Ms. Robin Elise Weiss is an extremely busy woman. Not only does she publish a pregnancy/childbirth column for About.com, she is an active birth doula, and a lecturer who travels across the country imparting the wisdom and advice gleaned from ten plus years in the birth business. Additionally, she is a published author. This is impressive enough, and would make for a sufficient resume for any one person.
However, Ms. Robin is not only an extremely busy woman, zipping here and there to talk about pregnancy and the accompanying changes that occur...Ms. Robin is the proud mother of eight! Even better is her perspective on her family:
"Being a mother and a doula helps me to stay in touch with the realities facing pregnant women and mothers today."
Ms. Weiss was in the military, and while serving, she "stumbled upon" the notion of women-centered care. This intrigued her to the extent that when she attended the University of Kentucky, she majored in Liberal Arts with a focus on Reproductive Health Education. Ms. Weiss was caught up in the various aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, and thus her feet were on the path to success.
Beginning in 1989, Ms. Robin began to develop her calling in earnest. Prior to this, she became certified as a doula with DONA International and she was able to become certified as a childbirth educator via Lamaze International. In addition, she became certified as a postpartum doula as well with ICEA. Thus, Ms. Robin was on her way to becoming a force in the birthing community, with hundreds of births to her credit.
Soon, Robin began to lecture, using the skills she acquired with her Communications minor. Her lectures to midwives, doulas, obstetricians and others concerned with birth were(and are!) quite popular. Others remark that Robin has a touch for disseminating information in a relaxed way that is non-threatening and easy to comprehend.
From there, Robin kept elevating her style, adding radio appearances and writing articles to her repertoire. In fact, at last count, Robin has written over 3,000 articles which were published on the web! Keeping not only abreast of birth trends, but also ahead of them, she soon branched out into becoming an author of a diverse series of books on pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting.
Some of her many titles include:
The Everything New Mother's First Year
The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion
150 Tips and Tricks for New Moms
The Joy of Pregnant Sex
Ms. Robin Elise Weiss is a woman who is actively involved in birth: she is the recipient of numerous awards, from the President's Award from Lamaze International, to the CIMS Forum award. She has many more awards, has made numerous television appearances, and doubtless has many more irons in the fire. To her, though, "seeing families meet their babies and watching women grow through parenting" are what motivates her, not the many awards she receives.
Her birth philosophy is simple: "Every woman has to make her own choices, but she has to know all of her options or she ahs no choices."
The part that most impresses about Robin, beyond the laundry list of accomplishments, are these words that she offered on pregnancy:
"Pregnancy is a special time in our lives. We need to be given the opportunity to ask questions, tell stories, and generally enjoy the experiences of bringing a new life into this world. "
Robin Weiss, whose typical day consists of "wake up, feed the kids, drive, write, read, study, drive, feed kids, read books to kids, homework with kids, bed" is a driven woman. Her desire to change the fact that so many women are so unaware of birth choices, that it is a scandal "how few of their options women know about"; this is the driving force behind Ms. Weiss's constant presence.
So the next time you are at a conference, or are searching for answers on the Internet,or are in need of a doula, contact Robin
first. Armed with "birth ball, lap top and music" she is the Johnny Appleseed of our profession, spreading the seeds of knowledge across the nation!
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