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What compelled you to start your business?

Every week I saw women receiving really poor maternity care + education. They were often rushed in antenatal appointments and didn't feel like they could ask questions. Or given out of date advice and recommendations, particularly when it came to birth options and breastfeeding. I knew that women deserved more on their journey to becoming a mum, and couldn’t understand why there wasn't better support for women at such a pivotal time in their life. 

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Your business ‘why’.

Women deserve really incredible care on their journey to becoming a mum - this time in our lives is one of, if not the biggest transitions we will every go through. Its exciting and beautiful, but can also be overwhelming and stressful. Knowledge truly is power, and I think if we can couple quality antenatal education + midwifery support we could change the lives of mothers and the next generation. 

 

Independent birth education (like we offer in our group and online courses) allows families to feel knowledgeable, prepared and excited about their birth. Some studies even show lower chance of interventions like epidurals and  emergency caesareans.

 

haven’t even started on breastfeeding yet - 96% of mothers in Australia start breastfeeding their babies but then this drops off to 39% at 3 months of age. I believe this drop is due to a lack of support and incorrect advice being given to women (often by well meaning family or other health care providers)  which can derail their journey.

 

Many healthcare providers are not up to date with the latest research, and this is something we are determined to get right. Breastfeeding, while natural, is something that takes time to feel confident in, and women often feel like they have no idea what to do and are worried they’re doing the wrong thing for their baby. Partners also often feel helpless. By having support from a midwife during this time who visits you in home, who is caring, up to date with the current research, creative with their solutions and 100% behind you achieving your goals then I truly believe we can change the game for new mums.

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Why Held Midwifery?

 

As midwives we have the perfect skill set to support families during this time and are able to combine holistic care with medical support as needed. Which is quite unique - for example, at other times in your life you may see a naturopath for diet/lifestyle/supplement support, but you probably still need a GP to order blood tests or prescribe medications. As midwives we can do both!

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The name 'Held Midwifery' was inspired by a beautiful poem by Danielle Sherman-Lazar which is all about holding the new mother, not the baby. A mother is the epicentre of the family, and a baby's whole world. By nourishing and holding the mother, we support her and her family to thrive. 

 

You can read this beautiful poem and the story behind our name change here.  

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My story...
 

Growing up, I was someone with a clear purpose - to become a midwife.. Not a doctor or a nurse, I was 100% focussed on becoming a midwife. I got my degree and started working at my dream hospital. I can’t say that I loved every minute (I swear my body clock just doesn’t cope with those damn early shifts!) but I knew that supporting women through this life changing time was what I wanted to do.

 

During this time (and after some initial resistance) I discovered meditation through my yoga teacher. I found using guided meditations were really powerful during stressful periods, and for helping me to to fall asleep when my mind was wound up. I started to realise that our mind actually has a huge impact over our everyday life.

 

A few years on, I was still enjoying my work, but felt like there was something more out there. I was seeing more and more women in labour who were absolutely terrified of what was ahead of them, and who really didn’t know much about the process of bringing a baby into the world. I soon realised that I was passionate about antenatal education, and started looking into options for additional qualifications.

 

It was then that I discovered Hypnobirthing. I realised that combining information and education with mindset and meditation/hypnosis techniques was a really powerful way of approaching pregnancy, birth and early parenting.  

 

To fast forward a little – I completed my Hypnosis and Hypnobirthing training in Sydney, and created Adelaide Hypnobirthing. I’ve worked with over 750 women and their birth partners, through private sessions or group training. I’ve witnessed and supported these determined women as they have flowed through the journey of pregnancy, labour and birth. I have helped them release negative thoughts, opened up a whole new world of knowledge and information, and have helped them to build confidence in their ability to bring their baby into the world. 

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Three years later I had many women asking me if I provided private midwifery support during pregnancy or after birth. Antenatal education, postnatal care and breastfeeding support are three of my passions, so I took the plunge and decided to become an Endorsed Midwife (aka private midwife!).  Becoming an Endorsed Midwife is a huge process. It involves 5000 hours of clinical practice as a midwife across the continuum of care, completing a postgraduate university course in prescribing, screening and diagnostics for midwives and a whole heap of paperwork.
 

 

I also wanted to expand my counselling/coaching skills as I wanted to bring this to my midwifery care. I decided to enrol in the Beautiful You Coaching Course. I absolutely loved my training and know that these coaching skills are going to offer my clients so much more than just standard maternity care. 

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In 2019 I decided to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in order to support my clients with complex breastfeeding issues. Becoming an IBCLC requires 90 hours of Lactation specific education, 1000 hours of practical work with breastfeeding mothers, and a university health sciences (or in my case midwifery) degree. It’s a huge amount of work, and IBCLC’s are truly the most specialised profession in Lactation support. In September 2020 I sat the international exam to become an IBCLC. I passed and officially became an IBCLC in December 2020!

 

In 2021 I was fully booked for Postnatal Packages and having to turn away mamas in need each week as I just didn't have any capacity. For this reason I decided to expand our midwifery team and brought on board Georgie, Nerissa and Kelly - three incredible midwives who I knew would support our clients in the same way that I do. These midwives are caring, experienced and non-judgemental, exactly the kind of people I wanted as part of Held Midwifery. We are now able to provide holistic, modern postnatal support to the mamas of Adelaide through our Postnatal Packages. 

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Here's the best bit - In 2022 I welcomed my first baby and got to put the hypnobirthing techniques into practice myself. I had an incredible birth which truly was the best day of my life. My labour was quick, free of medical intervention or drugs, and I birthed my big 5kg baby completely naturally (you can read my birth story here!). Hypnobirthing played a huge role in the arrival of our baby boy and achieving the birth that we had dreamt of. This made me even more excited to continue sharing hypnobirthing with families as I now know firsthand the impact it can have. I also had an incredibly positive breastfeeding and postpartum journey which was hugely helped by all the knowledge that I had going into it, but also from having private postnatal midwifery support. 

 

 

We would absolutely love to support you on your journey. If you are ready to take the next step – to learn, relax, be supported, and to feel confident about your baby’s birth – check out our services or get in touch. 

 

Hannah