Conference 2008

The 2008 annual CAPPA conference will be held in Dallas, Texas, from Thursday, August 21st to Sunday, August 24th. Our annual conference is free to all members of CAPPA. All information regarding our conference will be listed on this page as it becomes available.

The majority of the CAPPA annual conference is free with a current membership. Some additional sessions that we offer are available as low-cost options to extend your conference learning experience. Please see session information following the agenda for additional costs and materials needed. We hope to see you there!

Location

Crowne Plaza Hotel: Dallas-Market Center

"Experience the Crowne Plaza Hotel Dallas Market Center and find yourself in a stunning hotel conveniently located 3 miles from Cedar Springs Alternative Entertainment District. We are 5 miles from downtown Dallas near the market and design district which includes the World Trade Center and Market Hall. The Crowne Plaza Market Center is centrally located within five miles from the Dallas Medical District which includes UT Southwestern Medical Center, The Aston Center, Scottish Rite, Parkland, St. Paul, Children's Hospital and Zale Lipshy. The Crowne Plaza Dallas Market Center Hotel is located six miles north of the American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars." The special CAPPA room rate is $109.00 per night. Members must ask for the CAPPA rate.

Theme

CAPPA's 10th birthday! Ten years old. It's a milestone worth celebrating. Upon reflection, CAPPA can say with assurance that the world is a better place because we've been around. We've helped thousands of families have a better birth experience. We've helped new mothers breastfeed their babies. We've helped childbirth professionals world wide reach their educational goals and encouraged them to work proactively to make the world a better place. The investments we've all made - CAPPA members, staff, donors, sponsors, volunteers, board members - have paid off. Join us as we celebrate the anniversary of our birth!

Conference Policies

Agenda

August 21st, 2008 · Thursday

August 22nd, 2008 · Friday

* Optional session, available for a $30.00 fee that will cover: dinner, birthday cake, music and a great presentation

August 23rd, 2008 · Saturday

August 24th, 2008 · Sunday

Continuing Education Hours - CEUs

CAPPA will apply for CEUs from the following organizations:

All sessions are approved for CAPPA CEUs.

Please check our website for updates on the status of these applications. Please note: Conference attendees must attend all conference general sessions in the entirety to obtain CEUS and a certificate of completion. No exceptions will be made. This does not include breakout sessions or pre-conference trainings.

Speakers

Tracy Wilson Peters, CD, CLD, CCCE, CLE, ICCE

Topic: Understanding the Law of Attraction... And Applying It to Your Life
View Tracy's media kit.

Tracy Wilson PetersThe Law of Attraction is always at work. We are always attracting people and circumstances into our lives. Success on any major scale requires a clear vision and consistent action. Your life, to a large extent, is the result of your dominant thoughts. This presentation will focus on intentional thinking. We will explore Visual Motor Rehearsal (a type of visualization) and its effects on the brain, body, and birth. We will learn the four steps to having more of what we want in our lives and less of what we don't want. We will make a visual reminder of our personal and professional goals that we can take away from the presentation. Please bring one or two magazines for this activity.

At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to describe Visual Motor Rehearsal, its origins, and its effect on the brain. Participants will be able to list the four steps to achieving "Intentional Thinking" and using the Law of Attraction in their own lives. They will be able to describe how to make a "Vision Board", the purpose of a vision board, and they will proactively make their own vision board to take with them as a daily reminder of their personal and professional goals and intentions.

Tracy is best known as being the Executive Director and Founder of CAPPA. Tracy is a nationally known childbirth conference lecturer, speaking at numerous conferences and hospitals. She is the author of The Must Have Labor Doula Marketing Manual and numerous journal articles. Tracy is co-producer and featured in the video Labor Support: A Comfort Guide. Tracy has been a childbirth expert featured on FOX, CBS, NBC, and ABC as well as countless magazine, and newspapers across the USA. Tracy's publications, videos, and educational materials are sold by top health education companies worldwide. Tracy has been working with expectant women and families for more than 16 years. She has attended more than 200 births as a professional labor doula and has taught childbirth education classes to more than 3,000 families.

Cindy Carter, RN, CLC, CCE, CD

Topic: Doula Care for Multiples

Cindy Carter Drawing from her 10,000 hours of experience supporting multiples as their childbirth educator, lactation consultant, or birth/postpartum doula, Cindy Carter will prepare the childbirth professional to promote informed options and gestational adaptations. At the end of this session, the learner will be able to list the number one risk for those expecting multiples, name one difference to consider when providing labor support for a multiple birth, describe one way to maximize postpartum hospital stay, name barriers to breastfeeding and ways to overcome them, and list one organizational tip for postpartum doulas working with multiples.

Cindy Carter began her work supporting mothers and babies over twenty years ago as a volunteer for the American Red Cross in a military hospital's labor and delivery. Eventually supporting primarily mothers of multiples, she has over 10,000 hours experience with multiples either as their birth doula, postpartum doula, or childbirth educator. She authored the book Preparing for Multiples: The Family Way. She is also a registered nurse, certified lactation consultant, and childbirth educator.

Dr. Cindy Haggerton

Topic: Better Positioning... Better Births

Dr. Cindy Haggerton As birth professionals, it is our job to help women and families have the best birth experience that they can have. One thing we can do to assist them in this process is offer them as many alternatives as possible to prepare their bodies for the birth process. There are many ways to prepare for the birth process and just one is making sure that the baby is in the best position possible. In this presentation, topics that will be covered include use of the rebozo in pregnancy and labor, proper positioning, simple exercises, proper ergonomics, attire, and bodywork to have a shorter and easier birth.

Dr. Cindy Haggerton is a chiropractor and doula who practices with her husband in Texas. She grew up overseas in France, St. Martin, Costa Rica and Mexico City, and is fluent in both French and Spanish. She has been a doula for two years (serving women at home, in birth centers, and at the hospital) and graduated from Parker College of Chiropractic with her doctorate in 2005. In 2007, she opened a birthing center, and is currently completing midwifery training. She is passionate about caring for families, especially pregnant moms and children. Dr. Cindy was the President of the Pediatric Club at Parker for over a year, with which she and her husband are both still actively involved giving lectures and seminars to students. Her practice is focused on the care of pregnant women and children. Dr. Cindy’s desire is to provide families with education, letting them know that they have many options when it comes to their health. Her desire is to educate so that she does not have to hear a patient say, "I wish I had known." She is board certified by the American Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics, and has lectured to groups such as the Association of Texas Midwives conference, University of Texas at Arlington, Parker College of Chiropractic, and natural childbirth and parenting classes. Dr. Cindy lives with her husband and two precious basset hounds in the Fort Worth, Texas area. They love going to church together, reading, and hanging out with family and friends. Although they have enjoyed playing with everyone else's, they look forward to having their own children (other than their basset hounds) in the near future.

Barbara Harper, RN, CD, CCE

Topic: Culture and Birth: A Global Perspective

Barbara Harper Barbara is perhaps best known as the founder of Waterbirth International. She started her career in maternity as an RN, but not your regular run-of-the mill-nurse. She was always passionate about mothers and babies, even in nursing school. Her maternal grandmother, Estella Ethel Harper Lemonyon, was a nurse and midwife and worked in rural Mercer Country, Ohio, where Barbara learned from an early age what service, sacrifice and hard work were all about. She founded Waterbirth International in 1987 after visiting Russia for the first time and sitting down with Igor Charkovsky, where she was influenced by his complete faith in birthing women and their babies. She also worked extensively with Binnie Dansby, in the early 1980’s learning to respect the cognitive, but repressed experiences and memories of birth in all our lives.

Her research and experiences resulted in the publication of Gentle Birth Choices, book and DVD. She also produced Birth Into Being: The Russian Waterbirth Experience in cooperation with Alexi and Tatiana Sargunas in 2000, after traveling many times back to Russia. Midwives and parents alike have called her video programs "the most inspiring birth videos ever produced." Single with three children, Barbara has dedicated her life to helping heal the way we welcome babies into the world. Her two youngest sons were born at home in water. Her daughter, Beth, the oldest, was born in a typical 1970s style hospital birth. Barbara and her children have lived in Wilsonville, Oregon, a suburb of Portland, for the past 15 years. There she is active in her church and community.

Ana Hill, CLD, CCCE, CLE

Topic: Applying Scope of Practice to Your Business

Ana Hill Scope of practice is part of the moral and ethical backbone of CAPPA certification. This session will encourage attendees to examine both general and personal reasons we are tempted to work outside our scope of practice, and identify individually relevant steps to correcting our attitudes and practicing with greater integrity.

Ana has been working with expectant families since 1998, providing doula services, childbirth education, and breastfeeding support. She is a CAPPA certified labor doula, lactation educator, and childbirth educator. As a doula trainer, she combines over nine years of experience as a doula and seventeen years of experience as an instructor. She brings to her work a passion for serving new families and a strong commitment to excellence in the doula profession. Ana is happily married and has six children.

Val Staples, CLD, CCCE

Topic: We've Come a Long Way Baby: A Time Line of Popular Birthing Practices

Val StaplesOften when a doula begins to practice in an area where doulas are not well-known, they have to blaze a trail to spread recognition and acceptance of doulas as part of the birthing team. This topic is intended to discuss popular birthing practice over the years, and how doulas and consumers have banded together to accomplish positive change in a climate that is sometimes less than welcoming of new ideas.

Val Staples became increasingly involved in birth and women's issues as a result of her own journey through the established women's health care system. While finding her voice, she wondered if there was a way to help other women avoid some of the pitfalls that had been in her way. She began by volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center in central Georgia, and from there ended up attending births with women who were without support. She became a certified doula in 1999, after having attended births as a doula since 1995. In 2004, she also became a certified childbirth educator through CAPPA. Val is the CAPPA director of doulas and she trains doulas in east Alabama and west central Georgia. It is a passion of hers to help other doulas become successful and satisfied in their practice. She lives in east Alabama with her husband and six children and enjoys homeschooling her children and knitting.

Jan Tedder, BSN, FNP

Topic: Teaching "Baby Talk": Helping Parents Understand the Amazing Language of the Newborn

Jan Tedder Parenting a newborn is a big job and parents have important questions: How do I help my baby feed and sleep well? How do I calm my newborn? And how can I play with my baby so s/he will grow and learn? Babies themselves can answer these questions; unfortunately, they do not speak our language! Instead, they talk with their behavior. This presentation will help you explain to parents the amazing language of their newborn. Through lecture, stories, and video you will learn about a newborn's "Zones" (states) and how to prevent sleep and feeding problems. Discover a newborn's SOSs (Signs of Over-Stimulation) to help parents learn to calm their baby. Explore an infant's orienting capabilities to help parents see how babies are ready to interact right from the start. Using these skills with your patients/clients will improve lactation support, facilitate parent-child bonding, and boost parent confidence.

Jan Tedder provides primary care and lactation support to young families in Cary, North Carolina. She is a graduate of UNC with additional training from the Brazelton Institute and the Duke University Child Development Center. A published author, Ms. Tedder was honored as the NC Maternal Child Health Nurse of the Year and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau. She produced The HUG, a parent educational DVD, which won a 2007 National Health Information Award.

MaryBeth Nance, CD, CLD

Breakout session: The Circle of Healing: What Caregivers Can Do To Help Clients Cope with Pregnancy or Infant Loss

MaryBeth Nance MaryBeth is the Director of CAPPA's Operation Special Delivery volunteer doula program and a privately practicing labor doula serving families in southeastern Pennsylvania, northeastern Maryland, and Delaware. She began her journey to birth work through persuasion from her midwife, after the birth of her youngest child. Soon after, she realized that it was her calling. MaryBeth is honored to assist families through their birth experiences and pleased to be part of the true sisterhood of CAPPA. She lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania, with her husband Jason and two wonderfully diverse children, Jennifer and Mason.

Through the stillbirth of her only sibling, as well as her first daughter, MaryBeth learned the importance of genuine, knowledgeable and non-judgmental support during pregnancy and newborn loss. Because of her personal experiences, MaryBeth is passionate about supporting families through perinatal and infant loss and educating care providers on the many faces of grief. MaryBeth is a trained and certified labor doula through DONA and CAPPA as well as a Level I Reiki practioner under Reiki Master Vanessa Bradley. She has also received advanced training in supporting families through loss from Miriam Maslin and Marcia McGinnis.

Laurel Wilson, CLC, CCCE, CLE, CLD, CPPFE, CPPI

Breakout session: Breastfeeding Answers to Common Questions & What's New in Breastfeeding

Laurel WilsonLaurel Wilson, CLC, CCCE, CLE, CLD, CPPFE, CPPI owns and manages MotherJourney in Centennial, Colorado. With over twelve years experience working with women in the childbearing year, Laurel takes a creative approach to working with the pregnant family. Using journaling, birth art, visualization, and experiential exercises, women connect with their inner resources to discover their true beliefs about themselves, their relationships, and their abilities to birth and parent their children.

Laurel has received her training with Union Institute and University, Healthy Children, DONA, ALACE, CAPPA, Birthworks, Whole Birth Yoga and Prenatal Parenting. She strives to provide the latest techniques, research and programs to her clients by attending yearly conferences and workshops in the birth and lactation field. Laurel is certified as a lactation counselor, childbirth educator, labor doula, lactation educator, Prenatal Parenting Instructor, and pre- and postpartum fitness educator. She serves as the CAPPA director of lactation programs and trains childbirth educators and lactation educators for CAPPA certification. Offering education and movement classes to families in private and hospital settings, Laurel has created teaching strategies that facilitate better understanding of the change processes during the childbearing year. Laurel has been joyfully married to her husband for over 16 years and has two beautiful boys, whose difficult births led her on a path towards helping emerging families create positive experiences. She believes that the journey towards and into motherhood is a life changing rite of passage that should be deeply honored and celebrated.