“What I was completely unprepared for was the support and strength we received from Israh. Her gentle steadiness, sympathetic understanding and what I can only describe as love carried us through the hardest hours of my life. There was never a moment when the focus of her support wavered. I don’t know how I would have coped without her.”
Birth is one of our greatest cross-cultural bridges. No matter where or who you are, we all have an experience of birth. It reminds us of our exquisite power and profound vulnerability, asking us to connect with ourselves in a manner we may have never touched upon before. The way we support women to become mothers has a profound influence on that family's development, and knock-on impacts for society as a whole.
I have been a practising midwife for 10 years and I am currently working in Bristol. I have previously worked with the Association of Radical Midwives, trained with global birth advocates and supported local birth groups, and I have been privileged to work in Ethiopia with the Afar. Midwifery has been pivotal in my life and continues to inform my practices both in hospital and in wilderness environments. I am also a mother, and the power and importance of birth work has only been deepened by my own transition into motherhood.
I offer a range of practical and emotional preparation for women and their partners as they journey one of life’s most powerful and fundamental transitions.
BIRTH PREPARATION
Birth preparation sessions can be delivered to mothers 1-1 or with partners. The sessions can cover all aspects of birth preparation including:
Health and care of mother and baby through pregnancy
Birth choices
Anatomy and physiology of birth
Breathing techniques and positions for a more easeful birth
Practical and logistical preparations for birth
Planning for the post-natal period and the fourth trimester
Feeding support
Emotional preparation for parenthood and becoming a family
Birth preparation sessions cost £50 / hour and can be delivered online via zoom or in the comfort of your own home.
MOTHER BLESSING CIRCLES
A Mother Blessing Circle offers a unique way of acknowledging the transition into becoming a family and bringing new life into the world. Modern culture focusses on birth as a medical event. Through approaching birth as a rite of passage, we honour and acknowledge all that you are letting go of, as well as celebrating all that you are welcoming in, as you cross this most powerful threshold.
I will work with you to hear your dreams and prayers for your birth, and your family, and co-create a bespoke ceremony to mark the transition in a way that brings meaning and depth to you and your loved ones.
The cost to co-create and deliver a Mother Blessing Circle is £150 plus material costs.
Israh lead a beautiful rites of passage ceremony for us shortly before the birth of our son. From our initial meeting with her through to the ceremony itself she guided us on a journey to the threshold of parenthood. Her ability to guide, witness and hold such a sacred space made this a truly beautiful experience. We felt so calm and held by our community as a result and truly ready for the arrival of our son. - Bjorn and Zoe 2021
Africa
East
“My dream is that every woman, everywhere, will know the joy of a truly safe, comfortable and satisfying birthing for herself and her baby.”
“A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don’t function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick.”