Who am I?

• a childbirth educator, lactation educator, and childbirth educator trainer for the Great Starts program at Parent Trust for Washington Children
• a parent educator for the Bellevue College Parent Education Program, where I teach parents of children age 1 – 7, and also teach a STEM enrichment class for children age 3 – 7
• a social worker, with 5 years experience working with people who were facing terminal illness, then 25+ years with people who were birthing and caring for young ones
• an author (co-author of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide and Simple Guide to Having a Baby, author of Great Starts Guide to options for maternity care)
• a former labor support doula
• a facilitator for support groups through PEPS: Program for Early Parent Support
• a curriculum designer – I created the lesson plans that are used by Great Starts instructors to serve over 1500 families a year, in 2011, I created topic guides that are used by PEPS facilitators to serve over 2000 families a year, and since 2013, I have been creating resources for parent educators, and lesson plans for preschool STEM enrichment classes.
• a program manager – I’ve managed a childbirth education program with over 30 employees that served 2000 families a year at multiple hospitals and community sites and a program that provided support groups for over 1800 families per year
• board member of Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church and former board member of Eastside Preparatory School
• an alumna of Brandeis University (BA in Sociology), University of Washington (MSW), and Bastyr University (certificate in Spirituality, Health, and Medicine)
• mom to a 25 year old, a 22 year old , and a 8 year old
• an amputee (for tips on handling phantom pain or supporting someone with pain, including my “magic cure” of Tylenol and ibuprofen combined, see this article)

Current Online Projects:

• More Good Days with Kids. Includes:
  • a blog: research, resources & realistic recommendations for parents of kids age 1-5
  • a collection of handouts and other resources for childcare providers, preschool teachers and parent educators who work with families with kids from birth to 5 years
• Inventors of Tomorrow. Lesson plans for STEM enrichment classes for ages 3 – 6.
• Transition to Parenthood. I created the website http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com from 2001 – 2008. I’ve moved that to http://transitiontoparenthood.wordpress.com/. It has a podcast for expectant parents and a large collection of resources for childbirth educators, including handouts, class outlines, and interactive class activities.
• More Good Days with Babies – a new website for parents with articles on breastfeeding and newborn care

Other things I have written:

• Energy Medicine: Hands-On Healing of the Human Energy Field.This is a summary of research I did in 2001 when enrolled in the certificate program in Spirituality, Health, and Medicine at Bastyr University. Includes a discussion of a wide array of traditional healing techniques and new age healing techniques.
• Western Dance 1450 – 1650 and The Old Measures: 1570 – 1675, about reconstructing and performing dances from Renaissance Italy and Elizabethan England.
• 2 small cookbooks of recipes reconstructed from 14th and 15th century manuscripts from England

Here’s my CV if you want the details on my work history and education.

To contact me, email janelled at live.com