[RECAP] Empowering Fearless Birth Conference

This past weekend Rachael and I were able to attend the Empowering Fearless Birth Conference. These are just a few of my observations and take aways from the event.

1. In EVERY session, the speakers strongly recommended that expecting families hire a doula. Even parents on the discussion panels said it was the best money they've ever spent. Research shows that having a doula improves outcomes and they had personal examples to back it up!
2. There were TONS of babies there. Most were being worn and their mommies nursed on demand. I was there for 13 hours and I only heard a baby cry once. ONCE! Attachment parenting works!
3. My favorite vendor was the Project Breastfeeding booth. They had a small photo studio set up and were taking pictures of moms nursing their babies. It was awesome to see them pose so beautifully and proudly with their babies. 
4. My favorite speaker was, hands down, Stacie Hunt. She's one of the midwives at the farm and spoke on how fear affects birth and how we can overcome that negativity in our American culture. It starts with us empowering each other and, furthermore, our children to believe in the beautiful and natural process that it is. 
5. The most important thing I heard all day is what I try to instill in my clients. "The better you take care of your body during pregnancy, the more choices you have during labor." You have to nourish and exercise and prepare your body. If you don't, certain opportunities will not be available to you, plain and simple. Labor takes a lot of physical and mental strength. 
6. Attachment and bonding are crucial for our children to thrive. The easiest way to achieve this is through touch with skin-to-skin contact and it's never too late to start. 
7. Birthy people are awesome! Yesterday was such a love fest. We were all so excited to be under the same roof at the same time. It was great to visit with folks I haven't seen in a while and meet new people as well. We may all have a different niche but we are all passionate about serving mothers!
8. Seeing the Birth Story film was just as good the second time around. I am so fascinated by the history of the farm and midwifery in general. Oh how I wish there was a way to bottle up all the knowledge and energy that Ina May has. 

I helped out as a volunteer yesterday and was really excited about that opportunity. It was a lot of fun too! You see, conferences are my day job. Planning and executing 1-day or week-long conferences is what I do on a daily basis. Now, if I could only figure out a way to plan birth conferences. THAT would be the perfect job for me! 

All in all, it was a really great event for parents, for birth professionals, and for the Nashville birth community as a whole. I hope we have more events like this in the future.