Lotus Midwife

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'.