by Tamela Hatcher, IAT, ICCE, ICBD, LCCE, M.Ed., BSE
I have grown up with ICEA. I first remember hearing about ICEA from my middle school teacher in the late 1970’s during our school career day. Years later, in 1990, I became a member. The hospital that I wanted to work with was very progressive regarding evidence-based education for their clients and required certification. I was fresh out of college and finances were tight. I looked into two certification programs and found ICEA to be the best fit for me. ICEA seemed to be a “one stop shop.” They offered a variety of certification programs under one organization. The rest is history. I have made a gratifying and rewarding career working in the birthing field for the past 25+ years. This has allowed me to learn and grow. I have developed personally and professionally while mentoring others along the way. ICEA provided me the credibility and opportunity to present at conferences, hospitals, and universities around the world. In the early years, I was so scared and anxious to present to doctors, nurses and midwives. With practice and time, I have learned to love this opportunity. My confidence has increased due to the evidence-based materials from ICEA that I can reference. I particularly love the ICEA position papers, Cochrane collaboration links, and the networking our organization offers. I know that support is just a click of a mouse away when I need help.
ICEA provided me the credibility and opportunity to present at conferences, hospitals, and universities around the world.
I have recently retired from coordinating the birthing education and doula programs for the hospital that I started with in the 1990’s. In retirement, or this next season of life, I am focusing on family, teaching health professionals, and traveling. I am now taking the ICEA message world-wide. My goal is to improve healthy birth outcomes to all families around the globe. Becoming certified through ICEA was one of the best decisions that I ever made. ICEA paved the way for me to make my passion for birth a career.
