lotus midwife
Eton
I have three beautiful and challenging teenagers! Zaiah was born Vaginally
Breech (Bottom first!) Isaac was breech for a while and then I had him turned
(by ECV) and subsequently had him at home, and Otto was born premature at 32
weeks, also Breech and by Emergency C-Section. My personal birth experiences and
the ways in which I was cared for during my pregnancies and births have shaped
me as both woman and midwife. My journey to Midwifery began in 2008 where, as
part of my IBCLC training, I attended a 'Womb to World' conference. At the
conference, one of the speakers included a wonderfully funny and engaging lady
called Ina May Gaskin, the author of 'Spiritual Midwifery'. I was already a
Breastfeeding Counsellor with the charity the 'Association of Breastfeeding
Mothers', and was working hard towards my International Board Certified
Lactation Consultant qualification. My own babies were all approaching school
age and I was at a milestone in my life, deciding whether to return to secondary
school teaching, or to try something else. Ina May Gaskin opened my eyes to
Midwifery, through the way she presented pregnancy, birth and motherhood, and I
left the conference having decided that I was not going to return to teaching
(which actually I hated!) I was going to be a Midwife! I commenced my training
in 2009, qualifying in October 2012. In Aug 2012, I was extremely fortunate to
have the opportunity to travel to The Farm Midwifery Centre in Tennessee, (where
Ina May lives and works) and witness the amazing work of Ina May and Pamela Hunt
(another original 'Farm Midwife') first hand. At The Farm, I completed the
Advanced Midwifery Workshop, and the course included many aspects of how to keep
birth as physiological as possible. At the end of the course, there's a ceremony
in which the Farm Midwives Bless the participants hands. At each Birth I have
attended, as my hands are poised, ready to receive the new life, I am reminded
of the ceremony and -I truly believe- my calling to be 'with woman'. For me at
the time, travelling to The Farm, symbolised the completion of a circle of
events that led me to finding myself as a Midwife. However, I was naiieve- my
journey to Tennessee wasn't the end of the journey-it was a new beginning. My
passion for a holistic approach to midwifery care has never left me, and I use
this to support families through more challenging pregnancies. Women who are
known within obstetrics to be 'high risk' deserve to be nurtured, cared for and
given evidence based choices so they can make informed decisions regarding their
care. I am humbled by the birth process and the families I serve. I am proudly a
Registered Midwife, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and
Tongue Tie Specialist. I also volunteer for the Association of Breastfeeding
Mothers as Regional Supervisor for the East of England, and as well as being a
Trustee for the charity, I run a weekly support group for Breastfeeding
Families. My family life finds me as a single parent to my daughter aged 20, and
two sons, aged 17 and 15, life is a challenge with teenagers, but they are great
fun! Our family time includes eating too many roast dinners and camping in our
VW called 'Old Bill', and in my spare time enjoy swimming, walking and running
with our crazy rescue puppy 'Blue'.
