Park Service

"When a penguin is hungry, a penguin needs to eat!" I smiled when I spotted this pic - as a member of a Park Service family, it made me proud!

The Great Presenter

I drafted a tribute to Steve Jobs earlier this week and then never hit "publish."  I reflected back to how my first experience/exposure to computers was when I was a student at the University of Michigan in the early 70s and I had a work-study position at the Ecology Center.  We drove around to all the computers on campus and picked up those boxes of cards with the chad marks that they produced as part of their operating system....and now as I type this on my MacBook Air (which I love) it reinforces how far we have come!  And a lot of it is due to Steve Jobs vision. 

But I liked what Nancy Duarte shared about his skill as a presenter:


Jobs Sparkline Resonate Workshop from Duarte Design on Vimeo.

Way to go, Tammy!

I was reading the International Doula and was happy to see that Passion for Birth grad, Tammy Arbeter had been awarded the Penny Simkin Award for Doula Spirit and Mentoring!  Way to go Tammy!  I loved the story that was shared about how she had recently fallen and broke both hands, her nose and her foot.  "...the next week, in casts and with a bandaged nose, there she was teaching a class!" 

Tammy is one of the amazing individuals that has such positive energy and enthusiasm that it is contagious!  I "borrowed" her picture from the Philly Doula Co-op where she is a member. The doulas you mentor and the women and their families you teach/provide labor support are so lucky to have you in their lives.  And why should a couple broken limbs slow you down?  Hats off to you Tammy! 

The Truth about Cesarean rates clip

Someone shared this clip on Facebook and thought I would post here for those who missed it:

Too many choices in childbirth class presentations?

Is it time to evaluate the impact of presenting birth as lots and lots of choices?  I loved Schwartz's book, the Paradox of Choice. 

I love TED talks!  They are the perfect length.



How many choices does a woman have about childbirth?

And then I found this one....



Or want to think more about choice, listen to this NPR program with Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide.

If you are ever stuck on a boring webinar....

I know we all do it - when you are stuck on a boring webinar, don't most of us answer email, IM with friends, balance our bank accounts, etc.  When you are all done with those things and the non-interactive webinar is droning on, unaware that you have tuned out.... remember this site: Draw a stickman  and have some fun.  Here is my first attempt!  And once you click done, it even gets animated!

"Passioneers" in the news

Passion for Birth has a group of stellar (rock star?) facilitators that lead our workshops.  Ann Tumblin is truly gifted at interactive facilitation.  Lately I have noticed she is in the news. 

Annually we have a workshop at her home in Topsail Beach, NC.  The local paper captured her grandchildren on the beach and featured them on the front page:

Topsail Advertiser

And she also was a guest speaker at the midwifery program at Eastern North Carolina University when a local reporter visited.  Midwifery: Putting skills into action

Way to go Ann - your two loves - those grandchildren and teaching about birth! 

Our way is not always the only way to look at things

I was sent the link to this short talk and when I watched it, it made my mind spin.  How often do we assume what we know to be the way to do things might not be the only way?  What if doctors/midwives got paid more for healthy pregnancies and births? 

Near Term Resource

Thanks to Robin Weiss and her tweets from the Lamaze International Conference - she shared this video that was shown and is available to purchase for $10 at Northern New England Quality Improvement Network

Birth Story Project

I stumbled upon this website and felt it was a resource that educators should know about:

The Birth Story Project