Author: MidwifinNC

Several date changes have been made that differ from the Fall NCMA Newsletter. Please note those changes here.

Blessed Day of the Midwife 2021!

Source: NCMA Spring Newsletter 2021

May 5th is International Day of the Midwife! To celebrate, please enjoy the spring newsletter by clicking the link above. As we slowly begin to emerge from the pandemic, weary midwives need one another more than ever. There is much to look forward to for the NC midwifery and birth community, including a conference in our own back yard AND the first NCMA meeting in over a year!

Thank you all for your continued presence and support of this unity organization.

In Sisterhood, NCMA

In these perilous times, we need our sisterhood more than ever. Please enjoy the winter newsletter here.

Sisters, these are unsettling and uncertain times we find ourselves in. The NC Midwives Alliance and NCMERA wish each of you wellness and good health. May you have the resources you need to provide for yourself, your family, and your community.

It is with a sad heart that we have made the decision to postpone the NC Walk for Midwives, which was set for the first weekend in May in honor of International Day of the Midwife. We look forward to the day when we can once again gather and hug and show our support for one another.

Never forget, we are descendants of wise women, healers, and midwives who have endured despite the challenges since the beginning of time. We are resilient!

In Unity & Sisterhood, NCMA

The Spring Beach Retreat has become a tradition for us and we are so pleased that we can continue to offer this getaway to the hard working midwives & birthworkers of NC.

This year’s retreat is all about Community. 

As always, the beach is mere steps away from our front door, the schedule is loose, and the free time abundant. All of this to help you return to yourself and relax away from the responsibilities of call and family.

CAN’T STAY THE WEEKEND? COME JUST FOR THE DAY ON SATURDAY FOR THE NCMA MEETING WHICH BEGINS WITH A POTLUCK LUNCH AT 12:00. PLEASE ENJOY THE SPECIAL OFFERINGS OF THE DAY, GET SOME BEACH AND SISTERHOOD TIME, STAY FOR DINNER AND EVENING FESTIVITIES!

Spring Meeting Schedule

12pm Potluck lunch & networking

1pm Defensive Charting Workshop for Midwives & Assistants by Emily Joubert, CNM: We know we provide stellar care to our clients. Our documentation helps demonstrate what we did and why we did it. I’d venture to say like ALL of us, charting is not what called me to midwifery nor is it what keeps me passionate about my work. That being said, documentation is a critical midwifery skill, essential for communication and smooth transfer. Join me during our beach retreat to learn some important documentation pearls, particularly focused on transfer. This FREE workshop includes .2 ACNM CEUs

2:30 pm Presentation of the Systems Map initiated at the 2019 NC Community Birth Summit: Your participation and input are invaluable to carrying this work forward. Please join us and provide your perspective and feedback so that we may grow a map that is truly representative of NC. This map is a dynamic, ever-growing and changing, communication tool, come learn about it and add to it! Learn about the role of community liaison and the plans for the 2020 NC Community Birth Summit.

4:30 pm End of meeting. Beach time and sisterhood!!

Sunday March 15th CPR class (BLS for Healthcare Provider )/AHA guidelines

9:30am-12pm Get recertified at the beach house! Jamie Perkins is offering BLS this year. Cost is $68.00 + the book (ebook available). If interested, please contact Jamie Perkins, CPM 919-524-5345 (text is fine)

As of now the beach house is full for overnight guests, we welcome folks to come on down and stay nearby! Join us for evenings of games and laughter, and we hope to see you at the meeting!!

Thank you to all who attended the NCMA Winter Meeting in Garner yesterday, as always, it was wonderful to gather in sisterhood and laugh as midwives do. The Flower Essences Workshop for Midwives was absolutely spectacular! We look forward to offering this workshop and others with Chanelle of Moon by Moon Apothecary in the future, keep an eye towards Charlotte to catch this workshop in the upcoming months.

NC Midwifery Dates of Interest

Mark your calendars for these important events!

First, NCMERA is thrilled to announce that the systems map began at the NC Community Birth Summit is now ready to be presented for your feedback and participation!

Please plan to join us at one of the upcoming presentations of the map:

NCACPM will host an ONLINE meeting to familiarize you with the Mapping software and the initial MAP.  If you have never used the freeconferencecall application, you may need to do a quick download prior to being able to connect. 

• Go to www.freeconferencecall.com
• Click the Online Meetings Dropdown
• Join Meeting
• Meeting ID: merechristie
• You can either sync your phone audio to the desktop app by entering  #4764#
• Or you can use your computer audio with a headset (please).
• The Call-In # is: 712-770-5505 and the access # is: 729539

The Spring Meeting will be held during the 3rd annual NCMA Spring Beach retreat! In addition to presentation of the map, we are offering a Defensive charting for community birth midwives class, food, fun, and ocean time! All are welcome to join us for the weekend or the day!

April NC OBGYN Society annual meeting

We will present the map to our physician colleagues by having a table at this meeting. We look forward to using the map as a communication tool to engage with the NC Obstetric community, to add their perspectives to the growth of the map, and to increase physician participation in the NC Community Birth Summit 2020.

Mark your calendars for these upcoming events:

May 2 NC Walk for Midwives to celebrate the International Day of the Midwife

We look forward to making this year’s statewide Walk for Midwives even better than last year! This annual fundraiser is absolutely essential to making the work that NCMA and NCMERA do on a state level possible. Huge projects like the NC Community Birth Summit as well as the little things, webpages, newsletters, etc. We are counting on the membership and the NC birth community to come together once again in support of this work. We are in need of volunteers and coordinators for this year’s walk, please email if you are willing to help with this important fundraiser.

August 27-30 Carolina Birth Junkies Summer Island Retreat

Karen Strange will be back this year teaching her one of a kind Integrative Resuscitation of the Newborn! Along with many exciting speakers and fun times, this is an event not to be missed in Rock Hill, SC.

September 10-12 ACNM Tristate Conference

Sponsored by the NC Affiliate of the ACNM, the conference will be held at the Historical Durham Arts Council downtown. The theme this year is TRANSFORMING PRACTICE THROUGH HEALING TRADITIONS AND CULTURAL HUMILITY. All midwives, students, apprentices, doulas, birth workers and birth keepers are welcome and encouraged to attend this inclusive conference conveniently happening in the triangle! There will be vendor table opportunities at this event as well, please email if you are interested in having a table at Tristate.

November 6-8 NC Community Birth Summit 2020

We have just under a year to bring the systems map to as many communities as possible in NC in order to grow and create a map that is truly representative of our perinatal healthcare system in it’s entirety. From the rural mountain communities affected by the closing of small community hospitals, to inner city communities facing the impacts of racial inequities and increased perinatal mortality risk- we want to talk to EVERYONE.

In order to do this, we are going to need YOU. If you are interested in being more involved with the work of NCMERA and the Summit as a community liason, please contact us at information@ncmera.org.

Happy New Year Midwives! 2020 finally made her long awaited appearance and the NC Midwives Alliance is ready to usher in this year with community, sisterhood, and you!

We are so excited about the winter meeting that will be held

January 25th at 116 Alaverde Way, Garner, NC 27529 from 11am – 3pm

Please join us for a potluck lunch at 11am, a lot of networking and catching up, a little business, and stick around for some special continuing education offered by local herbalist, wise woman, and student midwife, Chanelle Bergeron of Moon by Moon Apothecary.

This 90 minute workshop, Gentle Power: A Midwife’s Introduction to Flower Essences starts at 1pm. We will explore the world of flower essences and their gentle, yet potent place in the midwife’s tool kit.

Flower essences are energetic remedies that support vibrational shifts in the Spirit, mind, & emotional bodies. They are extremely easy, intuitive, non-invasive, and accessible remedies to work with.

Together, we will sit in meditation with a single flower essence, brainstorm common issues that arise in a midwifery practice, and touch upon a few specific essences to work with during the prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum periods.

Each member will leave with ideas for integrating essences into their practice, a deepened understanding of energy medicine, and a small flower essence blend that they create on their own from my personal collection.  ~Chanelle

MEAC CEU approval is pending, $35 per person, and includes materials. 

You know what time it is! Beach time!

The 3rd Annual NCMA Spring Beach Retreat is

March 13-15, 2020 

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

The Spring Beach Retreat has become a tradition for us and we are so pleased that we can continue to offer this getaway to the hard working midwives & birthworkers of NC.

This year’s retreat is all about Community. 

As always, the beach is mere steps away from our front door, the schedule is loose, and the free time abundant. All of this to help you return to yourself and relax away from the responsibilities of call and family.

We have a good mix of continuing education and fun planned for you this year! Meredith is going to provide dye and help us make some magical tie-died treasures, be sure to bring tshirts, socks, pillow cases, whatever you’d like to make colorful! As always, we will have yoga on Saturday morning and midwives after-hours each night.

Saturday March 14th is the NCMA Spring meeting!

CAN’T STAY THE WEEKEND? COME JUST FOR THE DAY ON SATURDAY FOR THE NCMA MEETING WHICH BEGINS WITH A POTLUCK LUNCH AT 12:00. PLEASE ENJOY THE SPECIAL OFFERINGS OF THE DAY, GET SOME BEACH AND SISTERHOOD TIME, STAY FOR DINNER AND EVENING FESTIVITIES!

12pm Potluck lunch & networking

1pm Defensive Charting Workshop for Midwives & Assistants by Emily Joubert, CNM: We know we provide stellar care to our clients. Our documentation helps demonstrate what we did and why we did it. I’d venture to say like ALL of us, charting is not what called me to midwifery nor is it what keeps me passionate about my work. That being said, documentation is a critical midwifery skill, essential for communication and smooth transfer. Join me during our beach retreat to learn some important documentation pearls, particularly focused on transfer. *ACNM CEUs are pending for this workshop

2:30 pm Presentation of the Systems Map initiated at the 2019 NC Community Birth Summit: Your participation and input are invaluable to carrying this work forward. Please join us and provide your perspective and feedback so that we may grow a map that is truly representative of NC. This map is a dynamic, ever-growing and changing, communication tool, come learn about it and add to it! Learn about the role of community liaison and the plans for the 2020 NC Community Birth Summit.

4:30 pm End of meeting. Beach time and sisterhood!!

ACCOMMODATIONS

Check in is after 12pm on Friday 3/13 and check out is 2pm on Sunday 3/15

• Queen bed on 2nd floor (sleeps 2) $250 for weekend
• Queen bed on 2nd floor (sleeps 2) $250 for weekend
• Master bedroom with a king-sized bed and plenty of floor space (sleeps 2-4), has bath $275 for weekend

Rooms must be reserved for the weekend upfront. If you want to find someone to split a room with you, by all means, do so! To reserve a room, email Meredith at meredithbowden@hotmail.com

The NCMA Summer Newsletter is out!!! We are extra proud of this edition and beyond grateful that so many amazing womxn contributed ✊💖 looking forward to seeing everyone in September at our fall meeting!

The Fall meeting is set for September 7 in East Bend, NC at the lovely home of Amy Medwin. We start at 11am with a potluck lunch. Please join us! More info in the newsletter and on the facebook event page, click here. 

Please share widely! #unity #ncmidwivesalliance#sisterhoodissacred