Allow me to introduce myself to you. I am a highly educated, well-suited and qualified candidate for the position of Professional Baby Nurse. Evidenced by my CV, I am well prepared for a Baby Nurse position, which accompanies my intense passion for new mothers, couples, all things related to pregnancy, labor,birth, and the newborn. Witnessing the transformation of the birth of a new family never ceases to amaze me. To be included in such a transformation is, indeed, a privilege and a gift.

My name is Marilyn Platt. I reside in Houston, Texas, in a suburb southwest of downtown. Only recently have I left my full-time position as a school nurse in Houston to pursue a full-time career with new families.

Currently, I am employed by a local Motherhood and Nanny Agency that handles Baby Nurses. I long to work on my own which will allow me more flexibility in my life and choice in the families with which I work. This option also eliminates the intermediary, which brings the cost down for the family and increases my salary. I see this as a benefit for all. I am also interested in longer-term assignments from 6 months up to one year. Of course, the short ones are great as well. I will travel anywhere for the assignment as long as the family covers my expenses. I love traveling and am quite willing to travel along with my family regardless of location. I really desire a client base that is word of mouth, which allows the moms to hear the scoop about me and visa versa. I am open to complete criminal, credit and background checks.

I have reached the stage in life that it is more important to be employed satisfying a passion rather than working in a position that keeps me within a well-defined, political box full of “the bureaucracy’s confusing expectations.” Because I am a strong advocate for children and seeing that their basic needs are being met, the regimented school nurse position often collided with my core values.

A few personal aspects of my personality and a sketch of who IS this person, Marilyn Platt, is the most difficult section of my ‘intimate’ statement. I was married for 30 years, I ended this relationship 5 years ago, and today we remain good friends, share our two grown children and our brand new 7 month-old granddaughter. My married daughter lives in Oregon so she can attend a school of Veterinary Medicine for the next 4-5 years as she pursues a specialty in surgery. My son is working on his PhD in Literacy and also working with an International School who places him in different countries every two years. He is fluent in French and currently teaches in the Netherlands. I absolutely love growing roses. Equally as important to me are animals, as I have 4 dogs. I never ignore a stray and volunteer for the Humane Society. I’m active in the Houston Federation of Teachers for the nurses and have recently become involved in addressing the Board of Education and the Legislature on the rights of children as they attend school. I’m a compassionate therapist, and see this as a gift to be invited into a person’s personal space and share the most intimate issues of their personality. I’m an avid amateur photographer of flowers and babies. And, in addition to all that, time permitting, I also scrapbook all of those photos to keep a pictorial journal of the family’s history for my children and grandchildren.

Besides my new granddaughter, Kelsey, my greatest personal passion is pregnancy, labor/birth and the postpartum time. I have devoted much of my time and effort studying these areas and have assisted about 100 births as a doula and childbirth educator. If one should ask what is your ‘calling’, I would have to say the process of pregnancy – beginning to end. In my Social Work practice, I saw many women with Postpartum Depression and often taught couples parenting skills. I love the inner peace and quiet of snuggling with a new baby or witnessing a new mom and dad falling in love with their new baby. I love facilitating the inclusion of dad in parenting, caring for his new baby, and helping him become comfortable in his new role. In addition, I help with the adjustment of the siblings.

Mother Nature keeps me connected to what I believe to be a Higher Being. I experience myself at my fullest when witnessing a birth, standing at the beach feeling ocean breezes, looking at rock formations in different areas, the strange trees in CA, traveling and meeting new people. I possess a fun sense of humor and believe laughter is "jogging for the soul".

My childcare philosophies are many and diverse depending on the age, developmental phase, and the individual. These can be discussed in detail in an interview as this medium is too brief to offer the subject justice. I don’t believe in allowing babies to cry or hitting in any fashion. I do believe that our babies and children learn the very best by what we model which is calmness, patience, mutual respect and love/affection. Lots of deep eye contact with a smile of acceptance provides them the validation that their world is a safe place. As a Professional Baby Nurse, it is crucial to recognize how vulnerable the new mom is due to the huge hormonal changes. Because of this, I tend to ‘mother the mother’ so she has her needs met which enables her to better cope with meeting her newborn's needs. Also, due to her vulnerability and sensitivity, it’s critical to provide support, validate her feelings and skills, nurture her, and provide a protected, safe environment. Regardless of how many babies she already has, this is the first time she has birthed this child and she deserves everything as if this was her first baby. Attending to and facilitating the attachment and bonding process is the most important thing I do. It’s vital the new mother doesn’t feel isolated and frightened with all of the confusing thoughts and feelings she is experiencing. Normalizing feelings go a long way to easing her fears while gaining confidence in her new skills as a mother and to decreasing post-partum depression.

A critical aspect of this position is to be constantly aware of the signs and symptoms of post partum depression because it comes on quickly. PPD can be serious, but if caught early and given proper treatment, a complete recovery can be expected. By employing a knowledgeable Baby Nurse, the chances of developing PPD greatly decrease or, if some signs or symptoms of PPD do develop, I am in a prime position to insure early treatment.

In Your Service,