Danielle Elwood is a lot of things… Social media professional, blogger, but most of all she is a mother of two little boys, and a little girl born in the spring of 2011. She first started blogging in 2008 shortly after the birth of her first child, and continued on, and expanding to various communities, including parenting, pregnancy, natural childbirth, and feminism.

Going back to 2005 she got her start in the childbirth community by becoming a postpartum doula for a local doula agency, and continued to expand her interest, and education in the community. The summer of 2010 brought her the completion of her Lamaze Childbirth Educator training through Passion For Birth, and she hopes to be certified to teach by the end of 2011.

Then there are the kids and husband. Danielle reconnected with high school friend William Elwood after he finished serving 5 years in the United States Marine Corps and they welcomed their first child Camden in December of that same year… a mere 12 months later. In January of the following year, they got married. Then came Benjamin in May of 2009.  During this time, Will also became a Volunteer Fire Fighter in their town, and has completely training, and schooling in hopes of becoming a career fire fighter one day. In August of 2010, after thinking their family was complete, they learned they were unexpectedly their third child. Turns out to be a little girl due in May of 2011.  They are sure they are done this time!

Danielle got involved in birth advocacy, and her local childbirth education community more after the birth of her first son which ended in an unexpected, and unwanted c-section. She founded the Connecticut chapter of the International Cesarean Awareness Network, and went on to become the Regional Coordinator for the entire North East through ICAN.

Since mid 2010 Danielle expanded her blogging, and career to various websites, and backgrounds beyond childbirth. She has written for websites like Lamaze’s Giving Birth with Confidence,  the Pregnancy section of Pampers.com and now is a full time contributor on Babble.com currently under the Being Pregnant section, and possibly moving on to Babies First Year after the birth of her daughter which is anticipated for the first week of May 2011.

Danielle works full time handling social media with Go Mama Go Designs, and also consults with other companies including Kandoo. She is looking to expand her social media experience in the upcoming year as well as continue to blog full time.

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 turned 25 in June of this year. Where else do you write? I write for several difference publications. Some online, some in print. Being Pregnant – Babble.com 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! Where can we read you?   (Favorite Posts) Favorite posts from Babble’s Being Pregnant - My Birth Story: Told by my 3 Year Old
What If All Those Girls on “16 and Pregnant” had a doula?
Discrimination Against Pregnant Firefigters in Washington DC
Reproductive Rights Attack Makes Me Sad for my Daughter
OB/GYNs Admit Money Drives C-Section Rates?
Why I Became a Childbirth Educator
Statistics Shmatistics
Is 34 Weeks the new 36 weeks?
Do Anatomy Hang Ups Influence Delivery Methods?
Are American Women Out of Touch with the Reality of Birth Facilities?
Are Epidurals Really Risk Free?
5 Reasons Most Women Don’t Like Their Childbirth Education Classes (And how to change that!)
Ladies Hold On To Your Kiddie Pools!
Nursery Crafts : Wall Letters
Breastfeeding Doll Inappropriate?  As Inappropriate as a Doll with a Bottle!
Worst Position to Give Birth In?  On Your Back!
No!  I am NOT Too Posh To Push!
target=”_blank”>Is ACOG Pulling an April Fools Day Prank? Is a C-Section Giving Birth? Reflecting on my C-Section Part Pregnant Woman… Part Super Hero Are VBAC Bans Legal? 5 Books First Time Mothers Should NOT Read Why Aren’t More Women Choosing Natural Childbirth Baby Boy To Big Brother Beware!  Top 5 Booby Traps Pushy Radical Birth Activists Make Me Want To Brag About My C-Section Take Back The Night Mentality?  Not So Much… The Scheduled C-Section Stereotype New Breastfeeding Study Results Make Me Feel Stabby! A Letter to my Unborn Daughter The Real Reason Pregnant Women Shouldn’t Sleep On Their Back Lamaze Isn’t Just About Breathing The Birth of Addison 21 C-Sections, 2 Days, Suspends 4 Doctors Why Isn’t It Assault When a Medical Professional Does It? 10 Things Motherhood Changed My Views On Florida Hospital Has a 71% C-Section Rate Having 19 Babies Makes You Woman Of The Year 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Had My First Child Easy Hair Bow Tutorial Can We Compare Birth Days to Wedding Days? American Uterus: Hostile Environment Why I Can’t Read Home Birth Stories Third Trimester Joy : Someone Punched Me In The Vagina Whats With All The Mom Wars Over Giving Birth?

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.