| We started our family in 1987 with the birth of our son Gregory. We attended a local childbirth class and thought we were prepared for what we were going to be faced with. We were wrong! Although we ended up with a healthy baby, I was less then satisfied with the experience that I went through. I began looking into other options for the next birth, long before I became pregnant again. |
| In 1989 we were pregnant again, this time with our daughter Erika. I knew that I wanted to be an active, un-medicated participant in the birth of my child. I wanted to learn everything I could to ensure her a safe and joyful passage into the world. I found that the Bradley Method was the most trusting in a woman's natural capacity to give birth, discourage the use of drugs in pregnancy and labor, and really strive to create educated medical consumers. This was definitely the program for us, so we signed up! Our birth was very fast, almost pain free! We trusted in the birth process and it paid off. Erika was 9lbs 6oz and was born in under 3 hours, without the use of any drugs! |
| I was so impressed with the way the Bradley classes helped us to feel confident and relaxed about the birth, I decided to take the teacher training and help others to achieve the same results. In 1990, I was fully certified and teaching the Bradley Method to other couples. |
| By 1992, we were pregnant with our daughter Alyssa, and ready for another positive experience. We decided on a midwife assisted homebirth since my birth went so well. What we didn't know was that Hurricane Andrew would show up at the same time! We were living in Ft. Lauderdale at the time, and just as the hurricane was increasing in intensity, so was my labor! I was in labor from the start of the storm until the news stations gave the word that it was safe to go outside. The midwife was great, she came over and spent the night. It was a family experience this time, the kids watching in awe as their baby sister entered the world. The support that I had all around me, including my wonderful husband Frank was the key to the calm and gentle feeling that surrounded this birth. A year later, we even made it on TV! We were featured on show entitled "Spirit of Survival", which highlighted all the events that occurred during the powerful hurricane. After this experience, I can honestly say that the Bradley relaxation works wonders! |
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I have a BA in Psychology and hold a NC Real Estate license. My passion, however, is helping others to have a positive birthing experience. I am a certified doula with DONA and have attended about 250 births over the past 14 years. My breastfeeding experience was supported by La Leche League in the late 1980's. When we moved to Raleigh in 1995, I became a counseling mom with Nursing Mothers of Raleigh. |
| I would love to be a part of your childbirth education process. |