My sister and the baby she was carrying died in the United States of America. They died in the country that spends more money on pregnancy and birth technology than any other country in this world.

I became a fierce advocate for gentle birth as a solution for the most pressing problems of our times - a solution that begins at the source.

I became a passionate seeker of childbirth knowledge.

Oxytocin is the hormone of love. We share it when we have a good conversation, we share it when we make love, and when we hug, and BIRTH is the biggest brightest time of rich oxytocin-sharing.

I get happy very easily and very often.

I had amazing midwives when I first became a teen-aged mom, and each of the five times I gave birth.

My sister had health insurance; she should have been warned by her doctors that she was at risk. But she was a minority. The doctors took little interest in her as an individual, and she fell through the cracks. And died.