Samantha Gadsden Doula

06/10/2025

Share to Midwives and join the conversation.

You interaction is exactly what these sessions are designed for.
Include CPD self-cert: You'll get a LTB Certificate for you hours.
Cake and Refreshments included!!
https://letstalkbirth.com/ltb-lounge-sessions/

05/10/2025

“When it comes to Black and Brown women and birthing people, often home birth is not even a choice that is made available to them, if they don’t have a birthkeeper or doula there to advocate. [...] I often see such a difference with white mothers.”

In our latest blog, birthkeeper and doula Thando Zwane, founder of Birthing in Colour, shares her experiences of supporting families across London and the stark inequities she has witnessed in maternity care.

Her testimony is a powerful reminder that systemic inequality in maternity care costs lives and perpetuates trauma. Read Thando’s story at 🔗: www.bit.ly/thando_ (link in bio).

❗️That is why we at Birthrights are calling on the government to invest in maternity community services to ensure all women and birthing people have access to the full spectrum of maternity care. This is fundamental to building back trust, addressing entrenched disparities, and delivering rights-respecting care.

05/10/2025

Got to love a memory.

Raising the next generation to know their choices.

Come and join my home birth group.

04/10/2025

CALL FOR HELP - Reclaim Children’s Rights Petition
Please take the time to read, sign and share the petition

With : Home Education Groups, Charities, Support Groups, Children’s Rights Organisations, Community Groups, SEN Groups, MP’s.

Why when there’s a much bigger government petition about the Bill in general ?

The petition, linked below is focused JUST on the Unique identifier and the duty to share [Reference :Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill]

If the petition can reach a decent number of signatures the Change.Org team give support with journalists which could massively help to get the message out there .

The petition highlights some of the bill’s key provisions , explores the damage & harm that the bill poses to families throughout England .

The concerns raised in the petition are backed to hard evidence , from experts across child protection , social work , human rights, data ethics , and the use of algorithmic profiling .

There is also a link to the Open Letter which has been signed by some of the UK’s leading child protection experts, including the Victoria Climbie Foundation & Professor Eileen Munro.

https://rightsforchildren.uk/open-letter-on-schools-bill/

The Government commissioned Eileen Munro : To lead a ‘ root and branch ‘ review of child protection in England and Wales, following the death of Baby P in 2007. Which occurred after the death of Victoria Climbie in 2000. Both children, were failed by social services in the London Borough of Haringey .

You can read more about the Munro Report here.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7b455ee5274a34770ea939/Munro-Review.pdf

The government are more likely to listen, take notice, and consider the negative implications and harm this dangerous bill will cause, because it’s supported by evidence presented by child protection experts.

The Single Unique Identifier ( SUI) will infringe on privacy, facilitate excessive state monitoring and control, enable risky data sharing , undermine parental rights ,and create a large target for hackers.

The Unique Identifier will increase intrusion into family life , potentially leading to wrongful intervention & set a dangerous precedent for government overreach.

WHO’S CHILDREN ARE THEY - YOURS OR THE STATES?

THIS GOVERNMENT ARE COMING FOR YOUR CHILDREN - UNLESS YOU STOP THEM.

IF YOU DO ONE THING TODAY PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION AND HELP US GET THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE OUT THERE.

https://www.change.org/p/stop-dangerous-children-s-bill-no-to-digital-identifier-and-data-sharing

Join over 500,000,000 people creating real change in their communities.

04/10/2025

One month before turning 95, Patricia Routledge wrote this, she died today aged 96.

“I’ll be turning 95 this coming Monday. When I was younger, I often worried I wasn’t good enough—that I’d never be cast again, that I’d disappoint my mother. But these days begin in peace and end in gratitude.”

In my forties, my life finally began to make sense. Before that, I’d performed steadily—provincial stages, radio plays, West End productions—but felt somewhat lost. I was searching for something within myself, a home I hadn’t yet found.

At 50, I took a television role that many of you would later know me by—Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances. I thought it would just be a minor role, a brief moment. I never expected it to become beloved across the globe. That character taught me to embrace my quirks and quietly healed something deep within me.

At 60, I started learning Italian—not for my career, but simply so I could sing opera in its native tongue. I learned the gentle art of living alone without loneliness, reading poetry aloud each night—not to perfect diction, but to soothe my spirit.

At 70, I returned to Shakespearean theatre, a place I once thought I’d aged out of. This time, there was nothing to prove. I stepped onto those legendary boards with calmness. The audience felt that serenity. I had stopped performing; I was simply being.

At 80, I discovered watercolor painting. I painted flowers from my garden, nostalgic hats from my youth, and faces glimpsed on the London Underground—each painting was a silent memory made tangible.

Now, at 95, I write letters by hand. I’m learning the simple joy of baking rye bread. I still breathe deeply each morning. Laughter remains precious, though I no longer feel the need to make others laugh. Quietness is sweeter than ever.

I’m writing this today to share something simple and true:

Growing older isn’t a final act—it can be life’s most exquisite chapter if you allow yourself to bloom once more.

Let the years ahead be your treasure years.
You don’t have to be perfect, famous, or adored.
You only need to be present—fully—for the life that’s yours.

With warmth and gentle love,
— Patricia Routledge

RIP

03/10/2025

"A one off affiliation. Jess is my friend and had a huge part in me becoming a doula. Maybe I will tell you that story.

Payable in installments.

Unlock the Wisdom in Your Natal Chart
Enrolment is now OPEN and closes on the Full Moon (October 7th) or as soon as all spaces are filled.
Most natal astrology courses (and I've taken a lot of them) are excellent at covering the astrological concepts - the planets, the signs, etc. But where they fall down is pulling all of that together so that you can actually use your natal chart as a map that reveals the purpose of your life and the gifts you have to share with the world.

In this astrology foundations course, I will cover all of those fundamental concepts that you would expect, but with an extra emphasis on synthesis. You will learn to interpret your chart as a whole - your personal astro blueprint - so that you can identify your strengths and weaknesses, what you are here to do, and live out the promise of your natal astrology.

The course is designed for both beginners and those with some astrology experience who want to deepen their understanding."

See comments for more information.

30/09/2025

Come and join us. I'm looking forward to chatting and listening to Maureen.

Share to Midwives and join the conversation.

You interaction is exactly what these sessions are designed for.
Include CPD self-cert: You'll get a LTB Certificate for you hours.
Cake and Refreshments included!!
https://letstalkbirth.com/ltb-lounge-sessions/

26/09/2025

Any posts you see from this point will have been pre scheduled - responses will be delayed until 13th October.