Danielle Elwood began her work in the childbirth community as a postpartum doula for a local doula agency, and expanded over time independently. In life she is a dedicated mother of two small boys Camden and Benjamin, as well as the wife of a Veteran Marine and Fire Fighter. Her passion for blogging, as well as birth advocacy started in 2007 with the cesarean birth of her first child after a failed induction with a provider that that initially she described as lazy, but over time she realized that the actions of her Obstetrician are popular practice patterns all over the county. Though her experience she became heavily involved with The International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), as well as started writing in hopes of educating other women in her position. During this time she has expanded her work in the pregnancy and birth community and continued to write for various online publications. She is currently working on her certification to become a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, and hopes to be certified by the end of 2010.

Momotics & Danielle FAQ :

What got you involved in Birth Advocacy?

I am continuously asked how, what, and why I got involved in the Birth Advocacy and Activist community. It all started with the birth of my first son. I became a victim of the modern maternity care system. I was the perfect patient, did everything my Ob/Gyn told me to do, and ended up with an unnecessary labor induction which I was assured was for the safety of my son, and an unnecessary cesarean that I was repeatedly told was necessary. During the weeks post cesarean I was one of those “schedule my cesareans” type women. I didn’t care, but I look back now and I was masking my pain, and true emotions towards what really happened. It wasn’t until I watched The Business of Being Born that I realized I was truly taken advantage of, and subjected to so many unnecessary interventions that were not for our well being. I started searching for support, or a support group for women who had a birth like mine. I finally came across ICAN after a friend suggested it. I was shocked that there was no chapter in my area, I started a chapter, and that is what really started my birth advocacy work. It has only continued since then.

How did you become a Doula at 19?

Not the most common field for a 19 year old, single, childless woman to get into right? It all started when I was working as an office manager for a Chiropractic office. A patient that came into the office was a doula, and I became intrigued. It was really history from then on out. I have always been very interested in birth, children, and pregnancy in general. I was hired, and trained by a local Doula Agency, and the rest was really history.

How old are you?

Most people are slightly shocked when I share my age along with my accomplishments. I will be turning 25 in June of this year. Where else do you write? I write for several difference publications. Some online, some in print. Giving Birth With Confidence – By Lamaze Pregnancy, Parenting, & Playtime – My internet blog for the Connecticut Media Group Hartford Pregnancy & Parenting Examiner – Examiner.com Birth Activist – Birth Activist dot com Local publications I have also been published in include The Fairfield County Weekly, and The Valley Independent Sentinel. Where are you From? I currently live in the shoreline area of Connecticut in Fairfield County. I grew up in a small shoreline community called Lordship before I moved over 600 miles away from my friends and family to Fayetteville, North Carolina. My stay was short lived as I missed her friends and family.  Back in Connecticut now, I won’t be leaving anytime soon! What is on your iPod?

Will you review my product?

If you have a product or service you would like reviewed, please contact me to discuss. I only post reviews for products I honestly believe in, enjoy, or can’t stand! But my approval cannot be purchased. If you send me a product to review, plan on never seeing it again because I will either keep it, give it away in a contest, or donate it to charity. Of course, if you’d like for me to “test drive” a big-ticket item, we may be able to come to some agreement on the return of that item. If you would like a product offered in one of my contests, great!  I love being able to put my favorite products in the hands of my readers.   However, I do ask that you ship the item directly to the contest winner.  I will never pay any money out of pocket to help you promote your product, so please do not ask. Keep in mind that my blog is going to be partial to items that are targeted toward smart, eco-concious parents, but is not strictly limited to these parameters, because this makes up my reader population for the most part. For more information please feel free to contact me directly. DISCLOSURE POLICY This policy is valid from 01 April 2010 This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog does not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we will and do accept and keep free products, services, travel, event tickets, and other forms of compensation from companies and organizations. The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements. The owner(s) of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.