Workshop organizer resources

Resources & information for hybrid workshop organizers

Hello, Breech Workshop organizer. We know that time is a scarce resource for so many of us, so let us thank you in advance for your commitment of 2 hours per week to make a workshop happen in your community. We hope that this guide will be a helpful resource during the planning process.

Below you will find information that will help you bring a successful BWB course to your area, but first, let's define what the hybrid BWB offering is. BWB's hybrid offering is one of the ways we have adapted to life in the era of Covid-19. Our hybrid format will continue to adapt according to the Covid situation and CDC protocols should need be. 

About our hybrid workshop format

Dr. Freeze, Dr. Hayes, and Kristine Lauria have worked tirelessly to create Breech Pro, our online breech training course. Hands-on training with our Sophie and Her Mum simulators is one of the cornerstones of our training, and putting the lectures online allows us to give students maximum hands-on time during the in-person training. Attendees meet with Dr. Freeze, Dr. Hayes, and/or Kristine Lauria, CPM for hands-on simulation, breech birth video analysis, and clinical scenarios.

The full day hybrid workshop is gives attendees full access to Breech Pro course for one year. In addition, attendees will have one year access to our ongoing live sessions (2x/month in English, 1x/month in Spanish, plus recordings). 

With this format we can train up to 16 people per day/per instructor.

Please watch and share this video that thoroughly explains our hybrid workshop (vimeo.com/531196385): This is a great resource for promoting the workshop in your area. 

*Note that we have an updated video to explain the full day hybrid format in production.

Can workshop alums come back for more hands-on practice?

Yes! We have several options for workshop alums or those who have already trained with BWB:

• For those currently enrolled in Breech Pro, the full day of training is offered at a reduced cost.
• For our Breech Pro alums whose enrollment has expired, you can renew your access for a year for $50.
• For in-person workshop alums (2019 and early 2020), we offer a $50 discount off of the full day package, which includes enrollment in Breech Pro.

Choosing the workshop venue

Location, location, location. You know your community best and here are some key pieces to keep in mind when determining the location of the workshop:

• The venue will need at least two separate rooms. One of the rooms needs to be big enough for the entire group, while the other room can serve as a breakout space. 
• Ample parking
• Easily accessible restrooms
• 1 sturdy square or rectangular table for attaching our simulator and 2 smaller tables (for example, a standard banquet table works well for supporting the simulator)
• Available between the hours of 7:30am - 6:30 pm 
• Bonus points for a space that can be securely locked up between days as this will reduce the amount of time spent on set-up and break-down of Sophie and Her Mum.
• In areas where Covid cases are high, ventilation of the space will be key.

A great place to start is with your local hospital as they often have educational spaces that are perfect for drawing in providers across the spectrum. Local birth centers or yoga studios are also good options.

We may need to extend the scheduled number of days to meet the demand. With enough notice, we'd be happy to do that. 

Where can I find flyers and other information?

Our website is full of information about our organization, our instructors, and our workshops. You will also find the current workshop schedule with links to the registration site which you can share with potential attendees. .

Social media

You are invited to share any of our Facebook page posts, along with a quick invitation to enroll in one of our workshops. This can be a great way to engage your audience and get them excited about breech. It also gives you new material to share every week. 

On our training page, you can find more information about our instructors. This along with the BWB Hybrid video are helpful pieces of information to share with midwives, physicians, doulas, and other birth professionals in your area.

Every workshop has its own bit.ly link which will send interested parties directly to the ticketing and registration page.

Who to contact and how to find them

Facebook is a great place to look for local care providers and organizations that would benefit from our hybrid option. Using the example of North Carolina, we recommend searching for and reaching out to the following:

• NC midwives
• NC obstetrics or obgyn
• NC midwifery association
• NC friends of midwives
• NC ACNM
• NC midwifery
• NC birth centers
• NC homebirth
• NC birth networks
• NC doula
• NC childbirth education
• NC schools of nursing
• NC medical schools
• NC EMS/paramedics

You can start by focusing on these categories within a one hour radius from the hybrid workshop location and expand from there. We also suggest using local email lists, contacting birth neworks, droppiing flyers off to OB and midwifery practices, contacting local nursing/medical/midwifery schools, etc. Be creative! 

Sample email script

Dear _______,

I am contacting you on behalf of Breech Without Borders, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to breech training and education. I wanted to let you know about a hybrid vaginal breech workshop that is coming to [city] on [date]. This hybrid workshop has three parts:

1. Access to Breech Pro: an online vaginal breech training course that comes with up to 23.5 ACNM CE hours (reciprocity with MEAC, DONA, ICEA). [In Australia or NZ, we are approved for 25 ACM and Midwifery Council hours]

2. Hands-on simulation training with a Sophie and Her Mum obstetrical simulator, plus breech birth video analysis and clinical scenarios.

3. One year of ongoing mentorship via twice-monthly optional live sessions (recordings available)

The instructors of this hybrid workshop are Dr. Rixa Freeze, PhD, a breech researcher; and Dr. David Hayes, an obstetrician with vaginal breech birth experience in both the US and overseas through Médecins Sans Frontières; and Kristine Lauria, CPM who works with Médecins Sans Frontières and has attended over 500 vaginal breech births. [Depending on each location, you can announce which of the instructors will be doing the in-person instruction.]

To register for the workshop: [insert link here--you will be provided with your location's specific link.]

For more information about Breech Without Borders and all of their course offerings: breechwithoutborders.org

Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have.

[Name]

Volunteer for Breech Without Borders

Social Media Ideas

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are great ways to spread awareness of the upcoming workshop by reaching many people at once. Breech Without Borders is currently active on Instagram and Facebook; tagging us (@breechwithoutborders), sharing and reposting our posts and the event page that we've created for your specific event is helpful. We suggest that local organizers post about the workshop at least once a week.

Your workshop's bit.ly link is also good to use here as it is easily shareable alongside a specific hashtag to use to promote the event. For example: bit.ly/cpabreech, #cpabreech

How to keep up with ticket sales and registrations

Our ticketing platform, RegFox, allows you to keep track of ticket sales. You will receive an email from Breech Without Borders via Webconnex with an invitation to create a user account. This will allow you to not only monitor ticket sales, but also who in your community still needs to register.

Below is a visual of the following steps in this process:

• Open invitation email

• Create your user account

• Click on "RegFox"

• Click on your workshop's page to access the dashboard

• Click on the actual number of Registrants

• From here you will see the names and info of those who have purchased their tickets; please note that you will find the registrations of those who have opted to use our deposit option under "Payment Pending"

Who can help me?

Not only are we here to help make a successful workshop in your community, but we also encourage you to bring on a helper. This helper should be someone that you work well with and who is also willing to commit the time it takes to make a workshop happen.

The ideal candidate for your helper is someone who is social media savvy and well connected within the community with providers across the spectrum (homebirth, hospitals, etc). The individual in the role of "helper" will be provided a discount on their ticket when we reach a particular number of enrollments.

Are there scholarships available?

Yes! We at Breech Without Borders are committed to supporting breech education via scholarships, with preference given to providers in underserved or historically disadvantaged communities. We set aside a portion of all workshop proceeds towards scholarships, funding 1 scholarship for every 10 registrations.

Thanks to a generous donation from a mother of a breech baby, we are able to extend our reach further! Over the next 5 years, her donation will fund $25,000 of BIPOC scholarships. This means that we can now offer 1 scholarship for every 5 workshop registrations!

Please encourage those who are interested in our scholarships to complete the application found here: Scholarship Application. Make sure that the applicants state the location of the workshop they are interested in attending.

Talking points

• The workshop is not only a fantastic value and spreads the education and training over the course of a full year. Our virtual Breech Pro course combined with hands-on time with Sophie and Her Mum offers up to 23.5 ACNM CEs (reciprocity with MEAC, DONA, ICEA).
• The Breech Pro course will remain accessible for one year from when you begin and also includes monthly virtual meet-ups with Dr. Freeze and Hayes, and Kristine Lauria, CPM who will be available to answer your questions.
• ¼ to ⅓ of all breeches are undiagnosed when labor begins--even if you don't plan on attending breeches regularly (or cannot due to state regulations), you should be skilled in how to attend a surprise breech.
• The workshop is geared towards physicians and midwives, but EMTs, nurses, doulas, childbirth educators, and parents are also welcome to attend. We also have other virtual courses: Breech 101, a course created specifically for parents, doulas, and childbirth educators; and the recordings of the 2019 Madison Breech Conference.

Quick blurb about the workshop

3-4% of all term babies are breech. Of those, 1/4 to 1/3 are undiagnosed when labor begins. If you are a health care provider or EMT, you are likely to encounter a surprise breech during your career. In addition, many women with known breech presentations wish to avoid a cesarean section and want skilled providers to attend them. We owe it to women to offer them safe vaginal breech birth.

This workshop will give you the skills and confidence to understand the normal mechanisms of breech birth, to know when to be hands-off and when to offer assistance, and to apply the appropriate maneuvers for women in both supine and upright positions. You will also learn about the most up-to-date evidence about term breech outcomes for the baby and for the mother (both short- and long-term), and for the mother's future pregnancies and births.

Our full day hybrid course includes 16 hours of virtual instruction (self-paced and accessible for one year) and an 9 hours of in-person training with a breech researcher, an obstetrician, and/or a midwife. The virtual course segment also includes over four hours of filmed simulations for easy review of the skills learned during your time with Sophie and Her Mum.

FAQs for attendees

When will I receive access to Breech Pro? 
Once you have completed the registration and payment process, you will receive access to Breech Pro within 24 hours.

Do I need to have Breech Pro completed before I attend the simulations?
Yes, beginning in 2024, 100% completion of Breech Pro is required to attend the hands-on training.

I trained with BWB previously. Can I attend to refresh my skills?

Yes. We offer great discounts to both our Breech Pro and in-person alum to attend the full day trainings. 

What if I miss the workshop due to a birth?
If possible, we will do our best to reschedule you if we have multiple days in the same location/area. We may also be able to transfer your ticket to a future workshop. If we cannot, you can opt for a $100 refund and keep your access to Breech Pro.

Is my ticket tax-deductible?

Yes. Breech Without Borders is a non-profit 501(c)3, and your ticket cost and any donations to the organization are tax-deductible.

Keep me updated on breech!