Melissa Youssi

Melissa Youssi is a Certified Nurse Midwife with a MA from NYU and the mother of two young children. She has attended births in home, birth center and hospital settings, and longs for women to reclaim their birth power as a direct channel to Divinity Within. If peace on Earth begins with birth, then it continues with parenting. In the quest for peaceful parenting and evolution of the species, she is raising herself and her sons with a free range paradigm steeped in Earth based spirituality.

Birth Circle

Birth experiences range from physically assaulting and traumatizing to joyful and empowering. Let a circle of women applaud your triumph or give you a shoulder to cry on. Bring your stories and seek healing or sharing and shared healing. Bring compassion. Every birthing journey is sacred. Let us share the timeless tradition of women telling their most transformative stories.

Childbirth in America

The history of birth in the United States is a story about fear of feminine power that is specific to no gender. Explore the ebb and flow of women claiming and refusing birth power over the last 100 years and how that brings us to today. Why and how have we given over power to the omnipotent doctor, the scalpel, the abdominal scar and the epidemic of induction and medical birth? How do we get it back?

Raising Fearless Children in a Culture of Fear

How do counterculture parents teach love over the din of the mainstream dominance of fear? How can we feed the natural optimism of children to grow positive change? What can we do to break inertia spawned by media fictions and overstatements? This is a brainstorming challenge for parents, caregivers and anyone who loves kids and cares about how the next generation will carry on our legacy of critical thinking and stewardship for the earth and her creatures. Topics will include issues of health, safety, activism and how the media shapes perceptions of risk and youth in America.