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Katherine Letley is a Midwife, Maternity Consultant for City of Sanctuary, Activist and Midwifery Clinical Educator   She is the maternity consultant for City of Sanctuary UK, a nationwide charity promoting support, dignity and welcome to people seeking sanctuary. She also works as a midwifery clinical educator at a local university and does bank midwifery when she finds the time! One of her passions and past times is using her platform to raise the voices and needs of women and birthing people seeking sanctuary so that experiences can be improved.FInd out more about The City of Sanctuary resource pack using the links below:https://maternity.cityofsanctuary.org/resources https://cityofsanctuary.org/events/launch-of-the-maternity-stream-of-sanctuary-resource-pack/

Margaret Myatt Race Equity Lead for University Hospitals Sussex Trust,  Principal Developer of the REAL (Recognition, Equity, Advocacy, Leadership) Strategy, Midwife and Labour Ward CoordinatorMaggie has been a qualified Midwife for ten years, working across the Surrey and Sussex area. She has worked across all areas within maternity care, from Community to Delivery Suite as a rotational Midwife, and then later as a Labour Ward Coordinator.Her current role as Race Equity Lead for University Hospitals Sussex Trust, has seen her push forward her work for Inclusive maternity care and NHS staff employment, as well as working alongside Chief Midwifery Officer Jacqueline Dunkley Bent for the NHS Race and Health Observatory for Maternal health equality. During this episode we discuss her role within the NHS trust and how her work may have a positive impact on ethnic minority patients and staff.Follow Maggie on Twitter @maggiemyatt1

Mars and I had a really good chat in this episode and it was fascinating to get a better insight into her work.Mars is a coach and birth activist. A triple award-winning doula, mentor, educator, coach, and on the RCOG Race Equality Taskforce and on the Birthrights Legal inquiry into Black Maternal Health panel with over 17 years experience. Mars is in high demand, both in the UK and across the world, as a speaker and trainer. Mars created Abuela Doulas, a doula preparation course primarily, but not exclusively, for Black and Brown women, and is the Founder of BLA (Black Lives Abuela) Scholarship. This scholarship is to help Black women who wish to become doulas to train and not be held back by socio-economic disadvantage. She is Inclusion Consultant to several large companies causing them to look deep into their practise to make systemic and structural change. Mars is co-creator of Through The Dark Lens Conference - a conference showcasing Black and brown excellence in the perinatal period.Social media handles Instagram: @abueladoula Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abueladoula Website: https://abueladoulas.co.uk Upcoming Courses and Training https://abueladoulas.com/our-courses Rooted 6 month extensive course Abuela Birth Prep course Abuela Postnatal Sankofa Abuela Level Up! (advanced) Let's Talk Black Birth Cultural Competency Coach Instagram: @_marslord Twitter: @_marslord

Kemi Johnson is a birthkeeper midwife who I had the pleasure of chatting to about physiological birth and what it needs to thrive. What can we do to ensure those who want a physiological birth increase their chances of actually having one?Follow Kemi on Instagram @kemibirthjoyjohnsonKemi also hosts a physiological birth session every Tuesday evening at 8pm UK time over on clubhouse for anyone who wants to get involved.

Dr Orin is a chartered counselling psychologist with a passion for delivering psychological therapy and workshops on perinatal mental health for mums experiencing a range of emotional and interpersonal challenges during the perinatal period. Having worked in mental health for 9 years in a variety of settings, she brings a wealth of experience to her role as a psychologist specialising in perinatal mental health. She is the founder of @blackperinatalmentalheath in Instagram, a platform to improve perinatal mental health outcomes for Black women.In this episode we talk about perinatal mental health in general and how it impacts minority groups.

Hibo Wardere is an FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) Consultant, author, activist, policy advisor and global speaker.  In this episode, we talk about FGM, her own experiences and how we can protect girls in the UK. Imagine for a moment that you are 6-years-old and you are woken in the early hours, bathed and then dressed in rags before being led down to an ominous looking tent at the end of your garden. And there, you are subjected to the cruellest cut, ordered by your own mother. Forced down on a bed, her legs held apart, Hibo Wardere was made to undergo female genital cutting, a process so brutal, she nearly died. As a teenager she moved to London in the shadow of the Somalian Civil War where she quickly learnt the procedure she had undergone in her home country was not 'normal' in the west. She embarked on a journey to understand FGM and its roots, whilst raising her own family and dealing with the devastating consequences of the cutting in her own life. Today Hibo finds herself working in London as an FGM campaigner, helping young girls whose families plan to take them abroad for the procedure. She has vowed to devote herself to the campaign against FGM. Get Hibo's book here: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/cut-one-womans-fight-against-fgm-in-britain-today/hibo-wardere/paperback/9781471153983.htmlTraining for health professionals : https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fgm-awareness-training-with-hibo-wardere-tickets-152393618415  Twitter: @hibowardere Instagram: hibowardere48  LinkedIn: Hibo Wardere 

This weeks episode focuses on maternal mental health week. I had the pleasure of speaking with inspirational mum Ayshen Webbe, mother to a new born, CEO/Founder of the Talent Management Company Webbe Industries and co-host to A Woman’s Journey with Chrissy Brown. She strongly believes in creating a safe place for women to share their experiences of Motherhood while normalising topics such as miscarriages, group B strep , infertility and more.Joining us was indeed the lovely Chrissy Brown, a mother of two, HR Generalist with 10 years experience, founder of the Motivational Mums Club and author of ‘Mental Soundness at Work’. With a passion for raising awareness in Mental Health within Mothers & Mums to be, she aims to help Mothers by providing Doula Support and free MH sessions with the some to make difference.We had a wonderful three way chat talking about their experiences of motherhood, mental health and the reasons behind their latest projects and initiatives.You can follow Chrissy on Instagram @motivationalmumsclub and twitter @mmumsclubAyshen can be found on Instagram @ayshenwebbe  

Kemi Akinwunmi aka Professional Aunty talks with me about postnatal care and the needs of mums and birthing people from diverse backgrounds.Kemi is a qualified Midwife, specialist in public health, first aid trainer and best of all a Mother.  On her unique journey of parenting, she  realised the gaps in support she felt parents so  needed. Her service Professional Aunty was born to make the parenthood journey  as smooth as possible by having someone who can do some of the hard work for you. Kemi says: "Our Mission is to Support, Assist and Guide you along your journey, by providing you with products and flexible services made fun!  Professional Aunty allows you to PEAK in your parenting  (Prepared, Equipped with skills you require, Assisted on your journey and given the Knowledge you need).  I want all parents to get off to the best start in their parenting journey! "Contact Professional Aunty:website: www.professionalaunty.co.uk   Instagram: @professionalaunty  email: info@professionalaunty.co.uk 

Welcome to the first episode of series 3! Its been a while and I'm so excited for the new episodes. Keep checking back as I will be dropping new episodes regularly.I had a chat with Leanne Jeffery, an old colleague of mine who worked for may years as a midwifery assistant and now as an infant feeding support worker. Leanne is passionate about educating women and birthing people about breastfeeding, and supporting them, regardless of their backgrounds. Here we talk about how she helped to educate women in the UK Traveller & Gypsy communities, who generally have a much lower than average breastfeeding rate. In many areas, the breastfeeding rate is zero. We also talk about how a trip to the local mosque opened up conversations surrounding breastfeeding and support that many new mothers were unaware existed.

Jeena Wilder is a mother of 4 from Texas, US. She lives with her husband and they have a beautiful blended family of 3 girls and one boy, with one of her daughters being adopted.During this episode we talk about her family, adoption and her most recent birth experienceYou can follow Jeena on Instagram @jeenawilder

Coping with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) Louise shares her story of severe sickness in her pregnancyLouise is a social worker and mother of one from London, England. We connected after she left a comment on one of my Instagram posts about Hyperemesis Gravidarum (severe sickness and vomiting in pregnancy) and was happy to share her story.Hyperemesis is NOT just typical morning sickness and it's emotional and physical devastation cannot be understood by anyone who has not suffered from it.For more advice and support about HG check out the following links:Pregnancy Sickness Support - support organisation in the UK for HG sufferersHG informationStefanies Story 

This weeks episode  I have a special guest talking to me about the very different births of her two children Levi and Remi.  Jodi Stewart Henriques (Also known as Jodi Jinx) is a Jamaican TV presenter & host, costume designer, Youtuber and also worked as an early years teacher. She also has a very musical dancehall star husband Sean Paul. This episode is a short one, mainly due to the fact that Jodi and Sean were mid vacation on a beach and the signal wasn't too great! We recorded this episode whilst Jodi was on holiday with her family, sitting on the beach which is where I really would love to be right now!Follow Jodi:InstagramYoutube

Vicki Broadbent aka Honestmum is the author of Mumboss, filmmaker, TV broadcaster and mum of two.She regularly features as a parenting expert on ITV, BBC and Sky News. Vicki launched her blog www.honestmum.com in 2010 after the traumatic birth of her eldest son.During this episode we talk about how her birth lead her down the path of blogging, how she manages a digital business along side parenting and what the future has to hold for Honestmum! Vicki has recently set up The working mothers academy to help upskill and mobilise mums all over the world.You can follow Vicki for more inspirational content on instagram and twitter @honestmum and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/honestmum/

New mum Lydia talks to me about the induction birth of her baby earlier this year at the start of the national lockdown in the UK. She discusses her experience, the fact that she had high blood pressure leading to an induction of labour and how she coped afterwards.For more pregnancy, birth and baby related info please join me over on Instagram @midwifemarley

Vanessa Christie (MN, MSc, IBCLC, RHV, RNC, CIMI)  is amongst some of the UK’s most well-regarded Lactation and Early Parenting experts. She is also the author of The Baby Feeding Book As a Lactation Consultant, Birth & Post-Natal Trauma Recovery Practitioner, Health Visitor, Children’s Nurse, infant massage instructor and most recently a mindfulness practitioner, she has worked with an estimated 10,000 new families across the globe over the past two decades.In this last episode of the series, we discuss breastfeeding and how mothers can best be supported to get off to a good start.Vanessa can be contacted via her website www.vanessachristie.com or on instagram @vanessa_theparentandbabyclinic

Having a realistic expectation of what to expect when you have a baby can sometimes be difficult when there is so much conflicting information and sometimes not enough at all! Becca Maberly, founder of A Mother Place and author of  Nobody tells you...: 101 truths about pregnancy, birth and parenthood  joins me to discuss these expectations and the realities of motherhood.Follow Becca on instagram @amotherplace or visit her website www.amotherplace.com

I catch up with Kate Doyle @thewellnessmidwife to talk about how complementary therapies such as reflexology can help women during pregnancy and birth.Follow Kate on Instagram @thewellnessmidwife

In this episode, Milli Hill founder of the international Positive Birth Movement joins me to talk about the meaning of positive birth. All women should be able to give birth in their choice of setting with access to concise evidence based information, support and empowerment.We discuss the Positive Birth Movement and what women & care providers can do to help make this happen! We talk birth choices, breaking the mould and human rights.To find out more about the Positive Birth Movement and how they can offer you support, please visit www.positivebirthmovement.org and search Positive Birth movement on socials.You can also follow Milli on Instagram @milli.hill

Will Dooley is an obstetric doctor and founder of www.happyparentshappybaby.com sociable, expert-led antenatal classes in London.In this episode we talk about what to expect with the unexpected; when birth sometimes needs a helping hand through induction of labour, assisted births and C-sections.You can follow Will on instagram @happyparent.happybaby

Dr Lucy Brennan is a Scottish GP and  mother of 3 including 3 month old twins. In this episode we talk about what it's like to be a twin mum (as you may or may not know I have twins too!) We discuss everything from the birth through to what those early days were like. This is a must listen episode for other twin mamas out there.You can follow Dr Lucy on Instagram @drlucybgp