Life Balance Parenting Breastfeeding Spirituality Life Balance Improving the Quality of Your Journey Americans have so normalized activity overload that "busy, busy, busy" has become the all-too-familiar mantra for the new millennium. This informative, entertaining, and inspiring life balance message is one of Dr. Mom's most frequently requested programs. Virtually everyone knows the feeling - too much to do and too little time or energy to do it all well. Juggling professional and personal responsibilities can create stifling overload that jeopardizes both roles. Drawing from her own experience of giving birth to five children in seven years, while completing her medical education, Dr. Mom shares hard-earned wisdom gleaned from her personal journey and professional encounters. In addressing the universal quest of contemporary life - finding a balance - Dr. Mom offers practical strategies for clarifying governing values, establishing priorities, reducing stress, downscaling and simplifying, cultivating healthy coping skills, and promoting essential self-care. Her content-rich, immensely funny, piercing, life balance message will resonate with corporate and health care entities, professional associations, women's organizations, government agencies, civic groups, parent organizations, and many others. Come prepared to laugh and learn - leave rejuvenated and re-energized!   back to top Parenting Self-Esteem and Emotional Health Of all the awesome responsibilities parents assume, few are more daunting than helping children develop healthy self-esteem. Self-esteem - a composite inner picture about one's worth and competence - is one of the most important, and yet misunderstood, concepts in parenting. Our children's self-evaluation will impact their happiness, academic success, relationships, creativity, ambitions, perseverance, resilience, and problem-solving. The conviction that one is both loveable and capable does not make children conceited, selfish or spoiled, or engender a sense of entitlement. Rather, healthy self-esteem describes appropriate self-acceptance, self-love, and self-confidence that serve as the foundation for self-improvement and the basis for all social concern for others. No wonder instilling healthy self-esteem in our children has been called the ultimate yardstick of parenting! In this presentation, Dr. Mom provides practical strategies for helping children feel infinitely worthy and able to handle the choices, challenges, and changes of life. Parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, counselors - all stakeholders in children's wellbeing - will learn how their daily interactions with children can either enhance or undermine self-esteem. Dr. Mom's message is highly relevant for child advocacy groups, PTAs and parent organizations, hospital community events, child care organizations, schools, and child-related non-profits. Positive Discipline Few aspects of parenting provoke as much trepidation as managing children's behavior - and for good reason. Ineffective discipline methods can leave parents feeling frustrated and children feeling misunderstood, causing damage to the parent-child relationship. Dr. Mom offers practical strategies to make discipline a positive learning experience that fosters cooperation, responsibility, and self-control, while strengthening the parent-child bond. Learn specific techniques to promote desired behavior and how to choose a suitable response when rules are broken. Whether dealing with a toddler or a teen, participants will be empowered to enforce limits consistently in an atmosphere of love and affection, with respect for the individual child and her emerging independence. Learn how to equip children to handle difficult feelings, control their impulses, distinguish right from wrong, make good decisions, and solve tough problems. Ten Essentials for Effective Parents Contemporary parents face unique pressures and role overload that can undermine family life and jeopardize children's outcome. This presentation offers an overview of practical suggestions for improving parenting skills and strengthening families. Topics to be addressed include: making child rearing a high priority; creating a balanced parenting team; communicating unconditional love and enhancing children's self-esteem; minimizing sibling rivalry; preventing and handling misbehavior; using traditions and familiar routines to convey a sense of belonging; dealing creatively with the inevitable disappointments of parenting; and practicing self-care. Participants will leave equipped to decrease the stresses and maximize the rewards of parenting. back to top Breastfeeding The “Can Do 5!": Building Momentum Toward the Baby-Friendly Ten Steps Making institutional changes in maternity care practices has been shown to significantly increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates. While the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative's (BFHI) Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are recognized as the "gold standard" for maternity practices, few U.S. hospitals have been awarded the Baby-Friendly designation. Insufficient emphasis has been given to the significant positive impact on breastfeeding success that can be achieved by making incremental changes in supportive maternity practices. A large population-based survey in Colorado has documented five supportive hospital practices (among the BFHI Ten Steps) that significantly extend the duration of breastfeeding in mothers of healthy, term infants. Unlike the daunting requirements to earn the Baby-Friendly designation, implementing the five supportive hospital practices has been enthusiastically perceived as highly "doable" by hospitals, resulting in the moniker, the "Can Do 5!" This presentation will outline the five supportive hospital practices found to significantly impact the duration of breastfeeding. The program also will address effective strategies to implement supportive maternity practices and ways to prepare expectant mothers for an optimum hospital breastfeeding experience. “Just a Few Weeks Early:” Breastfeeding Challenges in Late-Preterm Infants Infants born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation are referred to as late-preterm infants to emphasize that these babies are physiologically immature and have special health care needs compared to full term infants. The proportion of all U.S. births that are late preterm has increased over the past 15 years, now comprising over 9% of all births and accounting for more than 70% of all preterm births (<37 weeks gestation). Although hospital personnel and parents often treat apparently healthy late-preterm infants as if they were developmentally mature newborns, babies born even a few weeks early have an increased risk of a variety of neonatal complications, including feeding problems, severe jaundice, and excessive weight loss after birth. Smaller, developmentally immature late-preterm infants often have trouble latching on to the breast correctly and may be unable to breastfeed effectively at first, due to lower muscle tone and a tendency to tire easily. This presentation will address the special breastfeeding challenges among late-preterm infants and offer helpful guidelines to ensure a plentiful milk supply and a thriving baby. The extra investment of time and effort to safeguard early breastfeeding among these vulnerable newborns can set the stage for long-term successful breastfeeding. Keeping Breastfeeding Going: Keys to a Plentiful Milk Supply While three-quarters of U.S. mothers begin breastfeeding their newborns, fewer than 50% of infants continue to be breastfed by six months of age. In a recent national survey, two of the most common reasons mothers gave for stopping breastfeeding before their baby was a year old were: "I didn't have enough milk" and "Breastmilk alone did not satisfy my baby." Concerns about producing enough milk prevent many women from reaching their breastfeeding goals. This presentation will offer strategies to help women establish and maintain a plentiful milk supply throughout their baby's first year. Topics to be discussed include: the critical importance of the first two weeks in establishing an abundant milk supply; the essential role of "prevention pumping" among mothers of infants at risk for inadequate breastfeeding; the role of exclusive breastfeeding in extending breastfeeding duration; the variability of breast storage capacity among breastfeeding women and its influence on recommended feeding/pumping routines; and avoiding common "insults" that can decrease a once generous milk supply, such as a long night interval without draining the breasts, mastitis, hormonal contraceptives, and maternal employment. The Role of Lactation Consultants and Breastfeeding Proponents in Reducing Sleep-Related Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths Each year in the United States, approximately 4,600 infants die suddenly of no immediately obvious cause. Nearly half of all Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) are attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). While SIDS rates have dropped significantly since the Back to Sleep campaign was initiated, SIDS still remains the leading cause of death for infants aged 1–12 months. Accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (ASSB) is a potentially preventable subgroup of SUID that has quadrupled in the last two decades. As accuracy in classifying SUID cases has improved, SIDS rates have declined, and the rates for ASSB have increased, while the total rate of SUID has not changed. Lactation consultants and other health professionals who work with new mothers have the opportunity and responsibility to help reduce preventable sleep-associated deaths in infancy. This session will explore the environmental, biologic, and social risk factors for SIDS and ASSB and review specific risk reduction strategies for SUID cases occurring in unsafe sleep environments. The "controversy" among breastfeeding proponents sparked by two safe sleep strategies – to use a pacifier when placing an infant to sleep and to have the infant sleep in the same room as the mother but not in the same bed – will be explored. Participants will be equipped to promote safe infant sleep without undermining long-term breastfeeding success. Life in Balance: Improving the Quality of Your Journey Virtually every lactation consultant knows the feeling - too much to do and too little time or energy to do it all well. This informative, entertaining, and inspiring session will target those dedicated, and often-depleted, lactation professionals who sometimes forget to re-fill their own emotional tanks as they endlessly respond to the compelling needs of nursing dyads. Juggling professional and personal responsibilities can create stifling overload that jeopardizes both roles and contributes to job burnout. Worse yet, toxic role overload threatens to create "compassion fatigue" by draining health professionals of a deeply cherished attribute. Drawing from her own experience of giving birth to five children in seven years, while completing her medical education, Dr. Mom shares hard-earned wisdom gleaned from her personal journey and professional encounters. In addressing the universal quest of contemporary life - finding a balance - Dr. Mom offers timeless practical life-strategies to equip LCs to clarify governing values, establish priorities, reduce stress, downscale and simplify, cultivate healthy coping skills, and promote essential self-care. Reordering our frenzied lives can renew our excitement about our life and our work. Furthermore, the same prescription can help our nursing clients re-structure their priorities to accommodate successful breastfeeding. Come prepared to laugh and learn - leave rejuvenated and re-energized! Comprehensive Breastfeeding Training for WIC Professional and Paraprofessional Staff This comprehensive 3-day training is designed to prepare WIC professional and selected paraprofessional staff to provide effective assessment and counseling for expectant women and breastfeeding clients who have been identified as high risk per the NRF 52 description. The course will review the scientific basis for breastfeeding promotion and routine breastfeeding management. Emphasis will be placed on: 1) the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding; 2) extending the duration of breastfeeding; and 3) the recognition and timely intervention for breastfeeding risk factors in the pregnant woman, the lactating mother, and the breastfeeding infant. Practical, clinically relevant information will be presented and supplemented with a course syllabus of resource materials. A variety of practicum opportunities will be incorporated into the training to give participants hands-on experience with breast pumps, breastfeeding aids and accessories, and a variety of breastfeeding educational resources. In addition, multiple case studies will give participants opportunities to apply their knowledge in troubleshooting a variety of breastfeeding problems. Troubleshooting Breastfeeding Problems With 75% of U.S. mothers choosing to breastfeed, health professionals need to know how to prevent and manage breastfeeding difficulties that arise during the course of lactation. This presentation addresses the prevention, recognition, and clinical management of the common maternal and infant breastfeeding concerns that often lead to early weaning. Maternal problems to be addressed include: breast variations; acute and chronic sore nipples, including infection with bacteria and/or candida; plugged ducts and mastitis; and insufficient milk supply. Infant breastfeeding problems include: breastfeeding-related jaundice; the late pre-term infant; infant latch-on and suckling difficulties; slow infant weight gain; and the "colicky" breast-fed infant. Insufficient Milk Syndrome Although lack of milk is the most common reason women give for discontinuing breastfeeding, this all-too-common complaint is poorly understood. This presentation reviews the magnitude of the problem of lactation insufficiency and distinguishes rare "primary" (non-preventable, non-remediable) causes of insufficient milk (including breast surgery and breast variations) from common, often remediable, "secondary" causes linked to poor breastfeeding management. Participants will learn the mechanisms by which lactation difficulties become complicated by low milk, and review common maternal and infant factors contributing to insufficient lactation. The program also will offer specific management strategies - including the use of galactagogues - to increase maternal milk production and improve the nutritional status of underweight breastfed infants. back to top Spirituality Female Role Overload and the Quest for Balance Even women of faith know the feeling - too much to do and too little time or energy to do it all well. Expanded role opportunities, combined with unattainable standards of perfection in appearance and performance, produce toxic stress for many contemporary women. While the "Superwoman" label provides a special identity, we earn this title at the expense of our emotional and physical wellbeing. Like the Biblical Martha, many overwhelmed Christian women wonder, "Lord, do you not care?" Drawing from her own life experience with stress and over-commitment, Dr. Neifert shares the reassuring message that God cares deeply about the predicament of female role overload. Feeling chronically stressed and over-extended is not God's will for our lives, and incessant "doing" conflicts with the Biblical message of an alternating rhythm of serving and being filled. This program/retreat will examine sources of female role overload and empower women to confront the human fear of "not good enough" that lies at the heart of our search for significance through "busyness.” Beloved: Transformative Encounters with the God Who Calls To You All humans yearn for unconditional love and significance. Yet, countless women struggle with self-recrimination, unhealed wounds, or fears of rejection that cause us to doubt our own worth or hesitate to embrace the possibility of a fuller life. This program/retreat is for every woman who desires a closer relationship with God, longs to experience God's unconditional love, and seeks to be called to new life in Christ. Participants will explore Jesus' encounters with diverse women in need of healing and wholeness to reveal the immeasurable depth of God's unconditional love and transformative power. Whether you are burdened by role overload, often feel devalued by others, wrestle with self-defeating behaviors, or simply long to fulfill the potential God sees in you, this message will convey Jesus' boundless compassion and respect for women, and prepare you to respond to God's inspiring call to renewed service and discipleship. Happiness and the Abundant Life In John 10:10, Jesus proclaims, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." So why don't more Christians experience genuine and lasting peace, love, joy, and contentment? Why are so many people of faith afflicted with anxiety, worry, fear, depression, conflict, and feelings of inadequacy? This program will explore the Biblical basis for the contemporary principles of positive psychology that promote authentic happiness and the abundant life. Learn how happiness involves: 1) using our signature strengths and spiritual gifts in as many life arenas as possible; 2) experiencing positive emotions about our past, claiming hope and a vision for the future, and living intentionally in the present moment; 3) practicing gratitude and savoring God's abundant blessings; and 4) experiencing a sense of God's purpose and will that gives our life greater meaning. Discover simple, life-changing insights, attitudes, and practices that create more positive energy and enable us to live at the upper end of our inborn level of happiness–recognizing and celebrating the fundamental goodness of life. All in the Family Parenting Series Parenting is not an ancillary role to be penciled into the available openings in our day planner. Rather, being a parent is both a divine blessing and a holy obligation. When Jesus said "Let the little children come unto me," He was not only making a theological statement about the inclusiveness of the Kingdom of God, He was providing a powerful example about making time for children - amid our weariness, worries, and multitude of competing priorities. This program is aimed at helping parents fulfill their responsibilities and reap the abundant rewards of the important stewardship and awesome privilege of parenting. Dr. Mom will explore how responsible parenting provides a sacred opportunity to become co-creators with God in shaping the lives of the youngsters entrusted to our care. Learn to apply Biblical principles to foster your child's self-esteem, promote desired behavior, effectively handle misbehavior, and teach responsibility. God's Model for Promoting Healthy Self-Esteem in Children Of all the awesome responsibilities parents assume, few are more daunting than helping children develop healthy self-esteem. Self-esteem - a composite inner picture about one's worth and competence - is one of the most important, and yet misunderstood, concepts in parenting. Our children's self-evaluation will impact their happiness, academic success, relationships, creativity, ambitions, perseverance, resilience, and problem-solving. The conviction that one is both loveable and capable does not make children conceited, selfish or spoiled, or engender a sense of entitlement. Rather, when Jesus gave the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27), He was acknowledging that healthy self-love and self-care form the basis of all social responsibility and mutual concern for others. Unconditional love - with no strings attached - is the cornerstone on which self-esteem is built. God's unmerited and boundless Grace towards humanity provides our model for unconditional parental love that is guaranteed, permanent, and never subject to cancellation. Dr. Mom will provide practical strategies for helping children feel unconditionally loved and worthy and capable of handling the choices, challenges, and changes of life. Teaching Children about Faith Young children, with their unbridled imagination and magical sense of wonder, have an innate desire to know God. In addition to promoting children's intellectual, physical, and emotional development, we are called to nurture their budding spirituality and help them begin a lifelong faith journey. In addition to maintaining the continuity of our faith heritage, sharing our spiritual beliefs offers children many concrete benefits that enhance their daily lives. Spiritual education is not something to be abdicated to the leaders in your faith community. Rather, it can begin in the cradle, as babies first learn about the goodness of God from the loving model of their own mother and father. Learn how to transmit spiritual beliefs as a routine part of daily life and help children formulate a positive image of God. back to top