Here's my picketing sign: "Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby"

I haven't written in a while... because I'm really freaking busy with all my cookie jars!

I just got back from my Doula Workshop down in the cities. I was in an intro class from 8am-5pm on Friday, a breastfeeding class from 5-9pm that night, then in class from 7:30am-5:30pm on Saturday with reading homework that night, and class again from 7:30-4:30pm today. I am so incredibly overwhelmed with information and emotional stories and a deep passion for this work that I'm wide awake and exhausted simultaneously.

I've only told this to two people in my life: I'm pretty sure I was born to be an activist of sorts - to really step up and fight for something. You know, a REAL activist. Not like the hippies in the 70's with the posterboard signs stabled to wooden stakes, marching around in protest of something or other, and camping out with picnic lunches on the lawn in front of some important landmark. (Not to say that wasn't helpful, but not what I'm going for.)

I was meant to be an activist for empowering women, particularly those in labor. I truly believe that the experience of pregnancy and birth have a profound, lifelong effect on not only the mother but also on the baby. A mother's self-esteem, confidence, feminism, intuition, and primal instincts are all worn on her sleeve during this phase of her life. A baby's initial experience affects his/her temperament, sense of security and trust, and view of the world.

I intend to get a doula program implemented in the St. Cloud Hospital. I want women in the community to know what their options are for labor and to have a voice in getting the birth experience they want. I hope to shift the paradigm of birth being seen as a medical operation to a beautiful, natural process. Women's bodies were designed to reproduce and no technology can replace that. (disclaimer: obviously in the event of high-risk pregnancies, medical advancements are wonderful for saving the lives of mothers and babies.)

At the very least, I want to get a community doula program started - to lead educational programs, volunteer with low-income and single women, and advocate for a shift in the birthing world. At the very most, I want to design and build a birthing center, separate from the hospital, to offer natural birthing options (water births, movement/postures, etc.) with midwives, doulas, and nurses. I am not sure how I can achieve this yet, but I am going to figure it out. I have to.

I remember being voted "Most Likely to Change the World" in high school and I graduated thinking, "Well, great, thanks for THAT burden..." When it hits you in the deepest place of your soul, though, it sure doesn't feel like a burden.