Jeanne Faulkner

I’m Jeanne Faulkner, writer, nurse and optimist. I've been making a living writing since my first essay, Full Cart, was published in 2001. Now, I write about health, pregnancy, parenting and issues men and women face while navigating middle age. I've been fortunate to have a lot of opportunities to write about ways to alleviate global poverty. I'm particularly aligned with CARE, the global humanitarian relief organization that started the Care package in World War 2. Now, they work with women and girls in more than 60 developing countries to help them eradicate poverty. I feel most grateful when the subject I'm writing about has a positive effect, positive slant and helps somebody out.

I started with an essay (Full Cart) about grocery shopping for a large, multi-generational family for an anthology looking for midlife wisdom. My wisdom came from buying every product sold in the personal hygiene aisle, from Huggies to tampons and Depends. It got published and a writer was born. Totally ignoring sound advice to start small and work my way up (so, not my style), my next gig was writing for Better Homes & Gardens. I’ve since written lots of articles for newspapers, magazines and websites like the Oregonian, Real Simple, AARP, EPregnancy, Pregnancy and Fit Pregnancy Magazines.

My essay, Not Pretty in Pink (Shape Magazine 10/2004) was a Maggie Award finalist and presents an alternate view to life with breast cancer when you choose not to join the pink sorority. I write about food, entertaining, health & wellness with subjects ranging from truffle making to addiction and skateboard safety. I’m particularly proud of “Into Africa” an essay written for the Oregonian about how confronting and helping Africa out of its health and debt crisis, we help ourselves and America’s global image.

I’m the “Ask a Labor Nurse” blogger for Fitpregnancy.com based on nearly 20 years as a registered nurse specializing in obstetrics and maternal/child health.
I’ve lost track of how many deliveries I’ve assisted. Thousands, at least. From the most natural to the most medical.

I claim five kids in my personal posse: Three daughters, a son and a niece. They currently range from 9 to 25-years old. Though I’m a little young for all this life experience, I’ve already fully experienced aging parents, the sandwich generation and breast cancer. Married for 28 years , I’ve learned something about making a relationship work through thick and thin. We live in a 100 year old craftsman bungalow in Portland, OR with two Scotty dogs.