Just saying, “Hi.”

Oh hey, I just wanted to say “hi,” and introduce myself.  I’m Jeanne Faulkner, the new kid here at Every Mother Counts. I’m delighted to be working with the team as their new writer and on-staff registered nurse and labor and delivery expert.  Some of you might know me from around the Web.  I write Fit Pregnancy Magazine’s online blog, Ask The Labor Nurse and contribute to the magazine regularly.  I also write for lots of other magazines, newspapers and websites, usually about health, wellness, parenting, pregnancy and my favorite subject – global women’s health and poverty eradication.  
 
I’m a registered nurse and spent almost twenty years working in labor and delivery units in Los Angeles and Portland, OR.  I’ve had the privilege of being there for thousands of births, from the most natural to the most technical and spent a fair amount of time in the NICU. I’ve worked with families from all walks of life and many different cultures, with doulas, midwives, family practice doctors, obstetricians, neonatologists, pediatricians…you name it.  If it happens on an obstetric unit, I’ve probably been there.
 
For about ten years, I doubled up on jobs, working as both a writer and nurse.  For the last few years though, I’ve focused exclusively on writing about health and life both here in the US and abroad.  I’m grateful to Every Mother Counts for the opportunity to expand on that with you.  
 
You’ll hear my voice and see my byline now and again as we grow the website and our ability to reach out to readers.  Let us know if we can answer any questions for you about maternal health and the politics and policies around that. If you want to understand more about the differences between healthcare here and healthcare in the rest of the world, we hope that we can help there too.  And if I can explain something about prenatal care, pregnancy, or how we deliver babies here in the US, just let me know.  We love to hear from you and now have another pair of hands to help reply. So let us know what you’re thinking about, wondering about or interested in and we’ll do our best to meet your needs.  
 
I’m also a well-seasoned mother and I love serving as a resource for women who are newer at this job.  Most of my parenting expertise comes from plain old-fashioned experience. My husband and I have three daughters, a son and a niece in our immediate clan, ranging from 12-years-old to late 20’s.  Our parenting philosophy is based on brass-tacks common sense, lots of patience and a good sense of humor.  We live in Portland, Oregon and do our part to make the west side of the country look good.  
 
It’s nice meeting you. See you on the website and please, don’t hesitate to get in touch.  You can reach me with your questions, comments, suggestions and ideas here: Jeanne@everymothercounts.org.