ABOUT US
The Story Behind The Birth Geeks
In 2014, Robin and Hillary met at a birth doula training, and it was love at first conversation. Just kidding! Robin intimidated the crap out of Hillary with her extensive knowledge and experience and Hillary caught Robin’s attention with her probing questions and over-zealous nature. Hillary had just finished her Ph.D. the month before they met, and Robin was in the midst of hers at the time, so there was an automatic affinity and understanding between them, but nothing dramatic or anything! In the years since, Hillary has cultivated a thriving doula and childbirth education business in Evansville, IN all while staying in close contact with Robin whenever she had questions about the birth world. What developed was not only a friendship, but an ongoing discussion about being a childbirth professional and ways to improve on existing frameworks for doulas, childbirth educators, midwives, and all the childbirth professionals of the world. A picture started to develop of how to form a better community that went beyond initial start-up questions and deeper into the philosophy and practicalities of being a childbirth professional. That is how we got started together as The Birth Geeks!
We don’t like to brag too much, but some people like to read the formal stuff, so if you prefer fancy-schmancy bios with all the details about our training and professional accomplishments, see below…
Robin Elise Weiss, Ph.D., MPH, CLC, AdvCD(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, is the author of multiple books and websites on pregnancy and parenting for consumers. In addition, Robin lectures on pregnancy, childbirth, and related topics to doctors, midwives, nurses, childbirth educators, doulas (professional pregnancy/labor coaches), and consumers across the country. She is the winner of Lamaze International’s prestigious Elisabeth Bing Award for outstanding contribution to childbirth on a national level and the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) Forum Award and the Lamaze International’s President’s Award for her work with The Birth Survey. She is also a member of the Birth Care Network Board of Directors that was honored with the Normal Birth Advocate Award by Lamaze.
Hillary A. Melchiors, Ph.D., MPH, LCCE, CD(DONA) is an anthropologist, birth doula, and childbirth educator who lives in Newburgh, IN. Hillary is an expert in adolescence, psychological anthropology, immigration, mental health, identity development, and ethnography. She holds a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology and a Master’s in Public Health from Case Western Reserve University and has been working as a doula and childbirth educator since 2014. She has served multiple vulnerable populations such as adolescents and both documented and undocumented immigrants and has given lectures about doulas, overcoming cultural barriers to breastfeeding, the importance of evidence-based childbirth education, and more. She is a member of the DONA International Board of Directors and the Lamaze Item Writing Committee.
WHY US?
After much academic horsing around and even more practical work as childbirth professionals, Robin and Hillary have spent a considerable amount of time working on understanding the unique needs of childbirth professionals. We know that pulling apart research studies to examine them is not everyone’s cup of tea and that sustaining this work is so challenging that many of us don’t make it past the 3-year mark! The needs of childbirth professionals change as you develop your business and sometimes get tired from answering the same exact questions over and over while also butting your head against the same walls that never seem to move. We get it! We’ve been there! We want to offer something for childbirth professionals who are past the initial phase in their careers and are looking for ways to make this a truly sustainable practice that will last without burning their candles at both ends in the meantime. We know how it is. We’ve been there in the trenches too. We have been frustrated by seemingly endless conversations about how to start your business and products that really only focus on starting and not on sustaining. We want to move your childbirth business forward all while having fun and helping you grow professionally by creating community, providing resources and expanding the discussion for birth professionals.
WHAT WE WANT TO DO
We provide resources and products to cultivate your childbirth business and renew your moxie!
Creating community:
We have a free Facebook group for childbirth professionals. Click here to join the conversation. We have a Twitter chat once a month. Come chat with us #birthgeekchat
There will be more exciting stuff coming in the future, but for now, this is where you can find us!
Providing Resources
We want to provide resources for childbirth professionals that you can actually use, that are based on your needs, and that won’t break the bank.
Expanding the Discussion
Meet Your Hosts
Helping others has always been my passion and this is why I decided to partake in the enlightenment of mothers concerning childbirth.
Many a times, a lot of people have the wrong mindsets about major things but with our help, we will be able to guide them accordingly. Meeting with different professionals has been a delight and one more thing that makes me happy is sharing the knowledge I have with others so they can become better than they are.
What People Say
