This is a big weekend for Lamaze International for many reasons. The 2012 Innovative Learning Forum is happening starting tomorrow in Nashville, TN, and right now, childbirth professionals and those interested in improving maternity care for childbearing women are making their way to Nashville via plane, train and automobile to network, listen to a fantastic line up of keynote speakers, participate in interactive learning sessions taught by creative and dynamic presenters, shop and meet sponsors and exhibitors, enjoy good food, Nashville hospitality and socialize with men and women who share the belief that birth is normal.

If you are not able to join the party in Nashville, you do have the option of participating in the four general sessions presented by the keynote speakers through the virtual conference option. Either way, there is an opportunity for expanding your knowledge and getting important new information about teaching pregnancy, birth, parenting and breastfeeding topics to expectant families.

New Resource for Educators

There is another exciting event happening at this weekend's gathering. Lamaze International unveils a brand new resource for childbirth educators; The Lamaze Toolkit for Childbirth Educators. If you are at the conference this weekend, you can preview this toolkit at the Lamaze booth and participate in a contest to be entered in a drawing for the Lamaze Six Healthy Birth Practices PowerPoint Presentation with Videos, a valuable part of the new toolkit. (More info on the how to enter later in this post.)

The Lamaze Toolkit for Childbirth Educators (Toolkit) is a brand new 317 page workbook created by Debby Amis, RN, BSN, CD(DONA), LCCE, FACCE and Jeanne Green, CD(DONA), LCCE, FACCE. Debby and Jeanne have both held leadership roles in Lamaze International for many years, as well as contribute to other birth related organizations. Together, Debby and Jeanne are the owners and directors of The Family Way Publications and Childbirth Educator Programs.

I wanted to review this Toolkit and let you know some of the highlights, so that you can be sure to allow time to check it out yourself at the Lamaze booth at the Forum or online, and consider adding the Toolkit to your own personal teaching resources. After purchasing, I was easily able to download an electronic version of the Toolkit to my laptop. For the purpose of this review, I chose to print out the Toolkit for easy access using my substantial Lamaze/FedEx discount that I receive as a benefit of being a Lamaze member. An educator could easily chose to keep the electronic version handy and just choose to print out any handouts that will be utilized in class.

What's Inside

The Toolkit is divided into 8 sections, starting off with 'Dynamic Childbirth Education.' Immediately, ideas are jumping off the pages on different methods of curriculum development, the components of a great class and preparations you might want to consider even before your class begins. There is something for everyone, no matter if you are a right brained creative thinker or a left brained in-depth organizer. I found several new ideas for opening my childbirth classes and was excited to give some new things a try the next time I teach.

The Toolkit follows along with The Lamaze Fundamentals for Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting with a section devoted to each one. In each section, I found a list of selected materials and teaching aids that you might want to consider, along with information on where or how to acquire different items. Teaching ideas, interactive learning methods, and active learning activities are so abundant throughout the book that it could be very easy to quickly choose a few favorites and immediately have a handful of ways to teach each topic you cover. Another feature that I very much appreciated was the Lamaze web resources for each topic as well as other web links to useful pages, outstanding online videos and resources to share with class students. In every section, the Lamaze principles that pregnancy and birth is normal, natural and healthy are apparent and the activities and teaching suggestions reinforce those principals while giving students confidence-building tools and ideas for pregnancy, birth and parenting.

Section V provides class outlines for all kinds of classes, including early pregnancy classes, series classes, and weekend classes, with a lesson plan for whatever your needs might be. Section VI: Resources provides suggestions for dozens of teaching aids and where to locate them for purchase if necessary. Sample presentation slides are outlined slide by slide, should you wish to supplement your class activities. Lists of websites useful to childbirth educators are included, where no doubt you could get lost for days, mining the different sites for more useful and relevant information for you and your students.

Section VII: Handouts has an extensive collection of share-able handouts and worksheets loaded with fun activities, as well as examples of practical forms, such as sign in sheets, class evaluations, and review material for class participants. Even items that you might email in advance of class or send as a follow-up to reinforce the material or facilitate discussions. The 317 page Toolkit wraps up with Section VIII: References with the websites and research articles that support the preceding sections, should you wish to reference the original sources or seek more information.

There is an accompanying Lamaze Six Healthy Birth Practices PowerPoint Presentation with Videos included with the Toolkit. This presentation is modifiable and includes over 80 colorful slides and embedded videos. Or you may choose to purchase the PowerPoint Presentation alone for a reduced price. The Lamaze Toolkit for Childbirth Educators (including PowerPoint and Videos) is $175 for Lamaze members and $350 for non-members. Lamaze Six Healthy Birth Practices PowerPoint Presentation with Videos alone is $65/$140. These items are one-time purchases, and you do not need to purchase additional license for continued use.

No matter if you are a new educator, or one who has been teaching for years, I think you will be amazed at the sheer number of practical ideas, creative teaching methods, effective activities and course outlines that will be new to you and create excitement for you to mix things up with some of the Toolkit ideas. I have just about 10 years of teaching childbirth classes under my belt and I found myself taking notes of new things I can't wait to try! You can teach an old dog new tricks. I can only imagine how valuable a tool like this would have been when I was just starting out! The days and days of work it would have saved me in preparing to teach my classes. Even now, I feel like it is fun for both students and myself, to mix things up, it keeps me on my toes and enjoying my work, and lets me offer fun and effective learning opportunities to the families I work with. This Toolkit is a wonderful and fresh way to share the all the new messages, such as 'Push For Your Baby' and others that Lamaze worked so hard to make just right!

I Am Lamaze Photo Contest- Win a Healthy Birth Practice Power Point presentation with videos

Lamaze Forum Attendees: show your pride! Share a photo of yourself at the conference via social media and you'll have a chance to win a Healthy Birth Practice Power Point presentation with videos, just one of the resources in the brand new Lamaze Toolkit for Childbirth Educators. The full toolkit is a comprehensive online toolkit (312 pages), which offers interactive teaching strategies, ready-to-use handouts, class outlines, and an 88 slide complete PowerPoint presentation on the Lamaze Six Healthy Birth Practices with teaching notes, and a full range of teaching resources. The Lamaze Toolkit also includes access to the easy-to-use resources and an online community with a discussion forum for sharing tips with other educators. Be sure to stop by Lamaze booth #104/106 to take a 'test drive'! Retail value of the Power Point Presentation is $65 for members and $140 for non-members.

There are three ways you can be eligible to enter:
1. Twitter: tweet a photo of yourself at the Forum and tag @lamazeadvocates and #lamaze12 to be eligible
2. Facebook: Post a photo of yourself at the Forum and tag LamazeEducators or post your photo to our wall:
http://www.facebook.com/lamazeeducators.
3. Email a photo of yourself at the Forum to info@lamaze.org and we'll post it to our Facebook album.

A winner will be chosen at random and announced on Sunday, October 28!

Added Bonus: Toolkit Forum

There is an added bonus for anyone who purchases the Lamaze Toolkit for Childbirth Educators; Full access to a specialized forum on the Lamaze website, where you can interact with other community members who have also purchased this resource. Have discussions, share ideas, successes and improvements you made, ask questions and learn how others are using this valuable tool. Reach out and collaborate virtually with others who are also using the Toolkit in their classrooms.

If you are at the Innovative Learning Forum, stop by the Lamaze Booth and 'test-drive' this new resource. Remember to enter the drawing for the Lamaze Six Healthy Birth Practices PowerPoint Presentation with Videos during your stay in Nashville, to be awarded on Sunday, October 28th. Or you can purchase the Toolkit here on the Lamaze site. Once you have had a chance to take a peek, either at the booth or once you return home, let us know what you think and how your classes have changed using the resources available to you.

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