Future Midwife

I'm currently a nursing student (freshman in the nursing program). I'm taking Nutrition this semester, and would like to use this knowledge to help lose weight. I weigh about 190 lbs at 5'7¾", and would like to achieve a healthier weight. I'm currently using the Food Wise program which came with my Nutrition book, along with http://www.fitday.com , and was wondering if anybody else was currently putting their nutrition knowledge to work to lose weight.

Home: Western New York State Status: Freshman in the Associates Nursing Program Age: 23 Marital Status: Married Kids: 2 girls and a (not so much of a) baby boy Current Job: Waitress and computer lab assistant Wants to be: Certified Nurse Midwife

Hi, I'm also a future midwife. I'm a freshmen in the associates nursing program (technically a sophmore, though, since I went through the "pre-nursing" program last year and got all my pre-requisites out of the way). I'm thinking after I get my bachelors, I'll either attend SUNY Stoneybrook, or Frontier School of Midwifery, as I see many of you are considering as well. I'm 23 years old, and have three children. I had a pretty bad experience with my first child's birth. The nurse put medication (Nubain) in my IV without my knowledge or consent. I ended up having breastfeeding difficulties, and nobody was able to help me. It turns out I have breast hypoplasia, so with my next two kids I used the SNS to nurse and give my babies supplements. Two of my three children were born at home, unassisted. They were amazing, empowering, uncomplicated births. My first child was 9 lbs 13 oz (lady partsl), my second was my smallest at 9 lbs (lady partsl of course), and my third child was 10 lbs 8 oz (again, lady partsl). I went through training to be a doula, and did everything except for the births. Nobody wants a young doula, and even the older more experienced doulas in this area rarely get called to attend a birth. I knew I wanted to be a midwife, and at first I was thinking about being a lay midwife. But, it's illegal in my state, and I didn't want that battle. I figure if I'm going to go to college, might as well go the full route and become a certified nurse midwife. Then, hopefully, I'll be taken seriously. A lot of people don't pay any mind when I mention the possible side effects of pitocin or epidurals ("Oh, my doctor says it's completely safe!" or "No, the doctor said that the epidural had nothing to do with the fact that I ended up with a c-section for failure to progress/decreased fetal heartrate."). *sigh* There isn't a single certified nurse midwife in my county. The local hospital has a 32.9% cesarean section rate. It's bad. I want to change things here. I love this area. But, I'm afraid the struggle would be worthless, and nothing would change, and I'd end up being unable to practice or/and in jail!