Recharging, Reconnecting and Remembering Why I Do This

Sometimes you don't realise quite how much you've been carrying until things become quiet again. After the excitement of the Bay Baby Event — meeting so many wonderful women, having some beautiful conversations and seeing new bookings coming into Birth From Within — this week began at a much slower pace.

And actually, I needed it.

There has been a lot happening recently, personally and professionally, and this week has been about finding a little balance between doing, being and remembering why I'm doing all of this in the first place.

First up... my kryptonite

Monday brought TAX.

Anyone who knows me will understand that anything involving official forms, figures and administration is approximately my idea of hell.

But I did it!

Running Birth From Within has taught me many things. Some are beautiful lessons about women, birth and community. Others apparently involve spreadsheets and HMRC.

Who knew? 😂

By Tuesday, though, I knew I needed to recharge my batteries, so I did something that can sometimes be surprisingly difficult when you're running your own business:

I stopped. I took some time for myself. After the emotion of recent weeks, the Red Tent, the Baby Event and everything else that life has brought with it, my body was telling me quite clearly that it needed some space. I'm getting better at listening.

Back to the women

As the week continued, I moved back into the work I love. There was antenatal group work, some wonderful one-to-one conversations and an unexpected hypnotherapy session with someone who had become caught in a very difficult trauma loop. The feedback since that session has been incredible. She has described feeling much more settled and much more able to cope with ordinary day-to-day life again. There is more work for us to do together, but seeing that initial shift has been incredibly rewarding. It's one of the things I love about this work. Whether I'm supporting somebody through hypnosis, preparing a family for birth, sitting with women in the Red Tent or being alongside somebody during labour, so much of it comes back to helping people reconnect with something inside themselves.

Some healing for me too

This week I also had the great honour of experiencing a beautiful yoni steam. After a period containing a great deal of grief, it felt incredibly nurturing to give myself some intentional time for rest, reflection and self-care. Sometimes those quieter rituals create the space we need simply to process what we've been carrying. So Thank-you to Joanna from Holistic Health, based at the BFW Studio for the Yoni steaming and deep healing.

I've continued with my sea swimming too. As autumn creeps in, those swims are definitely getting colder — and shorter! So I was VERY excited to discover that a sauna is coming to the beach. Cold sea followed by a warm sauna? Now that is the sort of winter planning I can get behind.

Celebrations amongst it all

There has been family celebration this week too. My husband turned 50 and we celebrated our wedding anniversary. And yes...

He is considerably younger than me. 😂

Amid running a business, supporting women, studying, planning, podcasting and everything else that fills my days, those moments of ordinary family life matter enormously. And apparently the next family project looming on the horizon is...Christmas.

I'm not quite ready to talk about that yet!

Gathering with birth workers

This coming week I'm stepping away from the studio for a few days to spend time with Shellie and Kemi and a gathering of other birth workers.

There will be learning around biomechanics and Clever Hands, Warm Presence, but I'm equally excited about what happens around the edges of these gatherings. Birth workers sitting together. Sharing stories. Learning from one another. Supporting one another. Questioning. Listening. Remembering.

After nearly three decades working within NHS maternity services and now supporting women independently, I increasingly feel there is a story I am ready to tell about that journey. Not simply about why I left.

But about what I learned — and what I want to do differently now.

Why Birth From Within exists

There are difficult conversations happening around maternity care at the moment. Services in some areas are under enormous pressure, and some birth services and homebirth provision have faced temporary suspensions. I find that deeply concerning, particularly when women already feel that their choices around birth can become smaller rather than larger. But I don't want my response to that to be fear. I don't want pregnant women frightened into one choice or another. I want something completely different.

I want women to know themselves. To understand birth physiology. To explore evidence. To ask questions. To understand benefits, risks and alternatives. To know their rights. To build a supportive birth team. And to recognise the extraordinary power that already exists within them. That doesn't mean promising anybody a particular kind of birth. Birth will always contain uncertainty. It means helping a woman approach that uncertainty feeling informed, supported and connected to herself rather than frightened and powerless. Because birth matters. Not because there is one "right" way to give birth, but because the experience of becoming a mother can lay down something incredibly profound. How a woman is spoken to matters. How she is treated matters. Whether she feels heard matters. Whether she feels involved in decisions about her own body matters. And that is increasingly where I see the purpose of Birth From Within.

Something is shifting

The podcasts have been flying this week too. There has been LOTS of editing, with another couple of conversations coming up, and I'm really enjoying where they are taking me. The next Red Tent is already filling, with only a couple of spaces remaining. There are new clients arriving. There are collaborations developing. There are ideas brewing. And after some very difficult weeks personally, I can feel a positive energetic shift. Maybe Birth From Within is finding its feet. Maybe I'm finding mine too. Either way, I'm excited to see where we go next.

Come and be part of it

If you're pregnant and want to prepare for birth in a way that goes beyond simply being told what happens next, come and discover Birth From Within. My antenatal classes, one-to-one sessions and birth support are about helping you understand your options, your body and your own voice — so that you can approach birth with knowledge, confidence and self-belief. And if pregnancy isn't where you are right now, there are women's circles, hypnosis, workshops and an ever-growing community at the studio too.

Come as you are. There is space for you here. ❤️