Gloria Lemay's Classes

I start my official midwifery training tomorrow at Midwives College of Utah, but this past Thursday, I started a series of online classes taught through WizIQ by renowned Canadian midwife Gloria Lemay. This course was on postpartum hemorrhage and we learned so many great tips, plus had the chance to ask questions and learn from Gloria's many years of experience. The best part about the classes is that you can have as many people as you want per computer, so if you got a group together, they can be quite inexpensive. Gloria is so generous with her time and knowledge, and I took pages of notes on tips and tricks she's picked up from the years she's attended births and the research she has done. The classes only last an hour every Thursday night, and they cover very specific topics. Next week, for example, is all about meconium staining.

It is important to me to learn directly from other midwives, and I think we must treasure the living resources we have available to us. Not everyone can make it to Vancouver to meet Gloria, or afford travel expenses and childcare to attend a conference where such luminaries might be, but this online learning is an excellent way to learn from the masters.

Have any of you ever taken these classes with Gloria? I highly recommend them!

HIPPA for Midwirery 101

Made another addition to the Free Resources for Midwifery Study list:

HIPAA for Midwifery 101 is a straightforward guide to privacy regulations in the US written by a CPM.

Free learning resource on the New Ballard Score

posted by Tatiana
 
Just made another addition to the Free Resources for Midwifery Study post. The Ballard Score was new to me!

The New Ballard Score - walks you through the Ballard Score method of determining gestational age.

It even has stick figure babies.

Free learning resource on PPD

posted by Tatiana
 
Just added to the Free Resources for Midwifery Study post:

Postpartum Depression Learning Modules from MedEdPPD.  You can pick and choose whichever modules interest you, or do them all and become eligible to be listed in the provider network.

One could clobber together an excellent education with all the free resources out there, plus the stack of books recommended by NARM, plus a study group and a high quality local apprenticeship.  There are definite advantages to a formal program that I don't want to minimize, but clearly formal education is still inaccessible to many.  With internet access becoming possible and sometimes common even in remote and impoverished corners of the earth, that accessibility issue is changing.  You could give yourself a great education, but you still have to come up with the bucks if you want an education that the wider public will regard as legitimate.

Purely anecdotally, there doesn't always seem to be a direct relationship between the depth of knowledge and understanding that a midwife had and how she (or he, I suppose) obtained her (or his) education.  I've heard tell of very scary midwives that excelled in formal programs and went on to practice recklessly, and also know a number of midwives who have taken on the responsibility of educating themselves completely and have earned the esteem of local hospitals with the quality of their knowledge and practice.

Anyway, I'm excited to have found another up-to date and research based set of educational modules available to anyone with web access and time.

More free learning resources

Posted by Tatiana

Just made two new additions to the Free Resources for Midwifery Study post:

Midwife's Abdominal Examination in the Antenatal Period from The University of Nottingham.  Interactive lesson from the UK nurse midwifery angle.

Free online learning resources for midwifery from WikiEducator.  A long list of learning resources including midwifery specific biology, suturing, breastfeeding and featuring stuff like pharmacology for the more medically inclined.

Enjoy!

Dorky new additions to the free resource list

Posted by Tatiana

I've added the following free learning opportunities to the Free Resources for Midwifery Study post:

Pelvic Floor Muscle Trauma from Medscape.  You need to join the site (free) to access this one, and there's a free CEU for completing it.

Examination of the Newborn from the University of Oslo in Norway.

The Little Handbook of Statistical Practice from Gerard E. Dallal of Tufts University in Boston.  It is my opinion that with the amount of "studies show..." spouting that midwives do, we better well be equipped to coherently interpret studies.

The first two were posted to discussion groups by other folks, the last one I unearthed myself because I kept bumping up against "I really don't know enough about statistics to interpret studies."  I wish I didn't need to be reading for the doula training I'm doing next week so I could just read through that statistics handbook.  It's absolutely delicious because it answers so many questions I've had about statistics, plus it's math and that's just a good time on a Friday night as far as I'm concerned.  I really think that I need the ability to critically analyze research as a midwife, and doing that when I'm not even sure what p= actually means is problematic. 

Free Resources for Midwifery Study

Posted by Tatiana

I started a blog about becoming a midwife a while back, but it fizzled because it lacked the collaborative awesomeness of this one. So I put it to bed, but I wanted to repost this collection of resources I've found to be instrumental, particularly in self-study mode. I update whenever I find something new, so please feel free to point me to anything you think should be on the list. Enjoy!

I've found a number of pieces to fit into the matrix of my studies that have made it easier to feel like I have access to quality information and that I'm a part of a larger community as I huddle with my books at home. I'd like to share!

Local Midwifery Organization:
I'll leave it to you to find your own local organization, for me it is the Oregon Midwifery Council. I joined the council on a suggestion of a midwife in my town. I go to the quarterly meetings, am a voting member, follow the happenings and lend my support in whatever small ways I can. This does a few things for me: It connects me to the midwifery community in my own area, it educates me about the political and legal issues in midwifery and also makes me a familiar face to midwives with whom I hope to have future alliances, apprenticeships, and friendships. One of the most valuable pieces of advice I've received!