Lamaze International is hosting an exciting learning event – The Virtual Education Symposium, on October 4, 2023. This event provides an opportunity to hear from experts in childbirth education on how you can enhance your childbirth education program activities to increase learner retention, improve perinatal outcomes and reduce inequities facing birthing people of the Global Majority. Over the next weeks leading up to the event, Connecting the Dots will present short interviews with the speakers, so that you can learn more about them, their upcoming presentation and some of their favorite resources.. Today, meet Mallory Emerson and Sharon Muza who will be presenting "Power Up PowerPoint - Utilizing Slide Decks for Interactive, Engaging Learning Opportunities."

1. How did you first become interested in using slide decks in innovative ways to create engaging, interactive learning opportunities?

As childbirth educators, we always challenged ourselves to be as interactive as possible during our in-person classes. It made it fun to teach and helped the material to be more memorable for families. Neither of us had done much virtual teaching until the pandemic, when abruptly everything pivoted to virtual childbirth classes. We knew that we needed to increase our virtual teaching skills quickly! We sleuthed around and put our heads together and began to devise unique applications of Google Slides (our favorite presentation platform). And the rest, as they say, is history.

2. What problem will perinatal professionals attending your session better be able to solve after their time with you?

People joining our session will not only be able to see some creative and new uses of their favorite presentation software, but immediately get their own creative juices flowing with ideas to apply these interactive learning opportunities in their perinatal classes.

3. Based on your knowledge and experience, what do you believe is the biggest challenge facing people who are growing their families in 2023?

There is an absolute explosion of information on the internet, and families who are looking for resources and guidance often describe feeling overwhelmed and anxious at the sheer volume of information coming their way. They also find it difficult to weed through the inaccurate info and identify evidence based, useful material. A great childbirth educator, by offering fun and interactive classes, can help families to better be able to sort out useful and accurate information.

4. How did you first come to be associated with Lamaze International and what has kept you engaged with the organization?

Sharon: I found Lamaze a couple years after becoming a childbirth educator (20 years ago) and really aligned with the Six Healthy Birth Practices. The foundation of Lamaze is built on evidence and I found great comfort in that. Since then, I have found many ways to stay involved, maintain my credentials and connect with others in the organization. I think my teaching and knowledge has really benefited from my association with Lamaze International.

Mallory: I first became familiar with Lamaze during my CBE training and then from working with Sharon! I am drawn to the evidence-based foundation of Lamaze’s recommendations and material and have greatly appreciated staying involved with other educators through trainings/conferences. The connection with the Lamaze community as the education space was upended with the sudden shift to online learning in 2020 was vital for maintaining energy and excitement for teaching during a really uncertain time. 

5. What is a resource (blog, website, book, podcast, influencer, etcetera) that you recently enjoyed learning from?

Sharon: I recently became aware of Dr. Kirsten Small, a retired obstetrician located in Queensland, Australia. Dr. Small’s primary research focus is Electronic Fetal Monitoring, its accuracy and the risks and benefits. I very much enjoy her blog posts and offerings. Her website is Birth Small Talk.

Mallory: Two recent birth-related reads that I absolutely adored and learned from are Fat Birth: Confident, Strong and Empowered Pregnancy At Any Size by Michelle Mayefske and Birthing Liberation: How Reproductive Justice Can Set Us Free by Sabia Wade. 

Come hear Mallory and Sharon share some great teaching tools and tips at the Virtual Education Symposium by registering now. Look for more interviews in the coming weeks.

Published: August 09, 2023

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