An Interview With January

(This is an interview I did a few years ago with January, who runs the Birth Without Fear blog and Facebook page. I am re-posting it because we will be doing a post on her again tomorrow-)



I am so excited to have an interview to share today! Plus, it is with a good friend of mine, fellow Facebook, birth, and chiropractic junkie! Plus I have learned so much from her and from our friendship. It is nice to have friends who don't think you are crazy when you get mad about something ACOG said! So here it is, an interview with January, a beautiful passionate woman, wife and mother. (And keep an eye on her, I have a feeling she will be famous very soon.)

Enjoy!

I love birth stories, so to introduce yourself, give us a brief synopsis of your births and how they effected you.

My birth stories would be a four part series! I think I've been through most any kind of birth there is. A planned c-section because of breech presentation, a homebirth transfer turned traumatic c-section, my hospital VBA2C that didn't go as nicely as I planned and finally my healing and awesome unassisted birth. You can read more about them on my blog.

I am grateful for my traumatic births. They made me grow and growth is sometimes painful. They also keep me humble. If I had my perfect birth first, I might be judgmental and think all women should birth that way every time and they did something wrong if they didn't. But I know that every woman CAN birth that way, but unfortunately doesn't always have the support she needs to do so.



What first got you interested in a natural lifestyle or natural birth?

My chiropractor initially. I just like doing things outside the box, I guess. I loved the idea of having my baby at home. Then, with each birth it became more of a mission because I did not want another traumatic birth. I wanted to birth the way I knew my body was designed to do so. I didn't want to be disrespected and told what I was or was not capable of. I wanted my baby with me, safe and warm, bonding and nursing. Not being poked and prodded! Now that I've had a natural home birth, I can't imagine any other way. It was so empowering and just awesome!



What subject would you say you are most passionate about (circumcision, birth, vaccines, etc) and why?

Oh my gosh, ALL OF THE ABOVE. If I had to sum up my passion into one thing, it would be education. I want people to educate themselves before making any serious decisions such as circumcision or vaccines. I also want mamas informed so they don't have traumatic births!



How do you incorporate your passions into your lifestyle through work or education? (ie doula work, childbirth education, blogging, or just talking to friends.)

I think through my experience with my unassisted birth, I reached a lot of people. I decided to blog through my unassisted pregnancy, not for others, but for me. I was feeling a little insecure about doing something so extreme and against the norm. People started asking if I had a midwife and I didn't know what to say. With my blog, I was able to express all my feelings, without being interrupted. I could get my thoughts and reasons out and in turn become convicted and gained confidence. I was actually shocked at the out pour of support I received. Ya, many people thought I was crazy and were concerned, but I was OK with that.

Through that experience and now being on Facebook, I get emails on a regular basis from women about birth, vaccines, natural remedies. Some weeks I can't keep up, but I want to help!



What are some of your favorite resources for new mothers? (books, web sites, etc)

I know I'll forget some, but off the top of my head I'd say Hypnobirthing and Birthing From Within for pregnant mamas, and reading any birth stories they can get their hands/eyes on! I'm not a huge parenting book person, but I'd recommend The No Cry Sleep Solution if someone really needs something to help. For breastfeeding, look up videos to show how to properly latch! This really helped me with my third child. There are many other resources out there like the forums on the Mothering.com website, etc.



What experiences have you had that made you think, changed you deeply, or made you more sensitive to the situations of others regarding. You know what I mean, those humbling, growth experiences.

Like I said before, my traumatic births. Also, I had a very hard time nursing my first two children. With my first I didn't know where to turn to for help and with my second child I was so depressed, I couldn't even handle trying to nurse him. Also, I realized that I really do have postpartum depression and know how hard it can be to bounce back to your normal after that first year! I am very passionate about things, but I also know my friends love their children and are doing they best the can, just like I am trying to do the best I can!



What do you see as the biggest challenge/problem in obstetrics today and how do you think it could/should change? How are you trying to bring about change.

I don't even know where to begin with this. I guess I could say the biggest problem with obstetrics is that they even exist.



Share with us you blog or web site so everybody can get to know you better!

http://birthwithoutfearblog.com/