New Notts Midwife

29/02/2024

07/11/2023

I want to send a huge heartfelt 🙏🏻 THANK YOU 🙏🏻 to Molly O’Brien for teaching such a powerful session on yesterday. It was full of truly invaluable content - Molly had me marching mad out of the building, with the fire of passion for true Midwifery re-fuelled ❤️‍🔥 and a ton of extra skills to add to my practice. I also gained some personal healing for my own birth experiences ❤️‍🩹

My books are now open for new clients for antenatal and postnatal care - you will receive all the benefits of my most recent and ongoing training including labour preparation with Biomechanics for birth 🙌🏻
Please contact me if you have any questions 🙂

27/10/2023

By simply just planning for a home birth and deciding on labour-day where you’d like to stay/go to have your baby, will significantly reduce your chances of experiencing interventions 🙌🏻

Home birth works!
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30063-8/fulltext

*Thanks to Sam Todd for the infographic*

08/06/2023

What a way to be welcomed into the world 😍🥰😍
THIS makes a HUGE difference ❤️

04/05/2023

Tomorrow - 5th May - is International Day of the Midwife 🙌🏻 we are marking the day with “The Big Midwife Dip” 🌊 🏊‍♀️ I will personally be at Mermaid beach in Folkestone from 10:30am - all Midwives & Midwife-supporters welcome 😃 would be wonderful to see you all and spread the love for Midwives everywhere 🫶🏻

03/05/2023

🤰🏼 get exercising people! 🏋️‍♀️ Sophie is lovely and will make sure it is perfectly safe for you and bump 👶🏻
Extensive benefits to exercising in pregnancy 💪🏻

⭐️⭐️ Starting Tuesday 9th May at 18.15! ⭐️⭐️

Ashford's only Strength Focused Antenatal Workout!

Midwife led, meaning you can train in confidence knowing that any pregnancy alternatives that are needed will be in place.

Strength training is recommended in pregnancy twice a week and even if you haven't done this kind of training before, providing you don't have any contraindications, it is safe to start.

Classes are kept to a maximum of 4 so that I can give correct attention to everyone to ensure good form and safety.

There are so many benefits to exercising in pregnancy for mum and baby so please don't worry about working out during pregnancy.

Classes will last for 45 minutes and are £7.50 per class pay as you go. Message me for more information and to find out if this class is suitable for you.

28/01/2023

This should ALWAYS be the absolute bare minimum of a birth experience and yet… 😔💔

26/10/2022

I appreciate you all 💜

23/10/2022

Let’s talk about language…

The words and language we use as birth supporters around a labouring person have a direct impact on the perception of themselves, their capabilities and their experience of labour.

To create a positive atmosphere we must therefore focus our words on the positive too. It sounds obvious, right? but it is all too easy to revert back to the negative.

So rather than saying “don’t panic!” say “stay calm” instead. If someone is already feeling anxious and they hear the word “panic”, that is what they will focus on.
This can also be when talking about the sensations of contractions/surges - if “pain” is the word used then that will be the focus.

It’s something so simple but incredibly effective.

So print off some affirmations, distribute them to your birth partners and practice to prepare to STAY POSITIVE 🙌🏻

19/10/2022

In light of the Kirkup report being published today, I’d like to extend my love to the families who have been affected by substandard, negligent and dangerous “care” from a health professional, within the maternity setting, across the NHS and especially at one of the East Kent trusts.

I’d also like to extend my love to all those Midwives, Maternity support workers, Obstetricians, Paediatricians and nurses who truly do *care* within a toxic culture and broken system.

Midwives like me…
Our hearts break reading and hearing the accounts of the affected families. These are never-events that shouldn’t have ever happened. Words that should have never been thought, let alone voiced.

The fire in my belly rages with anger, fuelling the passion to make Maternity care safe for all 🔥

Maternity report: Statement from Tracey Fletcher, Chief Executive, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

I want to say sorry and apologise unreservedly for the harm and suffering that has been experienced by the women and babies who were within our care, together with their families, as described in today’s report.

These families came to us expecting that we would care for them safely, and we failed them.

We must now learn from and act on this report; for those who have taken part in the investigation, for those who we will care for in the future, and for our local communities.

In the last few years we have worked hard to improve our services and have invested to increase the numbers of midwives and doctors, in staff training, and in listening to and acting on feedback from the people who receive our care.

While we have made progress, we know there is more for us to do and we absolutely accept that.

Now that we have received the report, we will read it in full and the Board will use its recommendations to continue to make improvements so that we are providing the safe, high-quality care our patients expect and deserve.

I want every family – whether they contributed to the investigation or not – to know I am here to listen to them, to learn and to lead our Trust in acting on this report.

I would like to thank Dr Bill Kirkup and the investigation team for their work. Today, our thoughts remain with those who have shared their experiences. We are grateful to them.

18/10/2022

16/10/2022

Amazing graph of one Mother~baby’s breastfeeding frequency from birth to 14 months 🥰

Look 👀 at this amazing graph which shows every recorded breastfeed for 14 months.

In the early days of breastfeeding it can feel like that’s all you’re doing, and it’s supported by the many dots (feeds) we see in the early months of this baby’s life, but look how the feeds spread out as the baby gets older.

You can see how the pattern changed again as the baby started to eat more solid food alongside breastfeeding, and then how shecontinued having a morning and evening breastfeed for many months after that too.

This is a fabulous visual to show what happens over the course of one breastfeeding journey. (Of course, not everyone’s will look like this)

Thank you so much to Lizzy for giving me permission to share this.