Teri at Passion for Birth held a contest a few weeks back asking the question, "Why I Became a Childbirth Educator."  Guess what?  I was one of the winners!  As a winner, you get to select one of three prizes, Teri's Idea Box or Staying Energized, which are full of fabulous ideas for creative teaching, or her Trust Birth Poster (which I chose, as I already bought the other two when I first began teaching!).

Teri runs Passion for Birth (and keeps a very regular blog I love!).  She was my Lamaze mentor, and I actually met her a few years before I ever thought of becoming a childbirth educator at a La Leche League conference.  She presented a session on something about lunchboxes and oranges -- the basic idea was, teaching or facilitating a group in a more dynamic way, using things like small toys, objects, pictures, etc., to make ideas more graspable and practical for adult learners.  That appealed to me in the breastfeeding arena, so it was with great joy I learned (from my doula trainer!) that Teri offered this Lamaze program.

So, here is my answer to that question!

 I began my journey as a new mother, breastfeeding a little baby.  I was led to La Leche League International, and there I grew to love mothering through breastfeeding.  I joined the ranks and became an accredited LLL Leader, to help other mothers as I had been helped                 
    
Soon I realized how birth affects breastfeeding.  I took a step back and became a DONA-Certified Birth Doula.  As a doula, I began to see how what a woman knows affects birth, which in turn affects breastfeeding.  Taking another step back, I looked into childbirth education.  With a recommendation from my doula trainer, I found Passion for Birth.
    
I still love my roles as a breastfeeding counselor and a birth doula, but I am passionate about being a Lamaze-Certified Childbirth Educator.  I feel the reason I was pulled to work first with breastfeeding mothers, and then with birthing families, was only to get me where I am now:  I interact with expectant couples in an informative, exuberant way to help expand their options, ideas, and confidence in choosing the birth that best fits their unique experience. 

Last Monday I accompanied a friend and former two-time doula client to an appointment with an OB/GYN. She had her babies with CNMs, but at 2.5 months postpartum, she was still experiencing bleeding, and everyone has decided it is time to figure out why. The first thought was retained placenta; luckily she has had no sufferings with her milk supply -- she is even nursing her infant and her toddler, and there is plenty of milk for all. But that the bleeding has not stopped is disconcerting for her and her practitioners.

I digress.

We had to wait for two hours at this particular office. Her baby was happy, and we passed the time visiting as we don't get to hang out sans kids much. We kept watching pregnant mama after pregnant mama enter the office, get called back for her visit, and then leave. Some initiated conversation because of the cute baby we had with us.

One in particular looked young to me. She arrived on her own and immediately started asking about Solana (the cute baby). She said she was a Child Development major. As we chit-chatted about various things, she shared her fears about birth and said she hoped she could do it. My friend looked at her empathetically and said, "Your body was made to do it." This surprised me a bit because my friend had a 63 hour first labor, and on the heels of that she told everyone, "I'm just not made to have babies." Her second birth, the first one I attended, was 4 hours from start to finish. Bang.

She was so ready for another long labor, she had 12 people with her during her second birth. They were ready to start the shifts. She was the first woman I had seen go from 5 to 10 in 5 minutes -- it does happen!

Again, I digress.

So this expectant mother said, "One thing I don't understand: If what I eat and drink get to the baby, why don't the drugs in labor get to the baby?" What a question to ask! I didn't even get any words out of my mouth, but I know my face changed into an "a-ha," expression, before she answered her own question. "I don't believe that. I just had an early infant development class, and we talked all about harmful substances and how things cross the placental barrier. I don't take medication right now and I work hard to treat a headache or illness other ways than I used to. I do not want my baby getting any medication she doesn't need."

Soon after that, she was called for her prenatal visit.

Maybe another time I will share how my friend's third birth was, as they so often say, the wildcard birth. It was an exciting, unexpected change to her other two births, and it left us remembering that each birth, like each baby, is unique unto itself.

Here are a few places that can help you think:

-Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
-Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS)
-Lamaze Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond