We have scheduled some amazing workshops on Friday the 17th of November! Tickets are available to purchase separately to conference tickets.
With special thanks to our major conference sponsor
Placenta: The Forgotten Chakra with Robin Lim
9:00am to 12:00pm
In this workshop, Robin will give a modern insight into the spiritual connection this magnificent organ has to the beginning of life itself. Robin explains the placenta holds a true place in the birthing history of our ancestors and describes the reasons why and how placental traditions lost their value with modern medicine and in hospitals.
Robin will teach the many types of ceremonial and burial traditions which breathe new light into the sorrow of years of mistreatment to this most delicate attachment which is too commonly cut short just seconds after birth. Morning tea provided.
Robin will teach the many types of ceremonial and burial traditions which breathe new light into the sorrow of years of mistreatment to this most delicate attachment which is too commonly cut short just seconds after birth. Morning tea provided.
Your Heart is in Your Hands with Claire Eccleston
9:00am to 12:00pm
ch is a silent birth craft skill that can bring tenderness and help resolve emergencies. Just like a language at risk of being lost if it is not spoken, the quiet and powerful tool of touch can often be overlooked and underestimated. Reclaiming, remembering and revitalising the skill of touch in birth craft can be a powerful political and archetypal act. Touch can be a skill of deep listening to the body. Whether you are offering clinical care and assessments, bodywork, or touch guidance and support, come to this workshop with an open heart and build your tender touch awareness and skills through some simple and fun exercises. This workshop offers an exploration of body-based consent practices, discernment tools, and an opportunity to develop, explore and enhance your skills and capacity around touch. You may discover new tools and capacity that has been right at your fingertips. Morning tea provided.
In Circle with Gloria Lemay
1:00pm to 4:00pm
Gloria Lemay has had a wealth of experience with the joys and disappointments of Homebirth in Canada and she will be sharing from her life as an independent birth attendant. She will be answering questions from the participants and clarifying some of the misunderstandings which happen when we hear stories within families that persist and create fear. Participants will be taught some of the insights and tips that Gloria has gathered from attending conferences and workshops with midwives and teachers in North America. Get ready for laughter and tears. Be prepared to do some physical, fun, exercises which will affect your relationship with your own body. Please bring a notebook and pen to this workshop. Afternoon tea provided.
Discover Birth Cartography - the scientific art of birth mapping with Catherine Bell
1:00pm to 4:00pm
The Birth Map evolved to address the needs of modern birthing women…it assumes nothing and prepares for everything. We will address the dismissed and frequently debated birth plan, and take a journey to redefine birth preparation. You will be introduced to The Game of Birth, a clever tool to use in birth preparation which boldly goes where no birth plan has gone before. Afternoon Tea provided.
Student Midwife Support Circle with Jane Hardwick Collings
4:30pm to 7:00pm
We will sit in circle together and cocreate a sacred and safe place to explore the support Student Midwives need in their role within the current maternity care system. We will learn and practice how to regulate our own nervous systems in order to contribute to the birth space positively no matter what is happening. We will learn about self care and preparation practices and creating our own support for our work and role. And, we will listen to each other in a confidential space, holding each other and learning that practice to use at work. All this is aimed at helping Student Midwives survive their training and to reduce birth trauma, for the women and the Student Midwives.
Birth Worker Circle with Claire Heenan
4:30pm to 7:00pm
You are invited to sit in circle with fellow birth workers to meaningfully connect and learn from one another. Claire Heenan is a doula and current student midwife and she has been holding women’s circles for over five years. Her circles are known for being warm, relaxed and down-to-earth. Claire weaves in aspects of ritual and stillness for introspection, grounded in her authenticity and passion for women supporting each other.
This birth worker circle will be a beautiful afternoon of reflection, rest and creativity. Everything in circle is always optional, and anyone who works in the birth space is welcome to attend. The power of being in circle is difficult to put into words, but this is definitely not something you want to miss as Claire’s circles have a reputation for inspiring participants to start their own!
Birth work is energetically HUGE and requires layers of complex human interaction unparalleled by any other vocation. By being in circle together, we can remember that we’re not facing it alone and share the wisdom we hold as a way of laying a powerful path forward beneath us. The families we support need us to be birth workers who tend our own needs, and circles like this is the epitome of that.
This birth worker circle will be a beautiful afternoon of reflection, rest and creativity. Everything in circle is always optional, and anyone who works in the birth space is welcome to attend. The power of being in circle is difficult to put into words, but this is definitely not something you want to miss as Claire’s circles have a reputation for inspiring participants to start their own!
Birth work is energetically HUGE and requires layers of complex human interaction unparalleled by any other vocation. By being in circle together, we can remember that we’re not facing it alone and share the wisdom we hold as a way of laying a powerful path forward beneath us. The families we support need us to be birth workers who tend our own needs, and circles like this is the epitome of that.
