Eight Ways To Find Out What’s New About Birth
Apr 16th, 2009 | By Darlene MacAuley | Category: Continuing Education, Savvy New Tip
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New subscribers to my newsletter receive an email from me asking if they have any burning questions about starting or growing their birth business. This morning, I received a letter from Rebecca. She is thinking about becoming a doula, and she wanted to find out some ways to keep herself informed with up-to-date information. Here are some resources I offered to her.
- Attend a conference by DONA, CAPPA, Midwifery Today, or La Leche League
- Purchase recordings or videos from these conferences from these organizations’ websites
- Check out live and recorded classes at Conscious Woman
- Become active on the forums at AllDoulas.com
- Search and join some Yahoo Groups for doulas and birth businesses
- Join a local Birth Network or Doula group and network with other birth professionals in your area
- Set up Google Alerts for keywords of interest to you. When an article is published online, you’ll receive an alert
- Network online through Facebook and Twitter with other childbirth pros. Most of the new articles and videos I come across are shared by my Facebook contacts.
Many certifying organizations require continuing education in order to keep up your certification, and they will be able to help you find workshops and tell you about alternative ways for you to get the credits you need.
What are some other ways you keep yourself updated with new information about birth? Share with us by adding a comment. And as always, if you find the information on this blog helpful, please Tweet below or click the Share button to tell your friends about the blog.
Have a great day!
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Tags: doula, doula business, doula business tips, doula continuing education, Facebook, Google Alert, Midwifery, networking, twitter
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I spend a lot of time reading journal abstracts and full-text journal articles (where available) at PubMed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
I also use a lot of the links on this page of the Childbirth Connection website:
http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ClickedLink=184&ck=10263&area=2
http://tiny.cc/evidence (alt url in case the first one doesn’t work well)
I also read extensively and talk to as many people as I can about emerging trends, their own experiences, etc.
Ann Douglas (pregnancy and parenting writer)
@anndouglas on Twitter
Here are a few more ideas:
-Surround yourself with someone more seasoned (experienced) than you.
-Read the health section of major newspapers
-Make a note of new procedures that you notice at births that you attend and ask the nurses/doctors or midwives about them.
-Read Read Read – your library should always be expanding
Thanks for the great links, Ann! I like the advice you give about talking to as many people as you can. Hearing others’ perspectives opens the door to new realizations and wisdom.
Thank you for your insight, Shayla. I really like your advice about asking nurses/doctors/midwives about new procedures that you notice while at a birth. I love your website name, btw!
Another conference to attend is with the International Cesarean Awareness Network which is actually going on this weekend in Atlanta (and I am missing it!). They follow the latest information on cesareans and VBAC. Their website is http://www.ican-online.org
You may even have a local chapter nearby with regular meetings. Local ICAN leaders can be a great resource.
What a great list! I think one that you mentioned that has given me more information than any other is the google alerts for certain words or phrases. I have collected load of info that way.
Janice