I am pretty excited about a few things lately. One is that I am teaching an ICEA Postpartum Doula Workshop in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, by Zoom. Six wonderful students are joining me at 6 am (my time) for 8 weeks. It is so exciting to learn about their culture as I teach best practices from our program. They are delightful and will make a big impact in their area! Most of them are associated with Women’s Health Project: Caring for Mothers and Child. Some of them have already become birth doulas, and some are childbirth educators, too. To learn more about that program, visit www.cdintl.org.
Another thing that makes my heart happy is working with YOUR ICEA board. What a great group of women from all over the nation and world! We are going to have a couple of board positions to be filled soon, so keep your eyes open. Maybe you can join us on the board to represent the passionate members.
Both in my ICEA role and my daytime job, I get to meet with so many interesting people. I’ll be doing a podcast with a non-profit called Mama Bird Inc soon. They have funding to serve black women in their community. It is always heartening to hear about programs that are making a difference in the world.
We have just been looking through 15 wonderful applications for a Director of Lactation position. It was so hard to narrow them down to one! Maybe some of the rest would like to serve on a committee when lactation needs come up! It is always heartening to hear about why people chose ICEA as their organization (a question on the application).
We are excited to announce the new Director of Lactation is Stephanie Sosnowski. Stephanie is a current lactation consultant at a hospital and served as a representative on the United States Breastfeeding Committee. She helped develop the New York Statewide Breastfeeding Coalition and continues to serve on their executive board. Stephanie was also the Director of Perinatal Programs for Maternal-Infant Services Network for more than 20 years. She has been certified with ICEA since 1995. We are so excited to have her join us in this position!
Don’t you just love repeat clients? I was teaching a childbirth class the other night when I got a text from a former client asking what I was doing in August. We set up a time to talk at their house. I served as an educator and lactation specialist for their first baby, then postpartum doula for the next. They’d like to have me back again! Building a business in your community really pays off!
Hope to see you in San Antonio in October. Check out the website for more info on the details. I can hardly wait!
