Beginnings
Holistic Nutrition Postpartum Support Tension Releasing Exercises
Beginnings
Midwife to Resiliency
 

Continuing Education Courses

Functional Nutrition and BioIndividuality in the Prevention and Treatment of Gestational Diabetes: Creating a Framework for Client Success

Approved for 6 CEs by NARM, ACNM and California Board of Nursing

Are you looking to increase your toolkit for supporting your clients diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes? Do you often wonder if there is something you may be missing with your client who has a hard time controlling their blood sugar levels? Are you curious about innovative food and lifestyle changes specific to GDM that are supported by research?

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) affects upwards of 15% of pregnant clients. Additionally, 50-70% of GDM diagnosed clients will go on to have Type 2 diabetes later in life, and their babies are at a significantly higher risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The midwife has a prime opportunity to educate and counsel clients to decrease risks of these debilitating chronic illnesses, but how does one go about supporting clients who bring to the table individual risk factors, food preferences, and lifestyle habits? 

Midwife and Nutritionist, Sarah Lax, provides you with a unique framework to support each individual client and their specific challenges. This course explores the evidence and efficacy of practices used to support GDM, from diet assessments and sleep strategies, to inflammation and nutrient therapy, and much more. You will learn to implement this framework to become the effective wellness detective your clients need to catapult their GDM prevention or management plan towards greater success and healthy habit change for life. 


Learning Objectives

1. Review the risk factors and impact of GDM on the pregnant client and developing fetus

2. Define the primary goals of functional nutrition counseling 

3. Summarize current research on the dietary interventions in blood sugar management and critically evaluate nutrition research relating to GDM treatment

4. Utilize a comprehensive tracking model for assessment of blood sugar balance

5. Explain the physiology of the stress response in relation to blood sugar balance

6. Using the functional nutrition model, explain the lifestyle factors that contribute cortisol dysfunction, inflammation, and blood sugar imbalance

7. List key nutrients and food sources to utilize when creating an individualized client care plan for the prevention and treatment of GDM

8. Utilize key counseling principles designed for client success, including Motivational Interviewing (MI)

Beyond 6 Weeks: The Case For Midwifery Care in the Postpartum Year

Approved for 6 CEs by NARM, ACNM and California Board of Nursing

“I didn’t feel like myself for at least 2+ years.” 

“No one told me my body would fall apart after giving birth.” 

“I had no idea how lonely it would be, becoming a mom.” 

These words reflect the postpartum experience for many in the 21st century: overwhelming, painful, isolating, and exhausting. While many people feel a strong desire for guidance and help after birth, postpartum care is often referred to as the “poor relation” in maternity care, with the majority of postpartum people receiving scant attention in the weeks after baby arrives. And while most midwives go above and beyond the norm to offer multiple home visits and care through the first 6 weeks, there is growing evidence that many health challenges present long after the first 6 weeks, and continue throughout the duration of the postpartum year.  

These include problems such as:

  • Thyroid Dysfunction

  • Postpartum Depression and Anxiety

  • Pelvic Floor Weakness, Incontinence, and Bowel Problems

  • Relationship Challenges

  • Breastfeeding Difficulties

  • Abdominal Weakness and Back Pain

  • Physical Exhaustion

Providers have historically focused on “Well-Baby Care” in the year after birth, but we are seeing parents in the 21st century calling for providers to establish methods of “Well-Mama Care” - care that focuses on the physical and emotional challenges that present after birth and throughout the postpartum year, and acknowledges that quality of life for the postpartum person matters.

So what would a “Beyond 6 Weeks” midwife- led, postpartum framework look like? Join midwife, nutritionist, educator, and mother of 3, Sarah Lax, as she explores current evidence on the postpartum recovery process, what the research tells us matters most to support the postpartum experience, and a review of innovative postpartum care models to deepen and elevate your midwifery practice.

Learning Objectives:

  • Review the current state of postpartum care in the 21st century and compare with the postpartum experience of traditional cultures

  • Explain the connection between maternal health and infant health after birth and in the postpartum year

  • Review current research on maternal health challenges (physical, mental, emotional) that present in the year after birth and barriers to support

  • Summarize the positive effects of the Midwifery Model of Care on postpartum outcomes

  • Review the benefits of social support (provider-led, peer-led, and functional) in the postpartum year

  • List common nutrients that are depleted after birth and their effects on thyroid health, breastfeeding babies, and maternal mood in the postpartum year

  • Review the important features of a provider led postpartum care framework in the postpartum year

  • Summarize innovate ways that technology can be used for postpartum education and care (hands on or hands off) throughout the year after giving birth

Gestational Diabetes Parent Course- GDM 101

Have you been told you are at high-risk for Gestational Diabetes?

Have you been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes?

Did you see a nutritionist...

...and were frustrated not to hear anything you didn't already know?

...or did their recommendations never work or stop working for you?

Balancing your blood sugar depends on more than restricting sugary foods and simple carbohydrates!

And when you use a personalized strategy, it may be easier than you think.

Come learn what research has shown leads to a higher level of success:

  • innovative tracking techniques

  • the latest research on low-carbohydrate diet plans

  • education on lifestyle factors that can derail blood sugar management

  • nutrient therapy to support GDM balance

This course is geared toward the pregnant people who are looking to elevate their understanding of GDM, seek a root-caused (vs. a symptom based) view of wellness, and desires a holistic, individualized approach when creating a GDM care plan. 

“In GDM 101, you are given all of the resources, education, and recommendations that I offer my own nutrition clients, and in doing so I hope to empower you to be your own nutritionist and wellness detective, as in the end YOU are the expert when it comes to knowing your body best.”  -- Sarah Lax, Midwife, Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Instructor of Gestational Diabetes 101

This course contains:

  • 1 hour and 40 mins of video content

  • visual aids

  • tracking tools

  • readings

  • the opportunity to ask questions of the instructor in the discussion area


Born Together

Postpartum Support Program

Exhausted… Stressed out… Anxious… falling apart… Alone…

These words have become synonymous with the postpartum period, But we believe there is hope for a new Story. One that places the newly birthed parent front and center in the first year after the baby is born. Come join our revolutionary program as we throw out the old paradigm of burnout and isolation. Enhance your postpartum experience with a dynamic online program connecting you to the resources you need to heal and thrive.

includes:

  • Message the Midwife Weekly Group Text Support

  • Access to sleep support, infant feeding, Nutrition and Pelvic Floor Experts

  • Audio library with over 10 hours of birth recovery education, from Pelvic floor health to stress reduction tools during times of overwhelm… we got you covered!

  • And so much more!

    Contact Us For Next Program Offering!