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How I came
to be a Childbirth Educator
I was born in Brazil and
lived there until the age of fifteen, at which time I moved to
Holland with my parents. My most difficult challenge after
adapting to a completely different culture was to learn a new
language, Dutch. The only language I could speak then was
Portuguese, which is my mother tongue. I lived in Holland for 6
years and then moved again, this time to Ireland. Having lived
in different countries with such varied cultures, attitudes and
views, has made me quite accepting of different attitudes and
ideas. It is important for an antenatal teacher to have an open
mind and let go of prejudices so that she doesn’t impose her own
views on her clients and allow them to make their own decisions.
I have also realized that even though we are all different, in a
way we are all the same. We all want to feel valued and
respected for what we are and be given the freedom to change as
we mature.
It was in Holland that I
fell in love with my husband and got married. After two years,
when I was finally fluent in Dutch, I decided to go back to
school, as I couldn’t find any jobs without a qualification. I
didn’t know what I wanted to do. I have always been good with
visual aids, so I decided to try Graphic Arts. I remember from
my school days that I was always the one in charge of the
students’ newsletter and the one to make posters whenever there
was a presentation or project to be done. I did one year
of Graphic Arts and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot of
valuable skills during this time. Even though I really enjoyed
it, I couldn’t see myself working in that field in the future.
The next year I decided
to try something different and enrolled myself in an accountancy
course. During the first month I realized that I had made a
mistake. I didn’t like it at all. I felt the work was very
isolating. But I did learn that I love to work with people. I
also learned to be organized financially, which came in
handy now that I have a family of seven on a budget. I was very
confused about what I wanted to do and I still hadn’t found
anything worthwhile, that I really wanted to dedicate myself to.
It was at that time that
I decided I wanted to have a baby. I felt a child was definitely
worth all my time and attention. I have always had a desire to
become a mother but my up bringing taught me to have a career
first and then have a family. Since I couldn’t get the career
thing right I decided to move on to the next step, to have a
family. Maybe being a mother was what I would be good at.
I think the most valuable
things I learned in life were through experiencing motherhood.
As a mother I learned to adapt and improvise. I learned to love
beyond I though ever possible. I learned not to judge.
Creativity and patience have all developed over the years.
After the birth of my
first child we moved to Ireland and my partner commuted to his
job in Holland. Since, over the last twelve years, I had a
miscarriage, gave birth to four other children and moved 4 times
including immigrating to Canada. I had to learn to cope on my
own and build a support network for mysef. Being in a strange
country with small children, made me realize how important it is
for a mother to have support. Support organizations became a
very important part of my life.
When my second child was
born I had a midwife attend to the birth and I fell in love with
maternity care. I wanted to become a midwife. When I was just
maturing the idea of going back to school I got pregnant
unexpectedly. I then, had to postpone my plans. After my third
child was born I decided I would go back to studying but only
part-time. Since I have always had a lot of interest in
breastfeeding I started training as a Breastfeeding Counsellor.
During the time I breastfed my children I experienced a range of
difficulties and received support to get me through them, so I
wanted to give back some of the support I had received. I also
worked teaching breastfeeding classes at a local hospital.
It was through teaching
those breastfeeding classes that I discovered the passion for
prenatal teaching. I knew it then, that this was it. I had found
my career. It took me to have some of my children and breastfeed
them to find what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a difference
in someone’s life.
After training as a
Breastfeeding Counsellor I took a course on Health Promotion
from the National University of Ireland. I then continued to
study to become a childbirth educator with the University of
Bedfordshire. While taking these courses, I had three small
children. My youngest child was only six months old and my
oldest just four years old when I started. It is hard enough
with small children to find time for yourself not to mention for
study. I learned a lot of time saving techniques and how
to make the most of whatever time I had available.
Nothing in life has come
easy to me. I have always had to work very hard to achieve what
I have today and I think you can relate that to giving birth and
parenthood. The birth of a child is the result of 9 months of
hard work with the peak of which being labour. As for being a
parent.… well, the hard work just never ends.
Daniela Vasconcellos |
