“I Didn’t Know How Much More There Was to Learn”: The Inside Scoop on The Babywearing Weekend

Babywearing support doesn’t live in one appointment, one class, or one perfectly executed fit check. It lives in the ecosystem around the family: the educator who helps them feel capable, the lactation consultant who notices what feeding is asking for, the PT or OT who understands load and recovery, the doula who sees the nervous system story, the chiropractor who catches a pattern before it becomes pain.

When that ecosystem is strong, babywearing becomes what it’s meant to be: a practical tool families can actually use at home. When it’s fragmented, families bounce between advice, try to stitch it together alone, and quietly give up.

And if you’re reading this as an educator, there are usually two very different worries that show up:

Maybe you’re newer and afraid you’ll be out of your depth...like everyone else will see more, know more, or have a clinical vocabulary you don’t have yet.

Or maybe you’re seasoned and worried you’ll spend the whole day holding everyone else’s hand…and leave feeling like you gave more than you got.

Both make sense. Which is why we wanted you to hear from people who were actually there.

“Babywearing is already happening, whether professionals are trained in it or not.”

Austin Rees and Kate Hudak (Nourish and Align), who hosted HELD in Baltimore, put it simply: families are wearing their babies every day, and professionals will see babies in carriers whether anyone has been trained in how to support that well.

For them, bringing HELD to Baltimore was about making babywearing support safer and more informed - because fit, comfort, and positioning matter for both baby and adult. And one of their favorite takeaways wasn’t a technique...it was discovering the “who’s who” of their community: people’s strengths, the populations they serve, and how collaboration can continue after the event.

“I learned that I have so much more to learn.”

Dr. Erin Eberle, a pelvic health physical therapist, came to HELD expecting to contribute her lens on the adult body: how she evaluates posture, load, and functional positions during babywearing.

What surprised her most was how much she learned in return. She hadn’t realized how many options there were for fitting and troubleshooting, and loved being able to touch so many carriers while hearing how other providers “put the puzzle pieces together” for the families they serve.

“It felt like a babywearing meetup… but on a higher level.”

Alex Sparrow, a babywearing educator and postpartum doula, described HELD as the in-person babywearing spaces she “grew up with”...but elevated. Her comparison made us smile: "like reading a National Geographic article about something truly interesting."

She loved the curiosity-filled, stress-free environment, getting to learn without being “on” the way you are in a client session. She also shared that the day shifted her practice in practical ways: refining how she refers to allied professionals, asking better questions, and collecting new “gems” to meet clients where they are.

But what stuck with her most was the humanity in the room, the way people opened up about what drew them to their work. That vulnerability made the learning feel real and authentic.

If you’re on the fence…

If you’re looking for passive learning and tidy answers, The Babywearing Weekend probably isn’t the right fit.

But if you’re craving a room where:

There’s so much more to learn...and learning it together makes all of us better.