How Do We...
Grow and Learn from being childless, young women to strong and informed mothers?
Become educated on our options so we can make informed decisions and partner better with our doctors?
Balance risk and common sense during preconception, pregnancy, childbirth through baby and child care?
Trust our natural instincts when it comes to making decisions regarding our birth experience, baby care and our children's overall health and wellness?
Empowered Mommies.com is an advocacy group and online community for moms who are trying to conceive, are expecting, or have infants, who are interested in having up-to-date information about preconception, pregnancy, labor/delivery, newborn care and other various topics of interest like breastfeeding, immunizations, maintaining a healthy lifestyle post baby, stem cell research, cord blood banking, activism and community outreach through organizations that promote healthy moms and babies.
Our intent is not to preach about a certain way of giving birth, feeding or caring for your baby, but rather our goal is to empower you through the exchange of stories, experiences and knowledge so that you can understand all your options and make informed choices based on what is best for you and your baby rather than feeling influenced or forced into a choice because of fear or misinformation.
Our Guiding Principles are:
Knowledge: Seek out accurate and current information to better educated, understand our options and guide our decision making.
Instinct: Trust our maternal and womanly instincts and be confident in ourselves.
Partnership: Work in conjunction with our medical providers and other experts in an equal and mutually respectful partnership.
The Story Behind Empowered Mommies...
I remember expecting my first child and being bombarded by tidbits of information that at times seemed to completely contradict one another. Relying mostly on the wise advice and help from my mother, who raised six children of her own, I realized that today we face new challenges that were not as common or prevalent for the previous generation of mothers.
As a novice mom, this created a sense of uncertainty throughout my pregnancy. I didn't fully understand what my options were so I did not know the right questions to ask. I felt I had to be resigned to accept what came along. Fortunately, I had a great obgyn who respected my opinions and concerns and I gave birth to a healthy little girl. But I wished I knew then what I know now. I would have worried less and enjoyed my pregnancy more!
Similarly when it came to caring for my newborn. Differing newstories and information circulating around on a wide array of topics such as vaccines, newborn care, and breastfeeding left me feeling quite confused and disempowered at times.
So as I prepared for my second and third pregnancy, I vowed to surround myself with supporting women and fellow moms with whom I would exchange advice, recommendations and credible resources based on each of our own personal experiences. It's amazing what a difference it all made! Rather than focusing on the rare exceptions and fear-ridden birth and newborn care stories, I was able to learn to trust my body's ability to give birth, maternal instincts and read up on information that wasn't sensationalized, misstated, unfairly biased or exaggerated. I was able to break through common misconceptions and myths and take back the reigns of my pregnancy, birth experience, and baby care without fearing the worst because of lack of knowledge or understanding of my options.
And it was when I started blogging for my local newspaper's moms site, that I learned about the power of online mom communities. This is what motivated me to create this site in May 2009 (a month after I brought my 3rd baby home from the hospital). With EmpoweredMommies.com I hope to bring together an international community of moms who can help each other avoid feeling out of control and overly worried during such a special moment in their lives.
-Ivanna Campbell
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