My desire to become a midwife stemmed from my desire to educate and assist women in their pregnancy, labor and birth. I still desire those things, but life has been throwing out massive roadblocks in the path to midwifery.
First, my college lost their nursing accreditation. The only other path to nursing was to spend a year at an extremely expensive college taking classes I really didn't need in order to qualify to get into the downtown Spokane nursing school I wasn't guaranteed to get into at all. I thought, "Well, get thee into a direct midwifery course!" But Seattle School of Midwifery merged with Bastyr University (good!) and dropped their distance learning course (BAD.) and there's no way I'm going to be able to move to Seattle since we bought our house.
So I did what I rarely do. I asked for a sign, dammit.
I went to Seattle in August to A) check out Bastyr (just in case), and B) attend a DONA certified doula course (required to get into Bastyr's midwifery program). I was floored by the love and sense of community of the women on the West Side. As they put it, there are more doulas than Starbucks in Seattle! There are groups and support and community and classes for just about anything you can imagine - cesarean awareness, labor coaches, midwives, childbirth educators, even placenta encapsulation, if you can believe it. It was awe-inspiring.
And then I came back to Spokane.
I looked around - there's not a lot of support, and the support that's out there is hard to find. I went to a BBQ with a friend's family and there were at least three pregnant women, two of whom were chain smoking. It killed me to see that, and I thought, "Do they know what they're doing to their unborn children? Do they care? Have they tried to stop smoking and just couldn't do it? Do they not have the support they need?"
There was my answer.
I want to get involved with my community. I want Spokane to know there is someone (or more than someone, if other people get involved) that cares about them and their well-being. Someone who can provide them with education, point them in the direction of help they may need, and do it so no matter what their financial or educational or social situation, they will get the help they need.
So I'm shifting gears. Instead of getting my direct transfer associate's degree, I will get my Business Associate's degree. I will learn all I can about running a not-for-profit type business. I will get my DONA doula certification, my childbirth educator certification, my lactation consultant certification, and I will provide all my services on a sliding scale. I will find others like me - people who care about the women of Spokane. We'll form our own damn community, thank you very much. We will provide doulas for moms who need someone but don't have anyone - single mothers, military wives, whomever asks for our assistance will receive it. I will conduct childbirth education classes in places they can reach even if they don't have a car, or a partner, or a babysitter. I will let people know what I do and meet them where they are at to provide them with the best options, no matter who they are.
I'll twist some arms and get the paper, or even the local news station!, to do a story about our humble group. I'll throw Get To Know Your Doulas nights at the library. I'll get out into our community and open eyes and hearts.
It's time, Spokane. Watch out! I'm comin' for ya! :)
