midwife who said she would take me on as a client for the fee of $50 (for
supplies) in the hopes that a home birth would convince me to keep the baby.
Well, her plan was a success and she has given me a gift I have yet to repay.
Now I have an eleven-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son and the most
wonderful husband in the world.
My second reason for getting into the birthing field was because I want to
eradicate the general public's misconceptions about pregnancy and the birthing
process. A woman’s pregnant uterus should not be treated as a tumorous
growth to be controlled by medicine, but rather a natural event that women have
been participating for many years before doctors. In most cases, birth can be accomplished safely and satisfactorily without intervention, such as drugs and surgery. The need for patience must be practiced in the presence of a laboring woman. I believe that each labor and birth is a unique and miraculous experience. I also believe that there is more than one good way to have a baby and that parents should have the proper tools available for effective informed consent and informed refusal.
My background includes my love for natural medicine, a B.A. in Biology, a
Childbirth Education certification through the Birth Connection, Labor Doula
certification through CAPPA, Neonatal Resuscitation Certificate through NRP,
CPR & First Aid Certified, and my experience working with Dr. Robert Wolfson, a
perinatolotgist. My first opportunity to educate and coach labor and delivery was
with a 16-year-old couple, which made an impression on me that will last a
lifetime. The mother was so young and so scared the first time we met but she
came through in the end feeling confident and empowered. I currently shadow a
homebirth midwife as her assistant and I am looking forward to becoming a
midwife myself someday, when my own two children are older.
**COME MEET ME** International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) monthly meeting on TUES 2/9/10 at 6:30pm. If you would like directions to the meeting, please join us on the ICAN email group. If you are NOT on the Yahoo group, and you would like to be (in order to stay current on our meetings and events), please visit http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ICANCOS/join to join!
This month Candace McCollett, CBE, CLD will be talking about Optimal Fetal Positioning (OFP) and how this knowledge can help you avoid a cesarean delivery. ICAN is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve maternal-child health by preventing unnecessary cesareans through education, providing support for cesarean recovery, and promoting Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). Our local chapter in Colorado Springs is a mother-to-mother support group. We specialize in education, advocacy, emotional support, VBAC, and more. We hold monthly meetings as well as special events. Children are welcome, light refreshments are provided, meetings will be topical, educational, and supportive and there will be occasional movies and speakers. See the yahoo group for more details or email icancos@gmail.com
reasons. First, I wanted to empower women through the natural
methods of childbirth. I remember the feelings of strength and
control that I encountered when I had my two children at home in
the presence of midwives and I wanted to pass this on to other
expectant mothers. With my first pregnancy, I was alone and
thinking of giving my baby up for adoption. Then one day, along
