Midwifery and Maternal-Child Health Educators Conference

Midwifery and Maternal-Child Health Educators Conference

Hello!

We are happy to announce our upcoming midwifery conference, "Keeping the Heart of Mother Care," which will be held in Portland, Oregon from June 16th-June 20th, 2010. This conference is going to be a delightful event, with featured speaker Bonnie Gruenberg, CNM, WHNP, MSN. She is the author of the award-winning books, Birth Emergencies Skills Training (BEST) Manual for Out of Hospital Providers and Essentials of Prehospital Maternity Care. Also featured at our conference is Melissa Cheyney, Ph.D., LDM, CPM, author of the upcoming book, Born at Home: The Biological, Cultural and Political Dimensions of Maternity Care in the United States. We really have an amazing group of speakers. Please take a look here for more information on our speakers.

This conference is a great opportunity for continuing and initial education, with three different tracks. The first is for midwifery and birth educators, and includes classes such as "Training Doulas," "Technology in Education," and "Teaching Research Methods to Midwifery Students." The second track is for practicing and student midwives and includes such classes as "Baby Done a Bad Thing: Common Neonatal Problems," "Herbs for Childbearing," and "Twins and Breeches Emergency Review." For the third track, we have focused on lactation and birth professionals. It includes classes such as "Optimal Start in Breastfeeding: Teaching Through Touch," "What is New in Postpartum Mood Disorders?" and "Therapeutic Communication." Don't forget to update your certifications with "Neonatal Resuscitation", "Legend Drugs and Devices," and "CPR." For detailed information on our sessions click here.

You don't want to miss this fabulous event, held at the Downtown Portland Embassy Suites, a beautiful hotel within walking distance from a waterfront park, world class shopping, art galleries, and a multitude of restaurants and cultural experiences.

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at this exciting event! Please pass the word along to anyone who might be interested and visit our website here for more information. For the conference early registration rate, please register by March 15th, 2010, here.

Thanks for your time!

Sincerely,

Cortney McIntyre

Conference Coordinator

Midwifery and Maternal-Child Health Educators Conference

www.educatorsconference.com

cortney.mcintyre@educatorsconference.com

Upcoming Classes with Small Beginnings

Raising Children Holistically: An Introduction for Parents

Raising Children Holistically: An Introduction for Parents

To be held over 2 days from Friday evening April 2 from 6:30-9:30pm and Saturday April 3 from 8:30am-12:30pm.

@ Zenana Spa www.zenana-spa.com View Map

In our culture, the concept of well-child care has trained us to rely on doctors to treat the simplest of ailments from coughs and colds, to stomach aches and insect bites. Yet, taking care of our own children—keeping them well and treating them ourselves--can be the most empowering of experiences.

Using excellent nutrition as a foundation, we can raise functionally healthy children who respond well to supportive measures, such as home remedies, homeopathy, Bach Flowers and energy medicine.

In addressing nutrition, we consider questions such as can feeding our families really be simple? What do really need and what can we realistically expect from food? How did we develop our current understanding of and relationship to food? What environmental and food industry issues might play a role? How can we understand the emotional and energetic aspects of nutrition? How can we wade through the research, the books and the hundreds of “diets” to discover a healthy relationship with food? We will discuss and explore various dietary approaches with an emphasis on nourishing pregnant and nursing mothers as well as children. Food can be used to optimize health as it nourishes, heals and restores well-being.

We will discuss simple home remedies to address many of the most common ailments, drawing upon over twenty years of practical experience. Choosing safe and effective products is usually quite simple with the proper information. There is no medicine more profound or deeply healing than energy medicine. From addressing simple emotional hurts to physical bumps and bruises, from re-patterning harmful behaviors to accelerating healing in any area, energy medicine is THE medicine of the future. It has been proven to be useful in both acute and chronic imbalances. We will teach the foundation of EFT, and the basics of using flower essences and homeopathy.

This lecture provides an introduction to the concepts and tools available to us as parents in raising our children holistically. The content offers some of the key points contained in the 4-part series "Raising Children Holistically: A Series for Parents" which covers nutrition, home remedies, energy medicine and integration of practices into family life. Raising children with a holistic approach to well-being instills a confidence and attunement that they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Jennifer's passion for working with women and babies was catalyzed by her own homebirths and her experience raising her children (born in 1988, 1992, 1998). Inspired by the healing of her own body through holistic therapies, she has raised her children from the premise that all life seeks its own well-being and acts in its own best interests. Primary is a trust that through the practice of raising vibrational energy, we allow the body’s intelligence to direct its own healing and restore homeostasis. She is committed to the protection and promotion of physiologic birth and breastfeeding, conscious parenting and holistic choices in healthcare and education. Jennifer is acertified energy healer (the Reconnection and Reconnective Healing), and has extensive education and experience in a range of holistic practices including homeopathy, herbalism, Bach Flowers, EFT, pranic healing, nutrition, intuition and home remedies and is certified in Past Life Regression. Jennifer is co-creator of the Sumati Home Remedy Kit. She is currently writing a book on the use of holistic practices for lactation consultants.

Children's Book: The House in the Night

"Here is the key to the house..." that will take you on a cumulative, soaring journey to sweet slumberland. The House in the Night, by Susan Marie Swanson and illustrated by Beth Krommes, was structurally inspired by the traditional poem, "This is the key to the kingdom". Simple and quiet, the words whisper and allow the illustrations to tell the story. Intricately detailed and darkly glowing, the pictures show a story of a child's bedtime routine of coming home, reading a bedtime book which takes her, riding on a bird's back, on dreamy tour of the night scape and ultimately to sleep. The illustrations are done on scratchboard with golden watercolor accents and have the far-away simplicity yet up-close intricacy magic to them. I should also mention that it won the 2009 Caldecott Medal.

It is another book that has made it home from the library several times and will, therefore, become a member of our personal stacks someday soon. It is also a book that both my children and I enjoy equally, even if our fondness for the book originates from different sources.

Respectful Connection Parenting Support Group

Join us for a Respectful Connection Parenting Support Group

This groups is a weekly meeting designed for those parents working towards a connected respectful relationship with their children. We will support and commiserate with each other, problem solve and share ways to meet our needs and the needs of our children without punishments, coercion or manipulations.

This group is open to all parents, no matter where they are in their parenting journey or the ages of their kids. Based on theories and works by Pam Leo, NVC, Scott Noelle, Patty Wipler, Jan Hunt, Alfie Kohn, Gordon Nuefeld, Althea Solter and others.

Children are welcome, there is an adjacent play area to our meeting room. Please feel free to bring what you or your child may need to feel comfortable during group such as easy to clean up snacks or pillows.

We meet on Tuesdays from 10am-12pm at Nurture (1614 NE Alberta St.).

Suggested donation of $3-5 per week to cover costs of handouts and space. Our intention is to work together to create a sustainable group that is abundant in resources. This means sharing what we have when we have it and trusting it will balance out in the end.

Facilitated by Deb Thornton at Nurture. Deb is the mama-mind of Sacred Arrivals, a Parent and Family Coach, Mama to 4, and has been facilitating parenting groups since 1992.

For more information, please contact Deb at 503.250.2973 or sacredarrivals@gmail.com

Children's Book: The Apple Pie that Papa Baked

Apple season is just about here, reminding me of a most fabulous book: The Apple Pie that Papa Baked written by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Jonathan Bean.

This delicious book (I had to say it) brings me so much joy. A couple of years ago, I gave it to a dear friend for her second birthday, and I have been meaning to get a copy for my children ever since.

Written in a spirally-this-is-the-House-that-Jack-Built fashion, with humor and warmth, this book celebrates the earthy, worldly elements in a sweet (again) story of an apple pie from roots to table. The father-daughter love and sharing within this book makes me long for my childhood yearly apple orchard trips complete with cider, apples, and of course, apple pie.

In my head, it goes without saying that the illustrations are perfectly matched to this story. I like to believe that if I had heard the story before seeing the artwork, I would have imagined the very same pictures, or very close. Simple yet intricate, nostalgic yet fresh, raw yet gentle, scruffy yet whimsical, and so much subtle beauty to warm your heart.

And here is a (because it's another pie themed book) recipe for you!

Good Old Apple Pie
Crust
1-1/2 Cups Flour
1/2 Teaspoons Salt
1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/8 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cups Shortening or butter
Ice Cold Water

Find your children. Ask them to help you measure and then sift flour and salt. Work in the shortening or butter with a fork. Add enough ice cold water to make a stiff dough (the dough should be soft but not sticky). Roll out on a floured counter top until about 1/8 inch thick. Place the rolled out dough in a 9-inch pie plate and trim the edge to fit. Save the trimmed dough for the top.

Filling
6 cups sliced, peeled cooking apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 TB lemon juice

In a small bowl mix the cinnamon, cloves, ginger, flour, and sugar together. Mix in apples and lemon juice. Fill pie crust with the apple mixture. Using the remaining dough roll out the top, place on pie, and pinch all the way around the edge. Poke holes (or a pretty design) and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 55 minutes. The top crust should be golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Children's Book: What's Inside Your Tummy, Mommy?

The other day, Sarah Nuxoll and I were at the library together with our children and Sarah happened upon this book: What's Inside your Tummy, Mommy? by Abby Cocovini. We ended up bringing it home and have been enjoying it. This book has brought up several new discussions about their lives in-utero. It would have been helpful to have for my son when I was pregnant with my daughter, and is another good "prepare the siblings book" for our list. It is written in kid-friendly language and the drawings are quite helpful. The pictures of the baby in-utero are suppose to be drawn to scale...I am not so sure about a couple of them, but maybe I have just forgotten how big my children's heads were when they were born. Also of note, my son loves all of the food references for the baby's size (why is it always food?), "Which food am I the size of now, Mama?"...golly...

Children's Books: For Preparing Siblings

When families grow, many parents ask me about ways to prepare their children for the birth of and the adjustment to their new sibling. I have a few favorite books that I recommend to parents for these very reasons.

Baby on the Way

by Martha Sears, William Sears, and Christie Watts Kelly

illustrated by Renee Andriani

This book discusses pregnancy, changes in the house when a new baby is expected, a bit about labor, parents going off to "the place where the baby will be born", nursing, and sibling emotions.

What Baby Needs

also by Martha Sears, William Sears, and Christie Watts Kelly
illustrated by Renee Andriani

This book discusses the changes that occur in families when a new baby is born, skin-to-skin time, nursing, bottle feeding by other parent, co-sleeping, babywearing, welcoming the new baby into the family circle, making friends with the new baby, well baby checks, and a general baby's development in relation to interaction with siblings.

Waiting for Baby

by Anne Kubler

This book is a sweet illustrated book (no words) about pregnancy for a future sibling.

My New Baby

also by Anne Kubler

This is another sweet, illustrated book (no words) about a new sibling.

Welcome with Love

by Jenni Overend

illustrated by Julie Vivas

This book is a lovely homebirth book from a child's perspective.

Bubbles: Teaching Children Breathwork

Yesterday, in the hot July sunshine, my children chased glossy bubbles throughout the garden. It reminded me of the work I used to do with young children who had experienced violence in their lives. Bubbles, as I discovered while working with these dear children, are quite therapeutic in many ways. They are fun, freeing, beautiful, and mysterious, but they also lend nicely to teaching children gentle breathwork. The gentle blowing that is required to form nice bubbles is similar to the slower gentle breaths one can use to relax. Bubbles are a portable relaxation tool!

First, I talk to children about noticing how they breathe. Then, I show them how to blow bubbles using a gentle inhale and a gentle exhale using their diaphragm. I also talk to children about noticing how their body feels when they breathe gently to blow bubbles; this promotes body awareness. I also want to be sure they do not hyperventilate or get dizzy from over-doing it.

Who says therapy is no fun?!

Filial Therapy

One of my favorite ways to support families is through filial therapy. What is filial therapy?

Filial Therapy is a research-based, approach that teaches parents how to use some of the same skills that play therapists use to help children. Research shows that motivated parents can be as effective as a professional in helping their child.

Typically, Filial Therapy is most beneficial for children ages 3 - 12. However, many children as young as 2 years of age and up to 13 can benefit from Filial Therapy. A modified form of filial therapy can be used with infants and toddlers. Filial Therapy is beneficial for both the parent and the child.

The following concerns can be addressed with filial therapy:

• Preparing for or after the arrival of a new sibling
• Reconnecting with a parent experiencing postpartum depression/anxiety
• Attachment related difficulties in biological/foster/adoptive families
• Depression, sadness, moodiness
• Grief & loss
• Moving
• Divorce
• Aggressive behaviors
• Excessively worries, anxiety, or separation issues
• Traumatic stress from events such as accidents, witnessing violence, abuse or a natural disaster
• Self-esteem or identity problems
• Nightmares/night terrors
• Needing to be center of attention
• School related difficulties
• Social issues

Goals and Benefits of Filial Therapy:

• Strengthened relationship with your child
• Develop a deeper understanding of your child
• Your child learns and understand their feelings
• You and your child learn to express feelings and communicate in healthy ways
• You and your child develop new problem solving skills
• Reduce or eliminate challenging behaviors
• Your child will feel heard and understood
• Your child can work through troubling issues
• Increased trust between you and your child
• Increased self-confidence and self-worth for your child
• It can increase your confidence in parenting
• Increase or repair your family's ability to have fun together
• Provide tools the family can use in the future

Filial therapy involves a commitment on your part, please read through the information on the filial therapy page.

For more information about filial therapy or to schedule an initial appointment, please contact Mychelle Moritz, ATR-BC, LPC 971-344-7527 or mychelle@nurturepdx.com

Children's Book: The Blueberry Pie Elf

The Blueberry Pie Elf, written by Jane Thayer and illustrated by Seymour Fleishman, is another oldie but goodie. We have renewed our checkout of this book so many times, I think the library just might give it to us. It has certainly led to an increase in our pie baking activities in this house.


Sweet little Elmer, the elf, desperately tries to find a way to let the family, who unknowingly hosts him, know that he wants more rich, melting, juicy, delicious, fruity blueberry pie. This is not an easy task for an elf that no one can see, hear, or feel. No other pie will do, and I have to agree with Elmer on that; I also think blueberry pie is the sweetest, fruitiest, most delicious of the fruit pies.


After you read this delightful book, you can make a blueberry pie with your little elves. Here is my favorite blueberry pie filling recipe:

3 1/2-4 c blueberries (fresh!)
3/4 c agave syrup
~1/2 TB lemon juice
5 TB corn starch


Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into pie crust. Create lattice top for pie by weaving long thin slices of pie crust on top. Place pie on a pizza pan in case of bubbling over. Bake at 350' until crust is lightly browned. I always cover the edges until the pie filling has cooked a bit (about 30 minutes) and then remove the cover and let the crust brown.

Children's Book: Welcome, Brown Bird

Marking the change in seasons with a fondness for the thrush, two boys are unknowingly connected by a Wood Thrush, on opposite sides of its migration path. In the spring, a boy in North America waits for the thrush by a hemlock forest. In the fall, a boy waits for the thrush by a rain forest in Central America. In a paralleling story of reverence and protection, both boys convince their fathers not to cut down the trees where the thrush lives during their respective seasons.

Author, Mary Lyn Ray, was inspired by declining yearly visits by Wood Thrushes to her farm in New England. She has created a story that teaches and inspires while touching the heart. The words, together with Peter Sylvada's rich golden, earthy toned paintings, has captured the birds' subtle beauty and the heartfelt awe of the wonder of nature.

A preview of the book can be found here.

Although the Wood Thrush is not common in the Willamette Valley, Swainson Thrushes and Hermit Thrushes can be found in the region. Each species of thrush has a different song. For fun, you can listen to the songs of four species of thrushes and take a quiz to see if you remember which is which.

crafty/creative family: make edible peanut butter play dough

After seeing the crafty family: make play dough post, my friend Rochelle clued me in to the fact that some play doughs are edible. How have I made it this far without knowing about these recipes? Fun! Thank you, Rochelle!

Peanut Butter Play dough (Edible)
• 1 jar (18 oz. ) peanut butter

• 6 tsp honey

• non-fat dry milk or milk plus flour to make desired consistency

Mix all together.

Alternative to Peanut Butter Play dough (Edible)
This is good for kids who want the peanut butter play dough but are allergic/intolerant to milk found in other peanut butter play dough recipes.

• ½ cup peanut butter

• 2 Tbsp honey

• ½ cup flour

Mix all together.

crafty/creative family: make play dough

One of my favorite recipes is for a product that is not for eating--play dough. Okay, it gets eaten a bit sometimes, but only little nibbles when the kids are curious. I would rather my children nibble on this homemade play dough than the commercially made doughs.

Both of my children are now able to help make this recipe. They love to measure the ingredients, and it is okay if the measurements are slightly off because it is not for eating (except for the above mentioned nibbles).

This play dough will last for several months if it is stored in an air-tight container.

1 c water
1 TB oil
1/2 c salt
3-4 drops food coloring or 1/2 pack or so Kool Aid
1-4 c flour

Mix all ingredients except flour in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir until the salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and add flour, starting with one cup and increasing by TB, until the dough is the right consistency (doughy, not sticky, slightly powdery).

Children's Book: Chicken Soup with Rice

My toddler conjured up some delightful nostalgia when she very purposefully (okay randomly) pulled this one off the shelf at the library today. Now my 3 1/2 year old is digging it as much as I did, way back...when?

Maurice Sendak, most well known for his book, Where the Wild Things Are, wrote this little gem that was published in 1962.

The book immediately caught my son's attention, and Carole King sealed the deal. Loved it once, loved it twice, loving Chicken Soup with Rice.

crafty/creative family: make a terra cotta bell

My son came home from his playgroup this week with a nifty wind chime made from terra cotta pots. I immediately wanted to make more to hang from our tree branches to fill our garden with more beautiful music. And so we are making more.

You will need:

• terra cotta pots
• 4 nuts (not the kind you eat) for each bell, larger than the drainage holes on the bottom of your pots
• twine or strong ribbon, rope, string
• water resistant paint (I used acrylic) or colored pencil (this is what my son used), crayon, marker
• and, of course, the usual added decor: beads, ribbons, bits, scraps, etc.

There are several ways these bells can be made. We followed our playgroup's lovely design (thank you Elizabeth!).

• Decorate 2 pots of different sizes, remember they will hang upside-down.
• When the paint is dry, tie the nuts to the twine about an inch from the bottom of the twine and then again at the top of the length you would need to allow the first nut to act as a clapper.
• Then string the twine through the drainage hole of the smaller pot first so that the pot rests on the nut.
• Tie another nut at the place on the twine that will create the desired distance between the two pots.
• String the twine through the drainage hole of the larger pot so that this pot rests on the nut.
• Tie another nut on the other side of the drainage hole (top of the bell) and create a loop with the twine for hanging.
• Further embellish as desired

My son made his bells with tiny pots and I used 3.5" and slightly larger pots for mine. The larger the pot, the deeper the pitch of the ring. I like the larger pots for the ease of embellishing, but the tiny pots have such a magical, pleasing tinkle; I think they are my favorite.

crafty/creative family: make a garden guardian

Meet Zopanoni, so named by my 3 1/2 year old, she is the guardian of our little sprouts, tender buds, and hopeful harvest. Inspired by scarecrows, fairies, and strong women, she has yet to be fully adorned with all of her sparkles and bells; she is a work-in-progress achieving her regalia and ephemera as the garden waxes then wanes. But she has enough right now to make beautiful music and a loving presence in our sweet little garden.


To create her, we used:

• bamboo for the vertical pole
• grape vine for the horizontal (arms)
• straw and grape vines bundled with twine for the head and wild hair
• fabric, bells, sparkles, mirror bits, ribbon, beads, etc. from SCRAP and around the house

Use what you have available in your yard and house! On a Nurture-neighborhood garden-ogling tour, my daughter and I met a woman who made her scarecrows with old brooms. We didn't have any old brooms, but we were very inspired, so we basically made one out of straw. The more bells, chimes, and shiny things you add, the more your garden will sparkle and sing and the safer from the birdies it will be.

Children's Book: The Happiness Tree

There is a sprightly, willful, full-of-life, child on my street who inspires me with her love of all things earth. While her father is building a cob chicken coop, for the chickens that she adores with shrill delight, she dances about, almost bare except for the mud-fancies, and reminds my heart of the childhood love for mudbaths. This firefly was born long before her expected arrival, although her early arrival was anticipated due to complications with the pregnancy. Each week that she stayed within her mother's womb, her parents gave her another middle name. One of those names is Acorn, after the very astute saying, "mighty oaks from little acorns grow", and she has lived up to that name.

The Happiness Tree: Celebrating the Gifts of Trees We Treasure, written by Andrea Albam Gosline and illustrated by Lisa Burnett Bossi, is a story of ten little seeds that grow to be ten mighty trees with gifts of the heart to share with the world. It is a book about loving our wise arbors. The oak tree is the tree of hope; how fittingly that relates to the story of how my young neighbor was given her second middle name. Each of the ten different trees in this book have a gift to share: hope, love, courage, gratitude, peace, compassion, tolerance, generosity, honesty, and happiness. There is a love for trees that really shines through in this book both in words and in pictures. It is a wonderful book, and I think I know a little nut that shall be getting it on her birthday if she doesn't already have it.

Kaiser Permanente Offers Free Health Insurance for School Age Children

Kaiser is offering free health insurance to grade K-6 children attending Multnomah County public schools.

Kaiser Permanente, in partnership with schools and the Multnomah Education Service District, is offering free health insurance to grade K-6 children attending Multnomah County public schools.

The insurance is free — there is no premium — but families must pay a small co-pay for office visits and prescriptions. Once enrolled, children are covered through age 19 if they remain in school.

To qualify, children must meet three main requirements:
Attend school – Children must attend a public school in Multnomah County. Charter schools and publicly funded alternative programs also qualify.

Grades K-6 – To enroll, children must be in grades K-6. Siblings can also be covered if they are age 3 or older (through 12th grade).

Income – Families must earn 250 percent or less of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, this is about $4,600 per month, or $53,000 per year.

Kaiser offers the insurance as part of its community benefit program, which, among other goals, seeks to expand access to medical care for the uninsured. About 4,000 children already are covered through this no-premium plan; Kaiser and MESD want to double enrollment by the end of the year.

In addition to the Kaiser insurance, the Oregon Health Plan offers low-cost health insurance to children from families that earn up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level.

According to the latest census data, 107,000 Oregon children — about one in nine — lacked health insurance in 2005-07, the latest period for which data are available.For questions about the Kaiser program or the Oregon Health Plan, or to enroll, contact MESD: 503-257-1732, speterso@mesd.k12.or.us.

Children's Book: Blue Bowl Down

I love the soft rocking chair rhythms of Blue Bowl Down: An Appalachian Rhyme by C.M. Millen, illustrated by Holly Meade. Tender are the collage illustrations and mothering-sweet are the words. Mother and child prepare bread as a bedtime ritual, just as Millen's family did generations ago, leaving it on top of the wood stove to rise while the family sleeps.

My son loves this book so much that he asks me to read it five or six times in a row. I think the rhythms are soothing to him. He has also taken an interest in making bread, by hand, rather than our usual bread machine treats, which is okay by me. Cooking with him is a creative way to connect and engage with him. It is also a good exercise in going with the flow for me; sometimes I just have to breathe and remind myself that, "It is just a mess, I can clean it up."