Thirty years experience within
grassroots and community organizations.
Thirty five years working in women’s
health.
Ten years adult education experience.
Exceptional communication skills.
Extensive travel experience.
Education
Bachelor
of Arts Degree in English Literature and African Studies, Simon Fraser
University.
Apprentice Academics Distance
Midwifery Course.
Self Directed Studies in Women’s Health.
Memberships & Affiliations
DONA
WWOOF Italia
Canadian Doula Association (Quebec
Representative)
Montreal Birth Companions (Director of
Non-Profit Organization)
Certificates and Qualifications
CPR Certificate, Heart and Stroke
Assoc.
Neonatal Resuscitation Certificate,
Heart and Stroke Assoc.
DONA Birth Doula certification
Career History & Accomplishments
Director, Montreal
Birth Companions 2005-present
Montreal Birth Companions provides
free doula services to low-income mothers in need, and creates educational
opportunities for women within underprivileged communities. MBC serves refugee,
no-status, immigrant women, women in shelters, teenage mothers, and women in
need.
Partner,
Birth Companions Doula Training 2003-present
Comprehensive training and mentorship
program for aspiring doulas. This is a unique training program that integrates
classroom learning, apprenticeship and independent study.
Private Doula
Practice 1999-present
Primary
established English-language doula service in Montreal, serving up to 50 women
and providing resources and referrals for over 100 annually.
Teacher,
College Marie-Victorin 2003-2010
As an adult education teacher in the
multi-cultural department of a local college I was teaching humanities and
English classes to women from various backgrounds, mostly recent Russian or
Israeli immigrants or Chassidic Jews.
Co-Owner of Organic Farm and Vineyard 1991-1997
Built
up and maintained a subsistence farm from a neglected stone house and 3
hectares of land.
Organizer and
Coordinator of WWOOF Italia 1991-present
I created a national volunteer
organization with links to the head organization in Britain.
Women’s
Centre Coordinator, Simon Fraser University 1979-1981
***references available upon
request***
The Writer
Bio
Rivka Cymbalist has been involved in different aspects of
women’s health care since she was a teenager. She has extensive experience in
first aid, herbalism, maternity care, health education, and volunteer work.
She has been working as a doula since 1997, and has witnessed hundreds of births. Of these, under twenty have been c-sections, several have been twin births, and most of them have taken place in the hospital.
She is director of Montreal Birth Companions,
which is a volunteer organization that provides free doula services to refugee
and immigrant women. She has been training doulas since 2004, and regularly
accepts apprentices in her practice.
She is also interested in organic farming and lived for
many years on a small mixed farm in rural Italy, where she was the co-founder
of WWOOF Italia, a volunteer organization that promotes organic farming.
Rivka is married with five sons and lives with her family
in Montreal and Italy.
Since then, I have published articles in The Birth Gazette, BIRTH, and sundry independent newspapers in Canada and in Italy.
My full-length book, The Birth Conspiracy, will be on the shelves in November, 2011. This is a book that guides women in their attempts to give birth naturally in the hospital setting.
