Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
I’ve had the prompting to start a blog for a while, and finally decided to take the plunge. Visit often to find information, education and support as you transition into your parenthood journey.
I would love to to answer questions, so if you have any put them in the comments.
Hi! My name is Chantel. I am a certified and licensed (literally) birth junkie. What is a birth junkie? Simply put it is a person who can insert the topics of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, breastfeeding, and babies in to the most obscure conversations without any hint of caution.
I started working in birth as a Doula, researcher and childbirth/breastfeeding educator in 2000 after the birth of our 4th child (6th pregnancy). I LOVED my work and would have been happy doing that for the rest of my life…….and then my life hit a transition.
In 2004 my family moved to extremely rural Minnesota, and while I was able to continue my work as educator, my work as a Doula stopped. Then in 2006 another transition occurred and I began my journey into college and nursing. I graduated in 2010 with my Associates Diploma of Nursing with Honors-something to be very proud of when getting your degree, especially with 4 young children. With the beginning of my nursing degree in hand we moved to Missouri and I started working as a Registered Nurse in Pediatrics while I continued in school. In 2013 I found my way back to birth, this time as an RN, while finishing up my Bachelor’s degree in nursing-graduating in 2014 and in 2018 I certified in Maternal Newborn Nursing. My history as a researcher has helped create many evidence based policies for my nursing unit.
Update:
I am now at the completion of my midwifery degree. Once graduated with my CNEP MSN degree I can license as a CNM APRN (certified nurse midwife advanced practice nurse practitioner).
Starting my journey as a Doula has given me a unique perspective as a nurse. I have found patient advocacy and informed choice an important foundation of childbirth education, and I work hard to support birthing families achieve their wants, desires and needs within their time of transition. My hope is to use this blog as a starting place full of information and ideas to help birthing parents achieve their transition in the way that is best for them and their family.
Diverse Transitions Birth Services 