If there is one skill that we must all continue to grow and develop it is our communication skills. Communication drives the way we interact with the world and the way the world interacts and perceives us. The toughest communication skill is LISTENING. The greatest communicators are listeners and observers. Listening is the skill often most forgotten in communication and what most people crave. Nothing makes you feel more important and special than when someone really stops and listens, giving our full attention. In this presentation Liz Crowe walks you through important steps in masterful communication with clients and colleagues.
Breastfeeding is a sociocultural activity which is much more than simply the transfer of nutrition. Early support provided by health professionals, during this time, can disrupt the developing mother- infant connection, and, challenge a woman’s confidence in her own body and in her ability to breastfeed. In this study facilitative communication styles emerged from interactions with midwives, and/or lactation consultants, who prioritised breastfeeding as a relationship between mother and baby and who spent time engaging with women on a personal level.
Many peer counselors and lactation professionals are taught basic counseling skills without any knowledge of body language or mindfulness skills which does not contribute to deep listening or the ability to fully understand the depth of the client’s issue and need. Attendees will be able to use proper listening skills, appropriate body language, and mindfulness while employing Three Part Listening Skills to better understand and address the needs of their patients.
In the Maternal-Child Health field, providers often meet families during their most vulnerable times. Pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding can be traumatizing or trigger previous traumas that providers may not be aware of. This talk encourages lactation consultants to be cognizant of this and gives an overview of the various types of traumas and the ways that they may present, while providing tools to effectively support families to meet their breastfeeding goals.
Autism is a normal form of cognitive diversity, but is often experienced as a significant Disability in contemporary society. To date, most research conducted on Autistic children, fails to recognise that Autistic children become Autistic adults. Her systematic review looked at Autistic experiences of infant feeding, and showed some additional challenges for Autistic parents compared to neurotypical peers. She then undertook a follow on survey of 193 Autistic people who had been pregnant, which highlighted that maternity and infant feeding support was not well suited to meet their needs, with many participants recommending training for health professionals to facilitate a better understanding of Autistic realities. This presentation will focus on the differences in Autistic communication styles, sensory processing experiences and co-occurring conditions, and how this impacts on the use of maternity services.
Liz Crowe
Liz Crowe is an experienced social worker who has spent her career in paediatric intensive care specialising in crisis, trauma and end-of-life care with children and families. In the last two years her focus has shifted to the wellbeing of health care professionals and has submitted a PhD thesis investigating the risk and protective factors for the wellbeing of health care professionals. Liz is a passionate and humorous educator who regularly speaks internationally and is an active podcaster. Liz is the successful author of The little book of loss and grief you can read while you cry.
Elaine Burns
Elaine Burns is an associate professor of Midwifery and director of Higher Degree Research and Honours, at Western Sydney University. Elaine is an experienced midwifery clinician, educator and researcher. Her research is focussed on breastfeeding, midwifery practice/education and the experience of maternity care. Elaine’s work is multidisciplinary and collaborative and is recognised nationally and internationally with a robust publication track record of more than 50 peer reviewed publications, and 60 conference and seminar presentations. Elaine has been awarded multiple research grants to further investigate barriers to breastfeeding and is passionate about improving support during pregnancy, birth and the early transition to mothering.
Laurel Wilson
Laurel is an author, international keynote speaker, and pregnancy and lactation specialist. She loves to blend today’s recent scientific findings with the mind/body/spirit wisdom. She owns MotherJourney, focusing on training perinatal professionals on integrative and holistic information regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. Wilson is the co-author of two books - The Attachment Pregnancy and The Greatest Pregnancy Ever and contributing author to Round the Circle: Doulas Talk About Themselves. She served as the Executive Director of Lactation Programs for CAPPA for 16 years and now is on the Senior Advisor Board.
Tameka Jackson-Dyer
Tameka Jackson-Dyer is an IBCLC and community health worker whose passion is community outreach. She has been honing her counselling and clinical skills in WIC agencies, OB/Gyn offices and Baby Friendly hospitals throughout the metro Detroit area for almost 20 years. Her work with of Coffective and the EMU Center for Health Disparities, Innovations & Studies allows her to provide a voice for the populations who are historically underrepresented in conversations about breastfeeding support. She owns a private practice, Crazymilklady Lactation Support Services, LLC, serves as Chair of the Metro Detroit/ Wayne County Breastfeeding Coalition, is a co-founder of the Southeast Michigan IBCLC’s of Color (SEMI) and volunteers as a Sisterfriend mentor with the Detroit Birthing Project.
Aimee Grant
Aimee Grant is an Autistic and Disabled researcher at Swansea University’s Centre for Lactation, Infant Feeding and Translational Research. She is the principal investigator for a Wellcome Trust funded eight-year project Autism from menstruation to menopause, which is Autistic-led and co-governed by an Autistic Research Community Council. The project involves longitudinal qualitative participatory research with Autistic people focused on reproductive health and wellbeing. Aimee is the author of two qualitative research methods texts: Doing Your Research Project with Documents and Doing Excellent Social Research With Documents.
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