkshire Evening Post. Amanda is co-inventor of the Lifestart (bedside resuscitaire) trolley.
During this period of changing practice Amanda has often found herself the recipient of negative behaviours from some colleagues who opposed her “boat rocking” behavior and she found their behavior perplexing and very damaging. Dany Griffiths and Amanda are co-founders of #SaynotobullyinginMidwifery a facebook group which reaches out to Midwives who are recipients of bullying behavior and offers communal support and advice in an attempt to influence positive
John Walsh has worked in homeless health inclusion for over two decades. He is presently an OD Lead working on culture change and systems work. He has won a number of awards from NHS and non NHS organization. One of his most important awards was for compassion in healthcare from a family who created a series of health and care awards). John has worked closely with staff to develop caring supportive cultures. He has also worked with academics on this area and has taught internationally. John sits on the Yorkshire Faculty RCGP and the National Executive of the New NHS Alliance. He is presently writing the paper on social models and self care for West Yorkshire and Harrogate STP.
Bullying affects staff, patients and families. This presentation will address bullying within the Midwifery field, what it is and why it is a problem. We will discuss how bullying is related to culture, and why attempts to change culture often fail. Work to try to shape a new response to bullying must include an awareness of culture, but more importantly, efforts to reduce bullying should follow a Person Centered Approached (PCA). We will discuss what PAC approaches look like, their dynamics and potency.
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Can Broths and Baths Help the Baby Blues? Where Indigenous Wisdom Meets Functional Medicine
Ihotu Jennifer Ali, MPH, LMT, CLC (she/her) is a doula, public health educator, researcher, and integrative massage therapist specializing in myofascial release therapies including the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy®, Craniosacral Therapy, Prenatal, and Infant Massage as a Spinning Babies Aware Practitioner®. She is founder and owner of Black Moon Bodywork, LLC which offers massage therapy blended with health coaching in integrative and indigenous practices to support hormone balance, digestion, sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive justice.
Ihotu’s decade of experience in femme and family health includes years as a DONA certified birth doula and lactation counselor, prenatal yoga teacher and dancer, rape crisis counselor, Institute for Integrative Nutrition coach, and director of pre-conception health programs funded by the March of Dimes. She has collaborated with midwives and physicians in Haiti, Nigeria, Congo, and Morocco, and worked in health policy and research with the U.S. Congress, Clinton Foundation, United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and Columbia University’s School of Public Health. Raised between Minnesota, New York City, and West Africa with respect for both indigenous and evidence-based medicine, Ihotu strives to offer innovative care that is affordable, consent- and trauma-informed, gender fluid and ancestrally rooted. Her writing, public speaking, and coaching brings together emerging science in hormones and gut-brain health, functional medicine, Reproductive Justice and Afrofuturism movements. She offers an intercultural commentary on the busy modern lifestyles, social pressures, and unresolved trauma often at the root of today’s chronic health conditions.
Indigenous practices around pregnancy, birth and postpartum have become wildly popular, and some even controversial, from rebozo belly sifting and Bengkung binding to herbal massage oils and vaginal steams. This presentation will dive deeper to explore the theories and assumptions behind certain lineages of indigenous postpartum care (Traditional Chinese Medicine, Mayan and Nigerian), their analysis of the postpartum body as in a “cold state,” and common warming foods and practices. We will also look at the theories behind functional medicine and compare the two perspectives – both ancient and emerging science - in their common view of the postpartum body as being in a depleted state in need of nourishment.
Given the lack of standard postpartum care and the high rates of postpartum depression and mood disorders, a family-oriented and public health approach is proposed here, at the intersection of both indigenous and functional medicine. Both early research and generational wisdom suggest that integrative postpartum care focusing on regular warm broths and baths, anti-inflammatory foods, and nourishing the hormonal, digestive and circulatory systems can relieve new parents’ swelling, joint pain, constipation, hot flashes, energy and mood, especially for those with health conditions, after a difficult pregnancy, or a long or traumatic birth.
Feeding the Tiny Premie: Supporting NICU Families With Evidence and Compassion
Dr. Smillie is an American pediatrician who founded in 1996 the first private medical practice in the USA devoted to the specialty of breastfeeding medicine. Board certified by both the American Board of Pediatrics in 1983 and by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners in 1995, she values her continuing education from colleagues, research, and breastfeeding babies and their mothers. She’s been a member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine since 1996, and an ABM Fellow since 2002. She serves as an advisor to the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding and on La Leche League International’s Health Advisory Council. Dr. Smillie speaks nationally and internationally about the clinical management of a wide variety of breastfeeding issues, always stressing the role of the motherbaby as a single psychoneurobiological system, and emphasizing the innate instincts underlying both maternal and infant competence.
Topic: The Vicious Cycles of Slow Weight Gain: Poor Appetite, Poor Feeding, and Poor Production - [View Abstract]
Much has been written about the challenges of breastfeeding late preterm infants, the “great pretenders” who can fool us by looking almost full-term. But what about early preterm infants, who spend their first months in hospital? Their feeding issues are very different, complicated by their severe prematurity, medical issues and necessary clinical care, as well as by their mothers’ emotional experiences and challenges as they initiate mothering, milk production and breastfeeding in the NICU setting. We’ll look at how oxytocin and kangaroo mother can help optimize maternal milk production, maternal behaviors and competency, early breastfeeding, and infant growth, specifically looking at evidence based approaches to the early initiation of breastfeeding for these tiny infants. We’ll also look at a couple of broad initiatives—the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative for Neonatal Wards and Family Integrated Care—that offer the promise of empowering mothers and improving health outcomes for their preterm infants.
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Healing Well After Childbirth: Experiences from a Midwifery-Led Pelvic Floor Clinic in Denmark
Sara Kindberg has been a midwife since 1999, working in hospitals in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Greenland. Perineal care and especially surgical repair of perineal lacerations has been her clinical and academic focus and subject of her Master of Health Thesis in 2005 and her PhD dissertation in 2008.
The research highlighted an unmet need for hands-on training and bedside supervision among midwifery students and midwifery colleagues.
The Danish Ministry of Innovation and Research rewarded Sara with a grant to commercialise her knowledge and passion for training perineal repair into an online resource: GynZone.net. Sara was nominated “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2011.
GynZone offers online learning about the diagnosis and surgical repair of perineal lacerations from 1st to 4th degree tears.
Sara currently also works as a perineal care specialist at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and is managing the first Scandinavian midwifery led pelvic floor unit that offers early secondary perineal repair.
The World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted this set-up of a midwifery-led pelvic floor clinic as an example of excellent clinical practice in the European compendium of good practices in nursing and midwifery towards Health 2020 report.
Since 2013 Aarhus University Hospital has offered all women a postnatal check-up 2-3 days after birth. We provide services for approx. 4.000 vaginal births annually.
More than 90% of primiparous women sustain perineal injury or lacerations to the labial area that requires surgical repair following vaginal birth.
I will present cases and photos showing examples of normal, delayed and pathological healing of different types of perineal lacerations.
1) Healing of 1st and 2nd degree perineal tears
2) Mediolateral episiotomies
3) Healing of 3rd and 4th degree tears (anal sphincter injuries)
Inadequate primary perineal repair or early suture break down was found in approx. 1% of the population. We wish to share experiences from a case study of 250+ cases including 1st -2nd degree lacerations and mediolateral episiotomies.
Our findings with more than 40 photo documented cases featuring different healing outcomes are available as an online resource through the website GynZone.net.
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Kangaroo Mother Care now and then: 30 years of KMC clinical and research experience in a Developing Country
Dr Nathalie Charpak is currently the scientific coordinator and an attending paediatrician at the Kangaroo Mother Care program of the San Ignacio University Hospital. In addition, she is a founding member, senior researcher and director of the “Fundacion Canguro” in Bogotá, Colombia since 1994. Dr Charpak received her M.D. from the “Paris Sud” University and her paediatrician diploma from “Rene Descartes” University in Paris, France. She migrated in 1986 to Colombia where she validated her title as Paediatrician and begin in 1989 to work on the evaluation of the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) program. She is now a Colombian citizen. With several colleagues she founded in 1994 the “Fundacion Canguro” in Bogotá, an NGO devoted to research, teaching, training and direct medical care related to KMC method for premature infants that besides conducting large clinical trials on KMC has been actively disseminating the method mainly in low and middle income countries in Latin America, South East Asia, India, Africa and Eastern Europe. In 1996 in Trieste Italy she was among the group of international researchers, physicians and nurses who founded the International Kangaroo Network -INK- an international alliance devoted to collaborating, enhancing and disseminating the KMC method. Dr Charpak continues to work as an attending paediatrician in the KMC program and his current research interest is in integrative methods for summarizing and putting into action what is known about KMC in the form of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. She is also recently involved as coordinator in conducting evaluations of long term (adolescents and young adults) neurodevelopment outcomes in preterm infants exposed or not exposed to KMC during the neonatal period.
The Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) Method is primarily targeting the preterm and/or LBW infants once they are stabilized and adapted to extra-uterine life. KMC has three mayor components: kangaroo position (KP) or direct skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the baby; the kangaroo nutrition (KN) based on exclusive breastfeeding and the kangaroo discharge policies: early discharge in KP at home or in a KMC ward under strict follow up. KMC is a tool for humanization at all levels of neonatal care. There is sound scientific evidence for the effectiveness and safety of KMC in terms of mortality, early infectious morbidity, development, promotion and maintenance of breastfeeding. Also, there is evidence for the beneficial effects of KMC on establishing healthy bonding between mothers and infants. Many health professionals consider KMC as a means of protecting the immature brain when it is the most fragile and the results of our long term follow up are supporting this hypothesis.
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Module 1 - Obtaining a Complete Neonatal History
Dr. Leigh Ann Cates-McGlinn's academic qualifications include a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, Texas, Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from The Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, an Associates in Applied Science (AAS) - Nursing and Respiratory Care each from Odessa College in Odessa, Texas. She maintains national certification as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP-BC) and registered respiratory therapist (RRT) and is recognized by North Carolina Board of Nurse Examiners as a Registered Nurse (RN) and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). Dr. Cates-McGlinn also holds a subspecialty certification in pediatric and neonatal respiratory care (NPS) and is certified as a healthcare simulation educator (CHSE). She has over 25 years of clinical experience; over 11 years are as neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP). Academically, she has taught over 11 years in NNP programs across the country. Dr. Cates-McGlinn specializes in research, presentations, workshops, and courses using hi-fidelity simulation and neonatal procedure labs. She is recently published and serves as reviewer for multiple healthcare journals. For more information please visit http://leighannmcglinn.myefolio.com
Topic: Module 10 - Genitourinary Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 2 - Assessment of Gestational Age - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 3 - Integumentary Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 4 - Neurological Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 5 - Musculoskeletal Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 6 - Assessment of the Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat (HEENT) - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 7 - Respiratory Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 8 - Cardiovascular Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 9 - Abdominal Assessment - [View Abstract]
A complete neonatal history is vital to aiding the provider in the development of an accurate plan of care. It also serves as a tool to evaluate for real or potential issues or complications. In this module we will discuss the significance and timing of gathering a history, the primary features included in a neonatal history and will lay the foundations for the development of a differential diagnosis or initial impression.
Module 10 - Genitourinary Assessment
Dr. Leigh Ann Cates-McGlinn's academic qualifications include a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, Texas, Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from The Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, an Associates in Applied Science (AAS) - Nursing and Respiratory Care each from Odessa College in Odessa, Texas. She maintains national certification as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP-BC) and registered respiratory therapist (RRT) and is recognized by North Carolina Board of Nurse Examiners as a Registered Nurse (RN) and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). Dr. Cates-McGlinn also holds a subspecialty certification in pediatric and neonatal respiratory care (NPS) and is certified as a healthcare simulation educator (CHSE). She has over 25 years of clinical experience; over 11 years are as neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP). Academically, she has taught over 11 years in NNP programs across the country. Dr. Cates-McGlinn specializes in research, presentations, workshops, and courses using hi-fidelity simulation and neonatal procedure labs. She is recently published and serves as reviewer for multiple healthcare journals. For more information please visit http://leighannmcglinn.myefolio.com
Topic: Module 10 - Genitourinary Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 2 - Assessment of Gestational Age - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 3 - Integumentary Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 4 - Neurological Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 5 - Musculoskeletal Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 6 - Assessment of the Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat (HEENT) - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 7 - Respiratory Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 8 - Cardiovascular Assessment - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 9 - Abdominal Assessment - [View Abstract]
The genitourinary system is composed of the kidneys, urinary tracts and reproductive organs all of which have similar anatomical structure and embryological development. Variations in this exam can lend clues to the provider of associations to anomalies in other organ systems. In this module we define frequently used genitourinary terminology, explain genitourinary anatomy and physiology, describe the process of a neonatal genitourinary exam, and list common neonatal genitourinary conditions.
Every woman deserves a capable, functioning body that sparks joy in her life, also in between and after childbirth.
GynZone delivers enhanced training of healthcare professionals, to improve women’s health in childbirth worldwide.
Our training is developed through user-driven innovation with subject matter experts
- We cooperate closely with the best clinicians in the field
- They bring the latest research into clinical practice
- We document and reflect
- We distill their knowledge and know-how
- We forge it into bite-sized instructionals
- We make them available when it suits the learner
Learn more here
Topic: Module 2: Diagnostics - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 3: Anaesthetics - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 4: Labia Repair - [View Abstract]
Topic: Module 5: 1st & 2nd Degree Tear - [View Abstract]
Topic: Vaginal Birth - Introduction to SUCCESS Principles for Hands-on Perineal Protection - [View Abstract]
Topic: Waterbirth: An Introduction for Birth Professionals - [View Abstract]
This module provides a thorough introduction to suturing and correct knot-tying techniques. You will learn the basic principles of safe and correct surgical procedure. Follow the step-by-step demonstrations and practice your skills in a safe setting, in order to develop correct routines, clinical confidence and steady hands before handling patients.
