International Cesarean Awareness Network

Education, Support, & Advocacy for Birth Justice & Healing

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ICAN Board of Directors Announcement

August 2, 2017 by president

ican-board-of-directors1International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) is excited to announce Lindsey Seger as its new President. Lindsey has served on the Board of Directors as both Vice President and President in the past and is the current Accreditation Coordinator. She is also the chapter leader for ICAN of Nashville, a certified childbirth educator, and a diagnostic medical sonographer. When she isn’t working, she’s laughing with her sons, curled up on the couch with her husband, or reading a good book.

Justen Alexander has accepted the role of Vice President. Justen has been involved with ICAN since 2013 and has been a Chapter Co-Leader in Huntsville, Alabama for two years. She has had two cesareans and one VBA2C. During her time as an ICAN leader, her main focus has been advocacy work, including obtaining the VBA2C clarification from ACOG, as well as attending and speaking at local hospital board meetings, writing letters to local physicians, publicly speaking out against unethical practices, and working to increase VBAC access for Women of Color. Justen also volunteers with The Good Earth, LLC., where she helps families navigate through the process of Home Funerals and Green burials, and assists in the burial process. She is passionate about communicating with birth professionals and finding ways to work together in order to improve the maternity care system for all birthing women.

Samantha Wall is joining the Board of Directors as Secretary. Samantha also fills the role of Assistant Chapter Director and is a co-leader for ICAN of Omaha. She has a strong passion for helping women achieve informed and empowered birth experiences through education and support. Samantha works with other local community businesses and organizations to promote woman-centered, evidence-based maternity and childbirth care. Samantha found ICAN shortly after the birth of her first daughter by cesarean. The support she found through ICAN was invaluable to her while she planned for her VBAC. Outside of her childbirth advocacy work, Samantha enjoys traveling and photography.

Continuing in their respective roles are Mychel Hefner as Treasurer, Ann Marie Walsh as Chapter Director and Board Member at Large, Brianna Barker as Advocacy Director and Board Member at Large, and Christa Billings as Board Member Emeritus. The ICAN Board of Directors can be reached at board@ican-online.org. For more information about the International Cesarean Awareness Network, please visit www.ican-online.org.

Filed Under: ICAN Tags: Announcement, ICAN

ICAN Announces Changes to Board of Directors

October 30, 2016 by president

October 2016

It is with great excitement that the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) announces Lakeisha M. Dennis as ICAN’s new President, effective October 1. Lakeisha served the Board of Directors as Chapter Director and Member at Large and previously as the NorthEast Regional Coordinator. She was also the founder and chapter leader for ICAN of Greater Essex County in New Jersey.

Ms. Dennis’s professional experience include higher education, non-profit and the food and beverage industry. She is also a decorated Air Force veteran. Lakeisha’s work and experience as a birth professional proved the catalyst for her involvement and commitment to ICAN. She is both excited and humbled to serve as ICAN’s 13th president and believes her diverse professional and academic background is well suited for today’s more global and diverse world. “I’m excited to be working with this dynamic group of women who are phenomenally devoted to the mission of ICAN,” says Lakeisha. She looks forward to meeting the challenge of the presidency as ICAN approaches its 35th anniversary.

Lindsey Seger will be resuming her role of Vice President, after being Acting President since January of this year. VP is a role that utilizes her strengths and passions in service to ICAN, and she’s eager to get back to business. Lindsey is also the chapter leader for ICAN of Nashville, a certified childbirth educator, and a diagnostic medical sonographer. When she isn’t working, she’s laughing with her sons, curled up on the couch with her husband, or reading a good book.

Megan Nickel-Martin is our current Secretary. She is also one of the founders and leaders for ICAN of Lee County in FL. She will be concluding her term as Board Secretary in early November. We are indebted to Megan for her voice and her gracious support. During her term as secretary, Megan’s most notable accomplishments were creating a chapter leader training for ICAN’s chapter leader accreditation program and creating a person. She gave birth to her daughter, Lorelei, in Sept 2015. She describes her time as secretary as “enlightening and a wonderful learning experience.” While Megan will continue to be involved with her chapter, she is looking forward to having more time to spend time with her children, following her husband’s band, The Freecoasters, as they embark on a multi-state tour in 2017, and starting the daunting process of applying to graduate schools. ICAN means the world to her and she is proud to have served on our Board of Directors.

Mychel Hefner is continuing her role as Treasurer. She also serves as Assistant Chapter Director and covers as Regional Coordinator, as needed. Mychel manages the ICAN Store and serves as the ICAN Webmaster. She found ICAN in 2010 while looking for support for a VBAC with her third child. She received so much support on the forums from other moms who felt the same about their previous birth experiences; betrayed, disrespected, violated. It encouraged her to get more involved. She joined the Board in 2013. Mychel has three boys and an amazing husband who supported and “caught” their third baby via unassisted VBAC due to a lack of supported options. In addition to ICAN, Mychel homeschools her 3 boys, collects Disney Snow Globes and plays in homeschool band with her sons.

Ann Marie Walsh has accepted the role of Chapter Director and will continue as Board Member at Large. She joined the board in April of this year. Ann Marie found a passion in birth after her first labor ended in a cesarean. She became a research junkie and found ICAN in 2010. Rather than ‘waste’ all of that information, she decided to share with local mothers by starting Second Heartbeat to share research, statistics and teach a VBAC birth class. As Co-Leader for ICAN of Nashville, she supports mothers as passionately as she received support. She has since welcomed a second and third child by hospital VBAC. Ann Marie spent time with ICAN as both the Southeast Regional Coordinator and United States Coordinator – South.

Brianna Barker is the Advocacy Director and Board Member at Large. She also joined the board in April of this year. She previously served as ICAN’s graphics coordinator. Brianna is a mother, wife, and volunteer at home Mom. She is the leader and founder of the Huntsville chapter of ICAN. She is passionate about supporting mothers and advocating for a system that provides integrated, evidence-based, respectful care options in all settings with particular concern for fully informed consent, and respect for patient’s rights surrounding both cesarean sections and Trial of Labor After Cesarean. Brianna was inspired to start volunteering for ICAN after having little support during her own personal birthing experiences. Her first child was born via cesarean for preterm breech, second via hospital VBAC, third out of hospital VBAC over state lines, and she is pregnant with her 4th baby due this fall. Brianna felt strongly about the need for an ICAN chapter in her community because women should not feel alone during their birthing journeys.

Christa Billings serves as our board member emeritus and past president. She served as the conference director in 2016. We are forever indebted to Christa for her institutional memory, mentorship and longstanding commitment to ICAN. Christa has been involved with ICAN for 9 years and has served in numerous positions. Christa is a mother to 3 girls. Her own birth experiences are what brought her to ICAN and shaped her passion for continued birth advocacy work.

The ICAN Board of Directors can be reached at board@ican-online.org. For more information about the International Cesarean Awareness Network, please visit www.ican-online.org.

***

Filed Under: ICAN Tags: Announcement, ICAN

Professional Memberships Now Available!

September 12, 2016 by blog

birthprofessionals

We are very pleased to announce that we are offering a new membership level for professionals. This membership level will offer all the perks of a professional membership, such as a website listing and a discounted rate to our conference, but is tailored for businesses with multiple practitioners. Are you a maternal health care practice? A doula agency? A chiropractic clinic? A birth professional co-op? This plan was made for you! You can choose a subscription based on the number of practitioners rather than having each member subscribe individually. For a small group (2-5) membership is $100 annually, for a medium group (6-9) membership is $300, and for a large group (10+) membership is $500. At $60 for an individual professional membership, this is quite a savings!

To sign up, please click here – PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

The full list of membership benefits include: ICAN’s quarterly newsletter, The Clarion, 10% discount in the ICAN store, discount to ICAN’s biannual conference, free/discounted webinars, special recognition in The Clarion, website listing for the length of membership, a professional ICAN member badge for your website, a 15% discount to Lamaze’s online class, VBAC: Informed and Ready, and you may submit posts from your business blog for submission to the ICAN blog editor for a nationwide audience. You can also proudly tell every woman who walks through your door or visits your website that your group supports ICAN’s mission and respects her birthing choices.

ICAN is proud to have provided mother-to-mother support to women across the United States and the world since 1982. Through our grassroots, volunteer efforts, we have served millions of women in their childbearing years over the past 34 years. We depend solely on membership subscriptions and fundraisers to bring awareness to our mission and run our organization. We offer membership for individuals as well as professionals who want to help us improve maternal child health by preventing unnecessary cesareans through education, provide support for cesarean recovery and promote Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC).

Filed Under: ICAN, Support Tags: ICAN, Support

ICAN celebrates women with Mom Proms across the country

July 15, 2014 by blog Leave a Comment

If you haven’t heard yet, ICAN has had a lot of fun the past couple of months with local chapters across the country hosting Mom Proms! What’s a mom prom?! Exactly what it sounds like… a night of dancing, food, and friends. It’s a night out, just for the girls, and each chapter added its own little flair. Some were themed, some included dinner & drinks, and all had a wonderful time. Here’s a story from one chapter:

The Central Florida Mom Prom was on April 26th, 2014, benefiting ICAN of Orlando, ICAN of East Central Florida, and ICAN of Brevard. It was a wild success. The inaugural event, held at the Radisson UCF in Orlando, sold out their 150 tickets two full days ahead of time! Guests enjoyed delicious hors d’oeuvres like Mini-Beef Wellingtons and Coconut Shrimp. Local bakers donated a variety of amazing desserts to satisfy any sweet tooth. In addition to a DJ and a photobooth, guests had the opportunity to bid on over 60 items (including items like Walt Disney World passes and a private wine tasting for 20 people) available in our raffle and silent auction. Even the bartenders got into the charitable spirit with the insanely popular signature drink, the Lasso of Truth Martini, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the event. Right before the end, we crowned our inaugural Prom Queen, with the winner taking home almost $700 in prizes!

ICAN Mom Prom of Central Florida

The Central Florida Mom Prom was an incredible opportunity to not only reconnect with some fervent, local ICAN supporters, but also to introduce the organization to women throughout the Central Florida area.  With our event information published in magazines, newspapers, and online blogs, we were able to reach and connect with new audiences like never before.  The Safe Motherhood Quilt was displayed and provided a solemn counterpoint to the festivities by raising awareness of the rising maternal mortality rates in the United States.

ICAN Mom Prom of Central Florida

Due to the incredible generosity of local and national sponsors, our attendees, and planners, we were able to host a flawless, high-quality event, ‘celebrating the superhero in all women,’ while raising over $12,300 for our local ICAN chapters.  All of the décor was themed around superheroes, while providing statistics and information on the birth climate in the local area. We are already looking forward to growing this event and raising even more money next year, and we hope to see all of you there!

ICAN Mom Prom of Central FloridaRegina leading the “Mom Prom Dance”

Here are some of the things attendees said about the prom…

“… fabulous event…”
“… best mom’s night out ever…”
“Can’t wait until next year!! “
“Beautiful job. Seriously amazing. I had a kick ass time!! “
“When do tickets go back on sale???”

ICAN Mom Prom of Central Florida

Did your local ICAN chapter have a Mom Prom? We’d love to hear about it! If not, express your interest to your chapter leaders and maybe next year you can throw one awesome party!

Filed Under: Mom Prom Tags: Fundraisers, ICAN

Signing On

July 12, 2011 by blog 2 Comments

Greetings everyone! My name is Melek and I am excited to announce that I will be serving as the new ICAN blogger.  I look forward to maintaining an active blog full of recent and relevant information, inspirational stories and support for all of you, much as my predecessor Sarah did.

I just wanted to take a minute to give you a brief introduction to me, how I found ICAN and became involved in the VBAC community.  I won’t repost the full length version of my birth stories because they were published here earlier this year, but I will give you an abridged version.  My first son was born via cesarean after a failed induction in May 2008.  I became (and remain) involved with my local ICAN chapter during my second pregnancy, which was a planned HBAC that wound up being a very powerful and transformative CBAC in December 2010.  I found such amazing support and encouragement on my journey to and through my second pregnancy and birth through my local ICAN chapter as well as the larger ICAN community online.  I continue to be touched and inspired by the really wonderful women I have met through this network, whose courage and strength I draw on as I continue on my own personal journey towards a VBA2C in the future.

Shortly after my second son’s birth, I started a personal blog chronicling my journey towards an HBA2C (no, not pregnant yet!).   I discovered a real passion for birth, particularly VBAC, that could be teamed with my passion for writing in a really positive way and I haven’t looked back since!  When I found out the blogger position was opening up, I was very excited to be able to give back to ICAN in this way.  I look forward to sharing and connecting with all of you here on the blog.

Melek

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tags: ICAN, Volunteer

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