Finally Making A Difference

Donna Ryan, Birth Boot Camp founder (on the left) and me at a recent training.

I started teaching birth classes after I had my second child.  I don't know about you, but for me the transition from working outside the home to staying home with my children was a hard one.  It wasn't like I had any awesome career or anything.  It was just that I missed the interaction with other people, the feeling of being important, and of course, the independence of making my own money.

So teaching birth classes didn't just give me a hobby, or allow me to share my passion with others- it filled a void that had been in my life.

I think every human being whose essential needs for food, shelter, and love are being met will at some point have a desire to make a positive difference in the world around them.

I needed to make a difference, be around people, feel needed, and be intellectually stimulated outside of my immediate home responsibilities.  That is partly why I started blogging here.  It made me feel like maybe I was making a difference.  It forced me to question things.  It allowed me to reach outside of my small sphere of home and family and interact with others who cared about things that I did.

This probably sounds stupid, but I still wanted to do more!  There is no doubt in my mind that birth matters.  Absolutely NONE.  Even the arguments that women get in about birthing choices prove how much birth matters NO  MATTER HOW YOU EXPERIENCE IT.

So when a very old (not OLD like grey and wrinkly, old, like I had known her for forever) friend Donna asked me to come on board with her as she started her own natural birth education company, I took the plunge.  It was a leap.  I was scared.  It meant walking away from the method I was teaching- which had brought me a lot of joy.  It meant the unknown and new people and new challenges.

But I am so glad I joined Birth Boot Camp and there is nothing that makes me feel more blessed than being included with this amazing group of talented women.  It has now been one year since our "official" launch with our online birth classes and instructor trainings.  We just did our end of year statistics (how many c-sections, how many un-medicated births, etc) from all the births so far submitted from our instructors and our online classes.

And they are incredible!  (You can read all about them HERE.)

Here is a sample from our instructor led classes:

Overall (combined live and online classes) the c-section rate for reported Birth Boot Camp students was only 9%!

I am so glad to be a part of this! 

I have heard people say that the numbers don't matter- that every birth is beautiful.

I would AGREE that every birth is beautiful and amazing and miraculous no matter how it goes down.  But as an instructor I feel an ethical obligation to my students to give them what they paid me for.  And if somebody pays me hundreds of dollars specifically because they want to be well prepared for a natural birth experience- I feel MORALLY BOUND to deliver the best I can.  Writing down these numbers- it helps.  It helps me know what I am doing right or wrong.  It helps me improve.  And it helps me give my students what they are paying me to give them- a better chance at the birth they want.

I am so proud to be part of this movement that is changing birth in a real and tangible way.  I feel so blessed to be included and to be finally making a difference in the world of birth.

The future looks bright!

(And if you want to teach, we have trainings going strong!  I LOVE meeting the new instructors.  We have such a great time together.  And this September we are doing our first training outside of Texas in sunny California!  Come join us for a natural birth teacher training in San Clemente California!)