Jeannine Parvati (June 1, 1949, North Hollywood, Los Angeles – December 1, 2005, Joseph, Utah), born Jeannine O'Brien, was an anti-circumcision activist, yoga teacher,

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

and author. Parvati's first book, ''Prenatal Yoga & Natural Childbirth'', was influenced by ashtanga yogi

Baba Hari Dass Baba Hari Dass (Devanagari: बाबा हरि दास) (26 March 1923 – 25 September 2018) was an Indian yoga master, silent monk, temple builder, and commentator of Indian scriptural traditions of ''dharma'' and ''moksha''. He was c ...

. Her second, the influential '' Hygieia: A Woman's Herbal'', was her master's thesis in psychology at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

. Later she co-authored, with her second husband and under the last name Parvati-Baker, ''Conscious Conception: Elemental Journey through the Labyrinth of Sexuality''. Parvati practiced as a

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

, California for over ten years, before moving to rural southern Utah where she continued her practice and taught Prenatal Yoga while raising a family. She founded Hygieia College, a mentorship program. She is credited with popularizing the practice of

lotus birth Lotus birth (or umbilical cord nonseverance - UCNS) is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after childbirth so that the baby is left attached to the placenta until the cord naturally separates at the umbilicus. This usually occurs ...

in the United States. As a keynote speaker at conferences on genital integrity, Parvati was an advocate for eradicating

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

.THE WOUND REVEALS THE CURE
A UTAH MODEL FOR ENDING THE CYCLE OF SEXUAL MUTILATION by Jeannine Parvati Baker, Presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Sexual Mutilations, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, August 9–11, 1996. THE SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND MODERN SOCIETY
Advancing Human Dignity and the Legal Right to Bodily Integrity in the 21st Century, NOCIRC - National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers She also authored "The Wound Reveals The Cure: A Utah Model For Ending The Cycle of Sexual Mutilation". Parvati died at home in Joseph, Utah on December 1, 2005, aged 56, after a two-year battle with

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

Works

* * * *Various Articles and Book Reviews by Jeannine Parvati on Midwifery & Parenting topics catalogued on the Assn. of Pre & Perinatal Health'
webpage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parvatibaker, Jeannine 1949 births 2005 deaths Deaths from hepatitis Infectious disease deaths in Utah American midwives People from Greater Los Angeles Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco State University alumni People from Sonoma County, California 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women