Beginnings

I would like to use this first entry on my blog to explain a bit about myself and my thoughts behind this blog.

You may be wondering why someone with no medical background much less a background in childbirth would have a blog on childbirth. Is this guy some self-proclaimed medical genius at best – crackpot at worst you may be asking yourself? Rest assured I am neither (least I don’t think so).

Let me tell you, no one is more surprised at this endeavor than I am. I am a rocket scientist by training and profession. With my wife, the love of my life, we have two wonderful daughters. I was with my wife for both births, and along with a total of 18 months of pregnancy, it was the most fascinating thing I have ever witnessed…The growth and birth of a human being.

Two births you ask? Wow, what a wealth of information this guy must have (with just a bit of sarcasm). Well hang on there is more. My wife of nearly 31 years is a registered nurse and has been a childbirth educator for almost the same amount of time. She is also a doula and a doula trainer. She has served on the boards of many national and international childbirth organizations. She has started her own company, Perinatal Education Associates, Inc. to provide information to other childbirth professionals and expectant parents. I am very proud of her. Through the years I have learned a lot about childbirth though her, at first listening to Lamaze classes she taught in our home (something to be said about repetition in learning) to currently helping with her business. Over the years, we have had many discussions about childbirth and rockets as each of us takes an interest in the other’s work. I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about childbirth. I know my wife has more knowledge about rockets than she ever wanted.

I graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical engineering and the University of Southern California with a M.S. degree in Systems Management. I served in the Air Force working on various space and missile programs at launch sites in California and Florida. I have served with the United Nations as a Missile Inspector in Iraq after the Gulf War. After retiring from the Air Force in 1995, I have continued to work for various companies as a Principal Engineer in space or avionics companies.

Rocket scientists have a natural curiosity. When my daughters were little and we would take them to a theme park, while they were enjoying the rides, I would analyze how the ride worked. I guess some would call that being a “geek”. My wife really gets tired of me calculating everything, but this natural curiosity is where the genesis for the idea for this blog came from.

With all the medical intervention during childbirth, I began to wonder how our species ever procreated before the advent of modern medicine. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating going out into a field to give birth and I have nothing against the medical profession. I just wondered why is it women seemingly can no longer give birth without a team of doctors, nurses, and technicians. Birth, I thought was a natural event, not an illness requiring a lot of medical intervention. That danged natural curiosity thing again.

At any rate, I would like to use this forum to bring up and hopefully have dialogue with others on childbirth and how it affects the women we love.