Vaginal Breech Training

Training options

Breech workshops

Our hybrid workshops have 3 parts: 
1. A full day of hands-on instruction, including simulation training, video analysis, and clinical scenario flashcards

2. Breech Pro (online breech training course)
3. One year of twice-monthly live sessions (plus recordings) with the instructors 

Students learn on our Sophie and Her Mum simulators.

Breech & Twins Master Class

This Master Class offers advanced breech and twins training, addressing rare, complex, and complicated scenarios. Current or previous enrollment in Breech Pro is a prerequisite. The Master Class is taught by Kristine Lauria, CPM, of Médecins Sans Frontières. 

Online courses

For maternity care professionals, we offer Breech Pro, a fully online vaginal breech training course. Course materials are self-paced, downloadable, and accessible for 1 year. Breech Pro also includes twice-monthly optional live sessions with Dr. Hayes and Dr. Freeze.

Parents, doulas, & childbirth educators are invited to enroll in Breech 101

You can also watch the 2019 Madison Breech Conference.  

Grand Rounds & residency training

Breech Without Borders wants the next generation of OB and FP residents to be breech-skilled. We are happy to train residents as well as offer Grand Rounds lectures on vaginal breech birth. 

We train residents (as well as hospital staff generally) by bringing in two Sophie and Her Mum simulators. We train in both supine and upright breech techniques, giving trainees the skills to attend breech births with women in the position of their choice. 
For more information, please email info@breechwithoutborders.org. 

A Guide to Physiological Breech Birth

This 252-page full colour book is a comprehensive vaginal breech training manual. It includes hundreds of photos and illustrations. 

Topics include: 

  • Review of the evidence for both hospital and community breech births
  • Physiologic breech birth
  • Nomenclature
  • Normal & abnormal breech birth
  • Upright & supine maneuvers
  • Clinical practice guidelines
  • Best practices for physiological breech birth
  • Transient neonatal trauma

Booking, scheduling, covid-19 policies, & more

Upcoming training schedule

Schedule and registration pages for upcoming breech trainings

Book a workshop

How to bring a workshop to your location

COVID-19 policies

Read our cancellation policies & workshop guidelines in case of COVID-19

About our simulators

Read about our Sophie and Her Mum obstetric simulators and learn how to turn them upright.

Reviews of our courses & workshops

Online course reviews

Read from enrollees of Breech Pro, Breech 101, and the Madison Conference

Breech workshop reviews

 Hear from attendees how hybrid breech training works 

2018 & 2019 in-person workshop reviews

Detailed reviews from OBGYNs and midwives about our in-person workshops (pre-Covid)

Instructors

Rixa Freeze, PhD

Dr. Freeze has a PhD from the University of Iowa and is a researcher, professor, and mother of 4 young children. Her current research specialization is vaginal breech birth. She is the founder and president of Breech Without Borders and blogs at Stand and Deliver. She taught at Wabash College for 9 years and recently ended her university teaching to dedicate her time to Breech Without Borders. 

David Hayes, MD

Dr. Hayes is an OBGYN with an academic background and a passion for science and its proper application to clinical medicine. He has worked for Médecins Sans Frontières and trained in critical care obstetrics. After beginning as a hospital-based obstetrician, he transitioned into a home birth practice in Asheville, NC. Physiologic breech birth and supporting the training of breech birth attendants are particular interests of his. Dr. Hayes left his home birth practice in 2019 to work full-time with Breech Without Borders. 

Kristine Lauria, midwife

Kristine Lauria, midwife, works for Médecins Sans Frontières and became BWB's Global Midwifery Director in 2022. She specializes in high-risk maternity care in low-resource environments and is passionate in her support of bodily autonomy in medical decision making and is a staunch advocate for undisturbed, physiologic birth. She has attended over 5000 births in more than 25 countries around the world, among them being over 500 vaginal breech births, including sets of twins and triplets. She is the creator and instructor of BWB's Master Class on breech & twins, as well as an instructor for our vaginal breech workshops. 

Topics

All of our breech trainings (virtual or hybrid) cover the following topics:

  • Evidence on term breech since the Term Breech Trial
  • Evidence on community breech birth
  • Breech maneuvers & mechanics: history of obstetric maneuvers, mechanics of physiological breech birth, and an overview of upright & supine maneuvers
  • Clinical aspects of vaginal breech birth: normal & abnormal breech birth, clinical practice guidelines, & maneuvers for resolving obstructed breech birth
  • Nomenclatures & the risks/outcomes of various breech presentations
  • Hands-on simulation training

Keep me updated on breech! 

The contents of Breech Without Borders' website, in-person workshops, online trainings and coursework, including all handouts, course materials, text, graphics, images, and other materials created by Breech Without Borders (the "Content") are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be taken as medical or healthcare advice, or to substitute for professional medical diagnosis or treatment. Nothing in the Content should be used to diagnose or treat individual health issues. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified, licensed health provider with any questions you may have regarding your personal medical needs. Never delay contact with a qualified healthcare professional, or disregard medical advice, because of something you have read or learned about in Breech Without Borders' website and coursework Content. Reliance on any information provided by Breech Without Borders and/or through the Content is solely at your own risk. If you think you may be having a medical emergency, call 911 immediately.