I recently had the pleasure of teaching a webinar on gestational diabetes for Evidence Based Birth (EBB). If you’re not familiar with this amazing resource, they offer independent evidence-based analyses on birth practices & prenatal healthcare, so mamas and their providers can make informed decisions from the latest data. Their founder Rebecca Dekker and I have previously collaborated on a gestational diabetes research study together (wherein participants received a copy of my book, Real Food for GD, and I taught virtual-based diabetes education classes).
It was great to collaborate again and give back to her community of EBB members and instructors via the webinar (Before you ask: sorry, it’s not available to the general public. The webinar was exclusive to EBB members + instructors).
One of my favorite parts of teaching is fielding questions at the end. What surprised me, though, was how the questions I received were not that much different from the ones I would get when speaking at conferences 5 years ago and beyond. Don’t get me wrong; they were great questions, I just feel I’ve answered them so many times already.
Why does there seem to be a dearth of information on gestational diabetes and prenatal nutrition?
We know that it takes ~17 years for research to make it into practice, so I really shouldn’t be surprised, but I still find this disheartening.
All told, this experience reminded me that there’s a huge need for more up-to-date continuing education on real food prenatal nutrition and gestational diabetes.
Continuing Education on Real Food Prenatal Nutrition
When people ask where they can learn more or where I learned what I know, my response is that I literally had to dig through thousands of research studies (combined with my years of clinical experience in direct client/patient care) to make sense of everything and develop my approach. I also learned a lot from the public policy angle (working with the California Diabetes and Pregnancy Program) and consulting for programs and research studies on perinatal health.
Suffice to say, all of these experiences combined, not to mention by own two pregnancies, have informed my understanding of prenatal nutrition.
This is why I had to write two books on the topics!
No such training program, series of webinars, or certification program on real food prenatal nutrition exists. You have to spend years with your nose buried in research studies to get up to speed on evidence-based prenatal nutrition (which I’m game to do, but most practitioners don’t have time for).
I’d been planning to offer continuing education for quite a while (having a baby + writing a second book sorta took precedence) and I’m pleased to invite fellow practitioners to continuing education webinars via the Women’s Health Nutrition Academy.
Women’s Health Nutrition Academy
Behind the scenes over here, fellow dietitian Ayla Barmmer and I have created the Women’s Health Nutrition Academy, which we started due to frustrations surrounding the lack of quality—and engaging—continuing education opportunities in women’s health. Those that were available were in-person conferences that required expensive travel and time away from business and life. Essentially, we wanted to create learning opportunities that would be a) evidence-based b) affordable and c) easy-to-access, especially for working mamas and business owners.
Women’s Health Nutrition Academy would address all these issues—and allow us to address the endless stream of questions we get from fellow practitioners who take a functional nutrition and real food approach to nutrition practice.
This is exactly what we have done.
I invite you to check out our library of live and on-demand webinars here.
Topics that I teach on:
Continuing education on women’s health nutrition is not just for healthcare professionals…
Our in-depth and evidence-based courses are targeted to healthcare professionals — dietitians/nutritionists, midwives, doulas, and any other healthcare practitioners that offer services for women’s health (such as fertility and preconception planning, prenatal care, postpartum support, and beyond). Reference lists for presentations, if applicable, are provided.
That said, ALL are welcome to attend our webinars—whether or not you’re a healthcare provider.
We want to help you up your game in this arena without spending hundreds of hours on PubMed or thousands of dollars on conferences that under deliver.
Until next time,
Lily
PS – Stay tuned for more webinars on prenatal nutrition & women’s health nutrition. Have specific topic suggestions? Leave me a note in the comments below. I have a working list of topics, but would LOVE your input.
I’m so excited that you’re offering this now! I’ve been looking for more education on prenatal nutrition for years and have been let down by so many other continuing education courses and even many conferences that you’d expect would be providing up-to-date advice. Seems to be the same old, same old low fat 80s advice.
All this to say… if your CEU classes are anything like your books, I think I’m gonna love it! Thank you!!!!! – Lucinda
Thanks for your input and support, Lucinda!
Thanks for sharing so much valuable information Lily. I have read Real Food for Pregnancy and loved it. I would like to advance my knowledge in nutrition but don’t know where to start. There is so much information out there and much of it seems outdated and misleading. Any tips on reliable resources? Thanks
I’ve recently discovered your blog and am blown away by the wealth of advice and such a fresh approach to food that I have struggled with restricting for YEARS following a significant weight loss.
I am now a healthy happy weight but stuck in the macro tracking cycle and want to start trying for a family in the next 12 months. I want to break this cycle and also read up in preparation for this stage of our lives with your books but am keen to understand if you have any links to specific advice for the ‘prep’ side of pregnancy, when you’re nearly ready to start trying and want to get in the best shape you can physically and mentally.