Provider Trainings

Health care and social service providers—nurses, physicians, counselors, social workers, case managers, and ministers—often serve as a critical link to getting people quality, compassionate care for a range of health care needs, including reproductive health care.

We want to train YOUR SITE!

Our experience working in health and social service systems has shown us that these same individuals are both willing and able to play an essential role around pregnancy options counseling and access to prenatal care, abortion, or adoption resources. These professionals often do not have the tools or support to assist people facing unintended pregnancy.

This is particularly true of situations where a person does not want to continue their pregnancy. Our training teams provide on-going follow-up support to integrate this training into work with clients and patients. We offer regularly updated resource lists so that health and social service providers always have the information needed to make effective referrals

To learn more about this effective training and to bring it free to your professional site, please contact info@wvfree.org.

Comprehensive Pregnancy Options Trainings

Virtual or In-Person | 90-120 minutes

Facing an unintended pregnancy can be fraught with anxiety. Our Comprehensive Pregnancy Options (CPO) training is designed to help professionals learn to give unbiased, judgment-free referrals for pregnant people that include the basic options of choosing to parent, choosing adoption, or choosing abortion.

All CPO trainings now include up-to-date guidance on discussing abortion care under current state law.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

Understand bias and stigma in reproductive health, direct services, education, and counseling settings
Learn how to provide judgment-free referrals for pregnant people, which may include choosing to parent, choosing adoption, or choosing an abortion
Identify ways to build rapport with clients/students/patients, and overcome barriers to access

Each participant will leave with an up-to-date packet of information they can take back to their communities on all three pregnancy options in West Virginia, that can be used to support individuals in their care.

To Book: Send an email to info@wvfree.org with the subject “CPO Training Request.”

Love Your Birth Control

Virtual or In-Person | 60-90 minutes

Designed for physicians, nurses, nurse midwives, social workers and technicians, this training teaches a shared decision-making model to help clients identify the birth control method that works best for them. This nationally recognized training is offered in collaboration with WV Perinatal Partnership at no cost to clinics or providers. CEUs and CMEs provided.

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

Discuss examples of bias in reproductive health and education, and counseling
List different methods of contraception, their uses, and risks and benefits of each, including resources for factual information about different methods of contraception and myths about birth control
Demonstrate methods for assisting women to learn about birth control using a client-led approach and interactive education grid
Identify ways to build rapport, and overcome barriers to access to contraception

Following the training, participants can request to receive the materials discussed for use in their practice. Materials include posters for clinics and offices, education grids for patient discussions, and patient education cards for handouts to clients. All materials are commercial-free and provided at no cost to training participants.

To Book: Click here to see available virtual training dates or schedule a private training for your site. Trainings may also be scheduled by contacting Amna Haque at ahaque@wvperinatal.org.

Maximizing Abortion Access in a State with a Ban

Virtual or in-person | 30 minute standalone or add-on to any training

There is too much confusion in West Virginia when it comes to understanding abortion access, and the real barriers and opportunities that exist. No matter how we may feel individually about abortion, we can all agree that West Virginians deserve safe options. We can boil it all down!

This presentation will help participants to:

Understand the landscape in West Virginia before and after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, and the subsequent ban in West Virginia.
Understand what the ban entails; the “exceptions” for rape and incest, the mandate for reporting to law enforcement, exceptions for health and life of the pregnant person.
Understand how West Virginians are accessing abortion now, and be able to give information about self-managed abortion, out-of-state access, and practical resources, from financial to emotional support.

Note: This presentation provides basic information about self-managed abortion. For a deeper dive, WV FREE offers a separate, 2-hour program–Self-Managed Abortion: Safe & Supported (SASS)–that discusses how to effectively and legally spread information about self-managed abortion with pills. To learn more about this program, visit wvfree.org/sass.

Tackling Reproductive Coercion

Virtual or in-person | 90-120 minutes

Reproductive coercion is a form of abuse where one party uses manipulative, controlling or threatening behaviors to interfere with another person’s reproductive choices or autonomy. It can have serious consequences for the impacted individuals’ physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Reproductive coercion often occurs between romantic/intimate partners, but may also manifest within families, friendships, professional and academic settings, and cultural or religious communities.