Robin Ross – Trained Professional in Childbirth
Robin Ross is a trained professional who provides emotional, physical and educational support to a mother who is pregnant, expecting labor, or has given birth.
By standard definition, Robin Ross is a “professional trained in childbirth who provides emotional, physical, and educational support to a mother who is expecting, is experiencing labor, or has recently given birth.” Or simply: Robin is a doula.
But look beyond her electric smile and that voraciously upbeat personality, and you’ll find a woman whose accomplishments defy any common definition. As an independent doula who works with Women’s Healthcare of Illinois clients, Robin enhances the talented team that Dr. Ken Finkelstein has put together.
Her impressive background
“I have a Bachelors in early childhood education and I taught for 10 years in a traditional public school and then in Montessori,” Robin said. “I have always had a strong desire to help educate others in whatever capacity I could.”
Not long after the birth of her first child 12 years ago – with the help of a doula and hypnobirthing classes — she began her journey to become a doula and childbirth educator.
“My birth experience impacted me and my husband in such a powerful and positive way, that I wanted to help provide that same support to other families,” she said.
Putting skills into practice
For the past 11 years, Robin has been a doula and hypnobirthing instructor. Along the way, she has supported nearly 800 families in labors and births, and hundreds more through the pre- and post-natal education process.
“Because I want to provide the best care I can toward the families I work with, I furthered my education by becoming a certified lactation educator in 2010,” Robin said. “Then I became a certified aromatherapist in 2017, a certified placenta encapsulation specialist in 2019, and lastly a certified reflexologist in 2019.”
Translation: Robin has the experience and skills that the women of Chicago’s southwest neighborhoods have been waiting for.
Educating our patients
“I feel it is so important to provide education to families antepartum to help ease their fears and understand their birth options to have a better birth outcome,” Robin said. “How a woman births her children can have a huge impact on how she heals post-partum and how she connects with her child.”
Robin believes her role as a doula and childbirth educator is to support families so they can have a positive birth experience regardless of how the baby gets into their arms. As part of those efforts, she is a proponent of classes and workshops.
“The classes and workshops that we will be offering through Women’s Healthcare of Illinois are to help provide families with local, easy access so they can have a more positive and comfortable pregnancy, birth, and post birth experience,” Robin said.
Looks like we need to expand that definition.
Away from the office
Family: She and her husband have three children (12, 10, and 7) and live in Bolingbrook
Favorite restaurant: I love sushi, but my favorite sushi restaurant is Otobo in Bolingbrook
Three things I love about Chicago: I absolutely love the skyline, I love the diversity of cultures, and I love that there is so much to do at all times of the year
The app on my phone I cannot live without: Yahoo
What superpower would I want and why: If I could take away anyone (animals included) from being abused in any form, that is the superpower I would want. I cannot handle anyone being mistreated, especially children. I feel history repeats itself as hurt people often hurt people, too.
Two truths and a lie: I went to England all by myself when I was 18, I have played just about every string instrument, and I have run a full marathon
