Mind Over Mentor

I have a 'slow' month this month- no lectures to teach, only about 4 12 hour shifts to supervise at the hospital with LPN students (they only observe- they don't actually do patient care in OB, except on mother/baby). Only now have I had time to 'digest' the two conferences I attended last month on SIDs and birth trauma. I could do a post on each of them, they were so informative and fascinating. I probably will do a synopsis on the SIDs conference in a day or two. In the meantime, I've decided to break my birth fast (I have not attended a birth since Josiah's) and hang out with a local homebirth midwife this month. She says she has the perfect mom for me to meet and attend (with the mom's permission of course). I have had inklings of becoming re-involved with birth on some level. I could be on-call for L&D shifts at the local birth center. I could inquire about a full blown apprenticeship with one of several midwives here in town. None of these options seem quite right for me now, but I'm glad to know options are available. For now, I'm content with my observation. I will also spend a few days with a couple of lactation consultants (one in a hospital and one in a community based clinic) to interview them for my thesis. Both these LCs are phenomenal. They have each nearly single-handedly turned around breastfeeding rates for the AA moms they care for. I want to observe how they do it first hand. I want to write and speak about the methods they use to influence AA moms to breastfeed, so I can share their successful strategies with everyone else. I've learned a lot devoting my semester to literature review, but I'm eager to see some strategies in action. I'm looking forward to spending my month with women I consider models of success and mentors in my chosen areas of interest.