A recent meeting I had with our local Parks and Rec director was a huge success. I was delighted to discover that the director shared my passion for Lamaze.  She had taken Lamaze classes years ago while pregnant with her children who are now in their 20's.  She credited the info she learned with enabling her to have beautiful, natural births.  As the icing on the cake, (unbeknownst to me) her daughter is a doula too.  So, I was most definitely preaching to the choir! As soon as I have certification in hand I can start my teaching and between now and then I will have opportunities at their events to promote my upcoming series.  I am thrilled at the opportunity to be able to teach outside of a hospital setting.  With my focus on wellness and the normalcy of pregnancy and birth, this setting seems to be a perfect fit.

Today I attended our local monthly Mother Baby Wellness Coalition meeting.  (I don't often get to make it to these meetings as they often are in conflict with my massage business schedule.)  I've realized through many meetings with women involved in the maternal child health field that a common greeting seems to be “Hi, my name is so and so, who are you with?”  I had to laugh today when I was asked who I was with (which agency) I replied that I was with me!  (A name tag with my business name is starting to look like a great idea.)  Then, when it was time for formal introductions, I made a point of stating I was my own one person autonomous little corporation!  When I described my soon to start adventure into teacher independent out of hospital CB ed a spokesperson from a local hospital suggested perhaps I should consider sharing my innovative ideas and teaching other CB educators.  Having not yet even embarked on teaching my own first large scale class that idea seems premature but I have to admit there it is an exciting idea to contemplate! 

As I drove home I realized how lucky I am to be so autonomous.  Upon reading of Teri's endorsement in her blog for  the book Drive ; the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink, I checked out the library's audio CD format.  Through it, I gained so much insight into motivation especially where it has played out throughout my life, and realized why I've lacked contentment in previous career pursuits and found such satisfaction when working solo.  I discovered how essential autonomy is to me.  Knowing that this is an essential key ingredient to my happiness will be a great guide in the future.  So, I now too give my rave reviews along with Teri's for “Drive” - check it out!

I enjoyed a bit of a break after doing my student teaching.  Upon looking at the calendar it occurred to me that I had better get my ducks in a row for the certification exam.  The application has been sent and I sat down this weekend to take a look at the Lamaze study guide.  It had been months since I had looked at it.  I am the type of person who needs to look at things more than once for information to really sink in.  So, it was nice to review  material that I had previously highlighted and to feel it really settle and solidify in my mind.  Again, I am in awe of the course that Lamaze has put together. I must sound like some kind of paid endorsement for Lamaze but I'm not – just a very satisfied student!

I can not wait for the opportunity to put all that I have learned to use in teaching.  Thursday I will meet with someone at our local parks and recreation center to discuss making my series as a community education offering. 

I noticed recently on Teri's blog that InJoy was offering  the Lamaze healthy birth practices from the mother's advocate site all together on a DVD for just $10.  This to me will be the ultimate tool for the short free presentations that I plan to offer.  I envision introducing a care practice, showing the short clip and then having a more in depth discussion and elaborating about the practice.  The DVD is 19 minutes long so I can see it nicely being part of an hour or two of learning.  Hopefully I will be able to reach women early in their pregnancies or maybe even preconception and really make a difference in their births.