About Birth-ed
We are taught our whole lives to fear our birth, to think of our bodies as dangerous & incompetent, to devalue & ignore our instincts and to hand over care of our health to someone else.
We aren’t taught how clever our bodies are (hello, you just managed to grow an entire human!). Frankly, we’ve often spent a lifetime not even liking these bodies of ours. We aren’t shown how to trust ourselves, to tune into our instincts, to connect with our bodies and listen to what they’re telling us, what they’re asking for, what they need from us.
But when we do, WOW, we are a force to be reckoned with.
It takes some serious unpicking to find ourselves again.
To put our needs first and to realise that actually, we are a pretty important person in this baby growing/birthing/parenting thing.
And it’s often really hard to work that all out on your own.
Which is why I’m so glad we’ve found each other… because this is my speciality!
I’ll make you feel totally at home.
Cup of tea essential (Yorkshire Brew for me please, milk, no sugar). Slippers on. (Laundry drying in the corner, if it’s anything like my house!). Hugs on entry, tears welcome, giggling at every mention of poo (mums and babies) likely. Welcome to the Birth-ed family guys!
We chat.
Like old friends (where one of the friends has worked for a decade supporting birth or in the maternity system). I promise you, there isn’t a fear, concern or dilemma you’re facing that I haven’t supported someone through before. Only with me, you won’t be bombarded with medical language, hard to understand statistics & rigid guidelines- I’m really good at explaining this stuff, in a way that makes it make sense.
It’s all about you!
There’s so much noise in the world of birth & parenting (if you haven’t found it yet, watch out, it’s coming!). Everyone has an opinion on what you should be doing, but the only opinion I have any interest in, is yours. Together we can work out what feels right for you and what you can do to make it happen. I’ve never been someone who likes being told what to do (a trait passed down to both my children!), and I imagine you probably don’t either. So my approach to birth & parenting prep is less about what you SHOULD do, and more about what you COULD do- the rest, is up to you.
So who are you having tea with? With me of course! Megan, founder of birth-ed, wrangler of toddlers, over-user of exclamation marks!!! The professional bit, if you’re interested.. Cert. HE (Midwifery), Dip. Hypnobirthing, former Chair of Kingston MVP & a decade of supporting 1000s of families both in & outside of the maternity system.
The personal bit.. As really, us ‘clicking’ is the most important next step… My favourite mug has boobs on it (think more ‘artistic’, less ‘stag do’), it’s never far from my hand, I basically require tea to function.. Especially pre 7am (hello motherhood!) No matter how many times the instagram gurus tell me it will revolutionise my life, I will not be convinced to get up before the kids at 5am for anything other than an exotic holiday.
I’ve never been one to follow the grain..
Education, career, parenting, life.. I’ve always carved my own path, which has paved the way pretty well to supporting you guys to do the same.
I really pride myself on being able to engage in the often polarising conversations around birth and parenting, in a way that makes everyone feel validated, seen and respected. And I hope you feel that reflected in everything I share on the course.
I’m a podcast ADDICT (So much so that I’ve been running my own since 2019). Talking and laying down with my eyes closed.. Podcasts basically combine my 2 favourite hobbies.
Gilmore Girls is my happy place.. I actually watched it in labour! My dream life involves living in Stars Hollow.
So how did all that lead to the Birth-ed Method?
My journey into the world of birth, babies & early parenting actually started long before I had children of my own, back in 2014 when I started my midwifery training.
A few years later and our incredible (surprise) baby boy gave me my first taste of motherhood from the inside! My world was rocked by this pregnancy and the years that followed, (as I’m sure many of yours were too), facing hyperemesis, miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy (and let’s throw parenting through covid in too for a laugh), before we eventually welcomed our long awaited second baby, born in a pool in my lounge, mid lock-down in 2021.
Amidst that mayhem, came the creation of birth-ed in 2017. What started with me teaching hypnobirthing on the sofas of local parents-to-be in the evening, quickly became my full time job, the birth-ed online course was launched and 1000s of families lives’ were transformed by this approach to birth prep.
In the 10 years since I started this work, the shape of the maternity system has changed rapidly.
Intervention rates have skyrocketed, staffing is in crisis, birth trauma is increasing, care provision is a skeleton of what it used to be and I just knew, the birth-ed course had to change to reflect the world in which you guys are about to give birth within.
I’ve tried my hardest over the years to shift things from the inside; my working with the NHS led to my involvement with some really important projects, such as The Ockenden Review, CQC inspections and local & national maternity improvement projects, but nothing ever matched the impact I was having when supporting families directly.
Never have we more vastly underestimated what giving birth involves and vastly over estimated what the maternity system can provide.
And so was born the Birth-ed Method.
Not Hypnobirthing, Not Antenatal Classes, Not a Parenting Course... A thorough, holistic, nuanced and empowering preparation for birthing & parenting your babies.
It’s my insight into working within the system itself, and the freedom of not being answerable to it, that makes birth-ed so one-of-a-kind!
Birth & babies work the same way they’ve always done, but the world in which we’re trying to do it looks very different to how it looked 10/20/50 years ago and so, I’ve covered everything you need to know and do to have an empowering and satisfying birth experience, in the 21st Century.
So if you’ve got that niggling feeling that something’s missing from your antenatal care
You KNOW you want a birth experience that’s more than just ‘fine’.. You’re desperate to parent on your terms and shake off the expectations and opinions of everyone else.. Then allow me to take you warmly by the hand, and show you exactly how to make that happen.