From Real Estate Lawyer to Pregnancy Yoga Teacher, Mandy Rees changed her career to create the family life balance she needed as a mother of two daughters and to fulfill her passion to support new mums. Today she talks about why her work lights her up and helps instil confidence in mums.

Notes:

Mandy's passion to help every woman have the  birth she wants and to ease the transition to becoming a mother grew from the gap in support she experienced as she journeyd through PND after the birth of her own daughters now  16 and 12.   She left her career as a lawyer and trained as a yoga teacher and now runs pregnancy and postnatal classes.

3.44 Mandy explains what  pregnancy yoga is and how her classes are structured.  There is inclusivity as every type of birth is as valid as another and the relaxation time after is an important and integral part of the sessions.  The time after the session really builds confidence and community in a safe space in which anything can be shared. 

6.50 Explaining why this is so much more than an exercise class - the importance of safety and switching off which gives a different quality of rest.

12.12  Building a tribe and a community and how this benefits women.

13.42 The importance of asking more questions. Why your partner also needs to know and understand what you want and the reason why it is useful to make them your mouthpiece. Believing you can do it is key.

15.16 Building confidence to choose what is important to you.  This is your birth not one off TV.  The importance of learning to say no when moving through an outdated and under pressure system. ( If you have trouble saying no or need to negotiate your birth plan you may also like this blog with tools and tips for getting the information you need to make your choice.)

17 It is helpful to understand what is happening to you- Often trauma is because they didn’t understand why such a procedure happened.

22.50  More about how yoga is not just exercise and Mandy's mantra 'Less now.'  Mandy also discusses how the classes support you to grow and value intuition saying that 'away from mr google you know the answers'
The babies also go through a journey in the class and relax as the mums do.  

25.28 How to find a pregnancy yoga class and how to choose the right class and teacher for you. 

27 Finding your cave woman instinct so you can birth anywhere.

28 For the women who don't feel like that there is a need for support postnatally to heal System doesn’t allow everyone to find that instinct so they don’t think it is in them when it is just hidden.  There is the possibility to heal and find it even if you have experienced trauma. 

29  You don’t have to suffer.  If you have experienced trauma and are suffering take a step today to find support.   Find someone who can realise how strong you were to go through that so can acknowledge that and own that.

32 What Mandy learnt on her own journey as a mother- She didn’t go to classes and get support and went back to work  when her daughter was  4 months old. She lost connection with her pre-baby life and did not get enough help and it was awful for a long time and this has fuelled her passion for making sure women get enough support.

38 When just getting out of the house is a big win. Please come as you are, no need to act.

38.50 Learning confidence.  Ask, how can I be in a better feeling place and then let the answers come. Your plans have to be what feels right for you. Plan for how you want to feel. Transfer what matters to you to any birth situation. And don’t make your expectations low. Make sure birth is going with your flow even if it changes from your original plan.  Women deserve to feel cherished and honoured. Learn to expect that.

42 Ask for it to be delivered just like pizza. Now is not the time to be a shrinking violet, ask for what you want and need. It is OK to be anxious, dip your toe into pools until you find one right for you. So many empowering women in birth so go looking.

44- Check out your local area for what is available.  If you don't feel confident for a class ask about 121 and  take little steps.

45 Takeaway - there are so many people out there to hold your hand you may need to search but  they are out there, go and find them! We would love to support you.

Continuing the Passion and Possibilities Interview Series with Awen Clement an independent civil celebrant and Pagan Priest who blends the traditional with the spiritual to celebrate life and death and all the milestones in between.

Notes:

Awen grew up in a Pagan community that rites of passage including menarche were celebrated and which has influencd her journey into offering celebrancy to the world as she feels it is much needed.  Despite her own supportive upbringing she still experienced a gap between her belief that birth is sacred and special and the reality when she became a mother for the first time and part of her work now is to fill that gap for other women.

4.12 How motherhood intrinsically changes you and yet the expectations are to return to normal life quickly and skate over the change. More fuss is made of baby than mum and there is a craving for connection that is not met.

7.12  Awens experience with her 4^th and final baby and how she learned to give spae and time for herself, permission for herself.  Noting how women often have a pattern of  being able to look after others and tell others what is best and then being slow to do that for yourself. 

9,23  A summary - The journey of birth and motherhood for Awen leading her from 'the gap' to fulfilling her desire for connection and how this conversation aims to help women avoid suffering in a prolonged ‘gap’

14.25 Some specific ideas of what a mother blessing can include and how you may create your own.

17.34 The family dynamic and how it changes over time and with each new child. The importance of marking this change each time and how it supports and eases the whole family with the transition and changes a new family member brings

19.34 How seemingly small acts of care can have big impacts. One ceremony such as mother blessing can ripple outwards each birth is an interconnected web that ripples outwards far beyond the immediate family. The positive impace of this loving attention just for being you with  all done for you.

21.48 Creating memories for life.  Give yourself permission to receive.

22.41 How activating activating your wishes and prayers with witnesses in a group enhances their impact.

23  A really passionate part of the discussion. We don’t know how birth is going to go and a mother blessing provides the space to hold the woman wherever she is in that without dismissing how she feels or diminishing her experience in any way. This gives her power.  

24 Love love love- Love is the antidote to fear emotionally and biologically - oxytocin is what we want more of for birth to progress smoothly and adrenaline can impede or slow birth down.  So create more oxytocin iducing situations more often.

25.45 Extend the love with practical gifts. These help you feel seen and give you time to spend with your baby and work out who you are now and how you fit in with this new person and your newness as a mother ( no matter how many times you have done it before)

26.55  The more kids we have the more help is needed and yet the inverse sometimes happens, at least in the acknowledgment of how special you and what you have done is. However it is new every time.

28.24 The importance of honouring the Journey at many steps along the way. Awen speaks of her personal journey and how she is  poles apart from 1^st to 4^th child and needed different holding and celebrating each time. We need repetition, reassurance and celebrating again for each milestone and greater need to make more space with more children

30.30  What Awen finds inspiring about birth is witnessing the transformation of a woman into a mother and her sense of I did it. The shift from I don’t know if I can do it to I did it!  -  with special emphasis on 'I' .it was me that did it no one else can do it for you.

33.37  Have people around that believe in you without caveat or qualification. Who say I see you and believe in you and this makes miracles possible  How we don’t say this directly often enough We still need unconditional love and support as adults that we did as children

35 It is ok to need help for that to be fun. This is the difference between a task being hard and horrible and it being difficult still not easy at all and yet incredibly rewarding. Separate hard from horrible.

37 Awen underlines the importance of our birth stories to us and urges you to avoid listening to  the  competition between women for who has the worst birth story and urges you to find and share positive stories instead. This shows also how important our birth stories are and the need for support in their telling. Do not tell a pregnant woman your horror story but seek help to have it heard and unpacked in an appropriate way. Unresolved trauma can be helped and supported and your story given a fresh meanging for you  We crave for our stories to be heard.

42 It is never too late to unpack and heal from traumatic birth. Even if your children are grown up

43    Disscussing ceremonies from other cultures, including Mexico and Morrocco- Closing the Bones/post natal sealing ceremony. These ancient and healing traditions are now spreading back to the West where we lost many of our traditions and have a deep need and longing for this kind of work – a mother is wide open energetically for birth and needs to bring all that energy back into herself postnatally, physically and energetically.

45.49 Small steps = big shifts.  You can hire a professsional or create your own ceremonies with friends. Awen wants women to claim back this knowledge and share for all to benefit

48 Land and the Village.  We know is there something missing.  A gap.  Slow down with help of rhythm of the land. The mwww.awenclement.comove to fixed calendar clock and electric light played havoc with our natural rhtyhms creating  disconnect and a fast pace whichfuels exhaustion. The remedy reconnec t with  time outside

57  Finally, listen inside to yourself beyond the extensive noise of our modern lifestyle. Allow that which is rising in you and come back to the place where you trust yourself as your own best witness and guide.

Continuing the Passion and Possibilities Interview Series with a wonderful interview with Lorna Philip who is a Doula based in Birmingham. We discuss everything from what is a Doula and why you may choose to hire one, to how doulas can support you before during and after birth.  

Watch the video or listen to the  audio only version below the video.  If you are limited for time use the notes underneath to skip to what most interests you.

Notes:

Following 20+ years supporting mums, dads and children working in  coordinating family health services, promoting and supporting breastfeeding, teaching infant massage, to name but a few of her previous roles, Lorna discovered her purpose and passion as a Doula
She supports all kinds of births and her heart particularly singswhen she supports women who are experiencing a VBAC ( vaginal birth after Caesaerean birth ) or who are creating positive births after a traumatic birth.

3.35 Defining a doula in a nutshell- a Doula is a lay person trained and experienced in birth offering practical and emotional care to the woman and her family.

4.16 We talk about what the role entails beyond ‘professional hand holding’ and how important these tasks are to the woman

6.00 We mention the research that shows benefits of a support person who is not a medic or a family member and discuss why- more objective and not emotionally tied to woman and situation.

7.28 why being a doula is not all about holding the babies cute though they are and what it is about instead.

10.00  we talk about the miracle of birth and the role of a doula in influencing the calm trust atmosphere in the room

14.50 How to prepare for the postnatal period during pregnancy and tips to make sure you have enough support.

15.33 Dealing with resistance: I can’t afford a doula…  Payment plans, gift vouchers and changing the mindset to give yourself what is priceless rather than pricey.

19.05 Mother burn out and how to avoid it

19.18 Who is a doula for-  Hint if  you are thinking its not for me its for x, y z, types of women you will be wrong.

20.15  Local support options:

 Bethel Doula supporting vulnerable women with a free doula

And Cando-Doulas supporting women with learning difficulties.

For all nonlocal women there is likely other similar schemes in your area. If you would like a doula but don’t think you can afford one even with saving please ring a doula and ask what is available and what options exist in your area.

26.30 Brings us to cultural safety

28.40  The blind spot that assumes there is a level playing field that fuels defensive reactions  when  confronted by any women asking for more ( respect , time, etc)  and in particular women of colour.  We also talk of the importance of understanding the defensive reaction and moving beyond it back to the heart and humanity.

30.46 Takeaway wisdom - You don’t have to birth like they do on one born every minute! -  or any other film or any other person.

32.19 Takeaway wisdom 2.  Use your voice to insist on help. You matter and your voice matters. Take some time to enquire what you truly want and need and ask for it.

Find Lorna at Birmingham Doula where she offers Doula services including postnatal doula services, hypnobirthing and Mizan Therapy.

The Passion and Possibilities in Birth Interivew Series showcases the who's how's and why's of creating a community of support around you as you prepare and create your best birth experience.  Intended to inspire you and open you to new and old ideas there are 11 different birth profesisonals sharing their passion and wisdom. We kick off here with experienced independent midwife Janie Al Alawi.

Watch the video or listen to the  audio only version below the video.  If you are limited for time use the notes underneath to skip to what most interests.

Notes: 

Janie Al Alawi discovered her passion for midwifery during a 4 week placement to the Jessop Hospital for Women during her nursing training that she completed in 1985. It was here she returned to become a 'Jessop girl' with 18 month training to become a midwife.  She experienced labour ward and community midwifery before moving to Abu Dhabi in 1990 to the Corniche Hospital. 12 years, 4 different jobs including the busy delivery suite where 100,000 babies were born annually, Janie returned to the Uk to work as a community midwife. where she remained untili 2014.  2014 saw her creating acorn birth services as an independent midwife.

4.10 Janie describes why she loves midwifery so much -"Being a midwife for Janie is not a job it is something in you".

6.40 The difference between working for the NHS and working indpendently.

9.32  All about choice and the mantra " guidelines not tramlines" when arranging  your birth plan with your care providers. 

10.30 Why you are the expert in your own birth.  The importance of communication especially listening to the woman, the mother. REmember 'The customer is always right' is the mindset to cultivate.

20.15  As a population we are healthier than ever so why are we having so many more problems? Discussing the need to trust women and their bodies, with a special mention of big babies as an example of how planting fears that weren't there can affect you.

23.30  What Janie would like to see women doing to prepare for the birth of their child- including slowing down in the third trimester particularly.  How she sees 'wired babies' when the mother hasn't slowed down, babies reflecting their mothers state of being.

26.40 Janie shares some tales from her travels to other cultures including the Emiratesand Angola  where she witnessed the elder traditional midwives working alongside her in the hospital and mothers being looked after round the clockin the postnatal period.  

31.44 Discussing easy to implement tips and techniques to support baby into the best position inlabour including using the stairs and the racing start.

33.30   A saddening tale of how quickly traditional skills and home birth/active birth preference were lost in the Emirates as an overmedicalised model took over in this nation which today sees 50% c sectoins. On her first visit she used 1 epidural in 12 years and very low c-section rates so the change is astonishing and quick. Janies mission and passion (one of many!) is to bring back home birth to th Emirates.

40.27 How you speak to a woman in pregnancy and birth will stay with her for life- so be mindful.  And a reminder that YOU are superwoman! As Janie describes how she is still excited at every birth after 31 years as a midwife.

43 The heartbreak Janie feels when women are only given one option when there is almost always more choice than that. ( Check out this blog for more skills on how to get offered the choices available )

44  Mary Cronk Exclusive! Midwives on a mission of mercy.  Janie shares a story from a trailblazing midwife who has done much to support women's choices in childbirth and to preserve skills such as birthing a breech baby.
You can read about her legacy  here .

Final thought: Women are amazing, brilliant, and we are  doing what are bodies are designed to do.

Find Janie at Acorn Birth Services.
Find a local independent midwife in the Uk here.

The Whos, Hows and Whys of creating a community of support around you as you create your best birth experience.

Back when I was first pregnant I was a fairly typical first time mother to be; anxious and excited in equal meassures yet simultaneiously overwhelmed with all the changes to my body and new information to absorb.  I did pretty well, discovering hypnobirthing, and pregnancy yoga and utilising my skills as a therpaist to release fears and old cellular memories.

Still with the wisdom of hindsight I thought it could have been so much easier if I had known more what to even look for and include as self care and birth prepraration.  Time is precious and I wasted plenty of it on fruitless, frustrating searches in googleland.

In a bid to help you avoid wasting those hours,  I have gathered together 11 different birth professionals to chat and share their wisdom.  It is my hope that you will feel inspired and confident to ask for what you need to create your best birth experience. I hope that listening to these passionate voices you will find your own voice and joy as you become a mother.   

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Full Interview List:

​Week 1:  ​Janie Al Alawi, Independent Midwife from Acorn Birth Services

Week 2:   Lorna Phillip, Doula from Birmingham Doula

Week 3:  Awen Clement. Sacred Celebrant

Week 4:  Mandy Rees, Yoga Teacher from Blossom Yoga and Wellbeing

​Week 5: Arty Thukral, Reflexologist,  Matrix Reimprinting and Bach Flower Remedies.

​​Week 6: Heidi Danaher: Hypnobirthing Instructor and Pregnancy Yoga Teacher. 

​Week 7:Gulara Vincent, Writer and Healer specialising in childhood and sexual trauma  

​Week 8: Janet Eastwood, from Birmingham Community Acupuncture

​Week 9: Worcestershire Doulas talking about  The Positive Birth Movement.

​Week 10: Linda Lillwall, From Bumps 2 babies -midwife, and massage therapis.

​Week 11:( Coming Soon)​