I was inspired to train as a midwife having read the book ‘Birth without Violence’ by Frederick Leboyer and by a friend’s homebirth experiences. I was moved by the baby’s gentle entry into the world and astounded at how calm and alert she was in the hours after the birth. I knew then that my life’s purpose was to be a midwife!
My friend’s homebirth was in stark contrast to the clinical obstetric environments of 1970s delivery rooms, where highly medicalised birth was the norm. My early career as a midwife was a very exciting time as women began to reclaim their power and choices in birth and both women and midwives challenged the values of routine, obstetric procedures and hospital birth.
Other major influences on my personal philosophy of birth are Ina May Gaskin, author of ‘Spiritual Midwifery’, and Michel Odent. The 1980’s BBC documentary ‘Birth Reborn’ was both an inspiration and confirmation of my belief in women’s ability to give birth with little or no intervention or pain relief. Women’s bodies are perfectly designed to give birth, but the environment of birth is crucial. When a woman feels safe and supported she can totally surrender to the birth process; her body produces exactly the right balance of hormones for uterine action and pain relief. The body’s natural pain killers or endorphins create an ‘altered state of consciousnesses’ during labour and the labouring woman is totally focused in the present moment, and able to surrender to the intensity of birth.
I am proud to have helped hundreds of women to be empowered to give birth naturally, joyfully and confidently.
I believe that as a midwife, I can really make a difference to the way my clients give birth. Working independently, gives me the time to really get to know the woman and her family, and build up a relationship of trust and respect.
I am passionately committed to the quality of the birth experience for the baby as well as the mother and her partner. I believe that it is important to welcome the baby into the world with respect. It is particularly important in the first hour after birth to disturb mother and baby as little as possible, and that the baby is given skin-to-skin contact with the mother, and allowed to initiate breastfeeding in his/her own time.
During labour and immediately after the birth, I try to interfere as little as possible, unobtrusively checking mother and baby’s condition, believing that this ‘masterly inactivity’ is one of the midwives greatest skills.
