We recently connected with Melissa Steiner and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?

It’s actually with a hospital where I still work. We were Chosen by a group looking to do research called Ariadne labs 4 hospitals were chosen in the US to pilot their project. The goals were to find ways to reduce cesarean births and to Improve outcomes using communication and communication tools. By giving our patients a bigger voice with their providers and caregivers cesarean births drastically dropped and we improve patient outcomes. it was such a simple, clear message that through conversational education and listening to patients we can improve our care and decrease trauma. I’m a huge advocate for encouraging my clients to speak up, ask questions and listen to their gut. We are in a time where women’s healthcare, especially around fertility and birth, is actually getting worse not better, in many ways.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have two main professional jobs. I run a successful childbirth education department with 5 staff members at a large hospital in the PNW and I also own my own childbirth education company in the small town where I live called Inspired Beginnings: Birth. Redefined. I’ve always known the medical field was my home, I just want sure where. I started off in college planning for either medical school or nursing (I come from a big family of nurses) until I realized that round the clock, 24/7 long days and nights, didn’t really seem like a great balance for me. With almost two years of STEM classes behind me, I found a place in the speech and hearing science department at the university of Washington and loved it. This knowledge has been immensely helpful while teaching latch and Lactation content. I graduated and went to work at Seattle Children’s where they sent me to start an infant hearing screening program at the hospital where I now work. During this time I had my son. I took birth classes and was hit with a huge “ah ha!” light bulb moment. This was what I was meant to do. One of the maternity managers was so excited that I was interested that she helped me to find training and hired me immediately. I’ll forever be grateful for her support. This is what I was meant to do and the passion hits me everytime I walk back into a classroom of nervous first time parents. I’m so fortunate to be a small part of their journey.

Since then, I’ve taken so much training to grow and evolve- including because a trauma informed educator. This has items my eyes and changed the way I speak to people and work with clients.

When I moved to my little town 5 years ago, I noticed that there was very little access to high quality birth education and most people aren’t willing to drive to go to the closest hospitals. So I started very slowly and made connections with local birth providers to start helping new families. It’s been a slow process during covid, but I “officially” started business in 2021 and we’ve been meeting in-person, empowering and inspiring couples ever since.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Imposter syndrome is so real. Lol. That’s my story. Starting a business or being asked to be a featured speaker for an app or speaking for a college, it all brings out that fear of not being good enough. What I’ve realized over the years is that the people at the top are all just people too. None of us know ‘it all’ but if we all share what we do know and have learned through our experiences we can help eachother grow and evolve.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

It’s funny, I often ask myself if I wasted the first two years of college taking all of the calculus and sciences and stressing myself trying to stay above water.

But the answer is no. I don’t think so. I learned so much about myself. I had to figure out how to not just survive college, but to thrive. Also how to speak up for myself and advocate even when the professors were ‘scary’. I think the journey I went on to find this profession is part of the reason I’m so successful where I’m at. I’m at the intersection of passion, the right fit for my personality, and experiences. Plus I have a good work-life balance!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.theinspiredbeginningsbirth.com
• Instagram: Inspiredbeginnings.birth
• Facebook: The Inspired Beginnings Birth

Image Credits
Credits go to me.