Preparing for Birth and Parenthood Sydney Conference

Friday, 24 February to Sunday 26 February 2006
Sydney University

An innovative, exciting and essential Conference for everyone who works in parenthood education. Leading educators, authors and facilitators will enable you to experience new teaching activities, explore new programs and develop your skills in a range of vital areas.

The program will include Plenary sessions with key International and Australian leaders in prenatal education and the opportunity to attend six workshop sessions of 1/2 hours each on topics of your choice. A Happy Hour and a Cocktail Party will enable you to relax and network with friends and colleagues at the end of each day.

Bookstores, video screenings, and displays of resources will offer you the latest in teaching aids and materials to view and purchase.

Sydney University is located close to the city and the airport. The modern, purpose built Conference Centre is ideal for events of this kind, and is close to bus transport and a short walk from the train. Full details and a map will be included with your Conference Confirmation.

Day One Friday 24 February 2006 2.00 pm    Opening and welcome to Day One Andrea Robertson Director, Birth International 3.15 pm    PLENARY SESSION "Childbirth Educators: Doing what we do" Mary Nolan 3.45 pm    "A fresh approach to program presentation" Andrea Robertson 4.15 pm    WORKSHOPS A1:  Getting Started with small group work Julie Clarke A2:  Choosing and using teaching aids Alesa Koziol A3:  Prenatal VBAC programs Lynne Staff A4:  Presenting unexpected outcomes Sherokee Ilse A5:  Effective education for early parenting Melinda Eales 6.00 pm    Happy Hour Catch up with your friends over a glass of wine! Day Two Saturday 25 February 2006 8.30 am    Refreshments 9.00 am    Starting the day ... Andrea Robertson Director, Birth International 9.15 am    PLENARY SESSION Educating for choice or compliance? Leslie Arnott 9.45 am    "Changing women’s attitudes to labour pain" Sarah Buckley 10.15 am    Refreshments 10.45 am    WORKSHOPS B1:  Involving the Dads Richard Fletcher B2:  Presenting unexpected outcomes Sherokee Ilse B3:  Tell me about the pain! Andrea Robertson B4:  Promoting learning about birth interventions Mary Nolan B5:  Tips, tactics and how-to's for program planning Cassandra McBurnie 12.15 am    Lunch 1.15 pm    WORKSHOP C1:  Working with the young and pregnant Tracy Smith and Deb Pattrick C2:  Early pregnancy programs Vanessa Johnston C3:  Involving the Dads Richard Fletcher C4:  Choosing and using teaching aids Alesa Koziol C5:  Getting Started with small group work Julie Clarke 3.00 pm    Refreshments 3.30 pm    WORKSHOPS D1:  Fun and games with small groups Mary Nolan D2:  "Tell me about the pain!" Andrea Robertson D3:  Effective education for early parenting Melinda Eales D4:  Promoting breastfeeding Jane Svensson D5:  To push... or not? Teaching about second stage Julie Clarke 5.00 pm    PLENARY SESSION Fantasy versus reality - the birth experience Bronny Handfield 6.00 pm    Cocktail Party Unwind at the end of the day with drinks and snacks among friends Day Three Sunday 26 February 2006 9.00 am    Starting the day ... Andrea Robertson Director, Birth International 9.10 am    PLENARY SESSION It’s what you say AND how you say it! Lynne Staff 9.45 am    Refreshments 10.15 am    WORKSHOPS E1:  Working with the young and pregnant Tracy Smith and Deb Pattrick E2:  Early pregnancy programs Vanessa Johnston E3:  "Tell me about the pain!" Andrea Robertson E4:  Fun and games with small groups Mary Nolan E5:  To push... or not? Teaching about second stage Julie Clarke 11.45 am    Lunch 1.15 pm    WORKSHOP F1:  "Tips, tactics and how-to's for program planning" Cassandra McBurnie F2:  Promoting learning about birth interventions Mary Nolan F3:  Presenting unexpected outcomes Sherokee Ilse F4:  Promoting breastfeeding Jane Svensson F5:  Prenatal VBAC programs Lynne Staff 2.45 pm    PLENARY SESSION Getting our acts together Andrea Robertson and the team 3.30 pm    Close Register now to avoid missing out!				Leslie Arnott is the Acting President of the Maternity Coalition, the peak body representing consumers in the Australian Health Care system and President of the Victorian Branch of MC. Her passion for pursuing better birth options for women emerged after the birth of her two children, for whom she received complete midwifery care. Sarah Buckley is a trained GP/family physician, an internationally-acclaimed writer on gentle choices in pregnancy, birth, and parenting. She has presented at numerous conferences and has been interviewed on issues related to birth and mothering for TV, radio, and for educational and birth-related DVDs. Julie Clarke has over 20 years of experience as an independently practising childbirth educator, offering a variety of programs for parents. She also presents some programs for the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney and has been a faculty member of the Graduate Diploma in Childbirth Education. Melinda Eales is a midwife, childbirth educator, Nurse Unit Manager (Ante/Postnatal), Maternity Services Manager and Childbirth Education Specialist with Affinity Health. She is a member of NACE Inc as a Certified Trainer and is currently the National President. She works as a consultant and trainer. Richard Fletcher is a Lecturer in The Engaging Fathers Project, which is part of the Family Action Centre in the Faculty of Health at The University of Newcastle. Bronny Handfield has worked as a childbirth educator, writer, and training course co-ordinator since the early 1980's. Throughout this time she has maintained a strong interest in the images of pregnant women and childbirth. The ongoing difficulty of finding suitable film and video images for childbirth classes prompted her to collect popular media images and this lead to her embarking on a study for a PhD. Sherokee Ilse has experienced three pregnancy losses and has two healthy children. She has presented hundreds of workshops and seminars around the world on issues relating to miscarriage, stillbirth, early infant death, presenting unexpected outcomes in birth preparation classes as well as general bereavement. She is the author/co-author of 7 books and 7 booklets on these subjects, and lives in the America mid-west. Vanessa Johnston has been passionate about childbirth education since she gained her midwifery qualifications in 1993. She lives and works in Cairns, QLD and has been a faculty member of the Graduate Diploma in Childbirth Education since 1999. She is currently completing a Degree in Education. Alesa Koziol is a Clinical Midwifery Educator in a private Maternity hospital in Melbourne. Her interest in group presentation methods that are user friendly and easily understood has developed over the years as a midwife facilitator in childbirth education and a faculty member of the Graduate Diploma in Childbirth Education. Cassandra McBurnie, as an ex-nurse with a degree in Adult Education, Cassandra has over 12 years of program planning and teaching experience. She was with Birth International for 8 years as the Co-ordinator of the Graduate Diploma in Childbirth Education and is now the Course Coordinator, Diploma of Children's Services, Bedford College. Mary Nolan one of the UK's best known childbirth educators> She is a Tutor for the National Childbirth Trust and the author or contributor to eleven books on antenatal education, and has researched (PhD) the effectiveness of parent education programs. Mary lives in the West Midlands of the UK. Debby Pattrick and Tracy Smith are Clinical Specialists in Midwifery at Peninsula Health, Melbourne and the Core of Life Program Managers. An extensive history of working with teenage mothers, teaching/coordinating childbirth education, and being amongst the wider community as independent midwives was their inspiration for Core of Life - to prepare our future families Andrea Robertson is an independent childbirth education consultant, author and Director of Birth International. She oversees the post Graduate Diploma in Childbirth Education and presents many workshops around the world for midwives, educators and allied health professionals from her base in Sydney, Australia. She is the author of six books on childbirth education and midwifery. Lynne Staff, is an independently practising midwife, a midwifery educator and parent education facilitator, keen to ensure women's voices are heard in planning, providing and evaluating maternity care. She is currently researching women's experience of caesarean birth and it's impact on their future birthing choices, in particular VBAC. She works in Selangor Private Hospital, Nambour, Queensland. Jane Svensson is Health Education Coordinator at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney and has been training antenatal and parenting educators on a consultant basis for 14 years. Jane is principal author of Breastfeeding and you: a handbook for antenatal educators and chairperson of the NACE Further Education Sub-Committee. In 2005 Jane completed her doctorate entitled Antenatal Education: Meeting Consumer Needs. A Study in Health Services Development.
Each workshop will be presented as an interactive, experiential session, that models ways of communicating these topics and issues to parents in a prenatal program. Presenters have been asked to include tips for teaching and practical exercises in their programs. Through your participation in these workshops, it is expected that you will be able to: Fun and games with small groups Explore the role and value of group work in parent education sessions Describe the basic process in using small group activities in prenatal sessions Practise small group activities Promoting breastfeeding Consider what information expectant parents need about breastfeeding Devise appropriate presentation strategies for this issue Practise appropriate activities that promote choice around infant feeding Getting Started with small groups Learn how to encourage the important social components of prenatal programs Incorporate small group work into your program Manage group dynamics "Tips, tactics and how-to's for program planning" Consider the main elements of a needs analysis Identify the key elements in an appropriate program Practise program preparation Early pregnancy programs Explore the potential benefits of early pregnancy programs Describe potential content of such programs Practice activities that could be included in early pregnancy courses. Involving the Dads Identify the needs of fathers within prenatal groups Identify specific strategies to increase involvement Explore appropriate group activities Choosing and using teaching aids Identify teaching aids that match learning styles List considerations for choosing appropriate teaching aids Explore "dos and don'ts" when using teaching aids. "Tell me about the pain!" Explore the physiological basis for pain in labour Identify strategies to build women=s confidence in managing labour Practise activities that enable expectant parents to understand handling labour pain. Presenting unexpected outcomes Explore the concepts of "uncertainty", "unpredictability" and "unexpected outcomes" Develop strategies for examining these issues in prenatal programs Practise activities that build skills in dealing with the unexpected. Working with the young and pregnant Explore the needs of expectant teenagers Consider appropriate formats for prenatal programs for pregnant teens Practise teaching activities that may be included in these programs. Prenatal VBAC programs Outline an appropriate program for encouraging VBAC Identify essential content of such a program Practise group teaching activities related to VBAC To push... or not? Teaching about second stage Consider the elements that facilitate a quick and easy second stage of labour Review strategies for teaching about this subject Practise exercises to empower women around managing their second stage. Promoting learning about birth interventions Explore strategies for promoting informed choice about birth interventions Consider feelings and emotions that may be raised by these issues Develop skills in presenting birth interventions Effective education for early parenting Consider appropriate parenting issues for inclusion in pregnancy sessions Examine effective ways of incorporating parenting into pregnancy programs Practise activities that enable parents to develop their skills A range of accommodation is available nearby for Conference participants. Please make your own reservations. Cost of accommodation Rydges Camperdown 9 Missenden Rd (near corner of Parramatta Road) Camperdown NSW 2050 Phone: 02 8595 1522 www.rydges.com/cwp/birth Email: reservations_Camperdown@rydges.com Quote BIRTH2402 Single room rate: $152 with breakfast Double room rate: $169 with breakfast University Motor Inn 25 Arundel St (just off Parramatta Road) Glebe NSW 2037 Phone: 02 9660 5777 Single room rate: $120 room only, $125 with breakfast Double room rate: $130 room only, $140 with breakfast Unilodge Cnr Bay Street & Broadway (part of the Broadway Shopping Complex) Broadway NSW 2007 1800 500 658 Email: reservations@unilodge.com.au Single room rate: $100 room only Double room rate: $110 room only Medina Classic Camperdown cnr Boundary and Ivy Street Chippendale 2008 Ph: 02 9311 8800 Email: mcch@medinaapartments.com.au Quote: BIRTH2402 Studio rate: $120.00 room only One Bedroom apartment: $156.00 room only Two Bedroom apartment: $205.00 room only Please choose your workshop sessions carefully and provide first and second choice preferences for each session. Workshop numbers will be limited and places will be filled in strict order of receipt of registrations. If your workshop preferences are already filled, you will be allocated to another workshop session at the same time. You have at least two opportunities to attend each workshop in the program. Once you are registered, we regret that no changes to workshop selections will be made, either in advance or at the Conference itself. This is a two and a half day program. Single day attendance is not available. Individual registration: $535.00 (incl. GST) Registrations postmarked before 23 December 2005 $599.00 (incl. GST) Registrations received after 23 December 2005 Register on-line now to secure your place! Student rate: $350.00 (incl. GST) Full-time undergraduate student rate. Current student identification must be attached to your registration. No online student registrations will be accepted. Please either send all student registrations with the relevant documentation to fax number (02) 9564 2388 or to PO Box 366 Camperdown NSW 1450. Closing date for ALL registrations is 15 February 2006. Cancellation Full fees, less a $25.00 processing charge for individuals will be made up to Friday, 3 February 2006. There will be no refunds offered after that date, although substitutions will be possible if notified in advance. Special needs Please notify us if you have any special needs (e.g. dietary, disabled access etc). Selected titles will be available for sale on the day. Cheques and cash are preferred, but credit cards will also be welcomed. A full list of books and prices will be in your registration pack.