April Marsh has dedicated her career to redefine how women experience pregnancy, birth and early motherhood. With a background as a Doula birth, breastfeeding leader and now midwife, it combines professional experience with a personal image to provide truly personalized care. Based on more than eight years in the maternity system, along with its own varied birth experiences, April is passionate about helping women navigate a frequent system of one size, providing support that honors their intuition, history and unique needs. Here he talks to the natural parent magazine for the inspiration back RayThe challenges she continues to face both her hopes and dreams for the future.
Passion: What inspired you to adjust your business?
I started as the leader of the Birth Support Team and Breastfeeding, so I was always passionate about the holistic side of motherhood and passionate about women who have good birth and breastfeeding experiences. Now having eight years of experience in the maternity system (including my time as a student midwife), I can see where the gaps in standardized care are and I want to offer a place where women can access more personalized care and support that are custom -made to their needs.
The launch: How did you start at first?
I was a doula birth for five years. I worked with individual families and supported them on their travels and I was able to find out and experience how wild and unique the experience of everyone is.
Innovation: What was the biggest discovery for you with your business?
Taking the huge step to enter full -time training and training as a midwife as a parent at the age of 37 was a huge axis for me. I never imagined it would be something I could do. The “medical side of things” is far from my comfort zone. However, I graduated with a first -class degree and received a prize for my academic dissertation on the evidence of induction for pregnancies after dates. Having first hand experience in providing obstetric care in the system it gave me an invaluable picture of what women are experiencing-and the passion to help women browse their care in an industrial system of a size that fits all that do not see women as unique people.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
I have an incredible husband who supports me and takes an active role in our young child’s parental care, as well as my two older teenagers.
I work 22.5 hours a week in the maternity hospital care system while using the rest of my time for development Ray Birth Support Services.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Working on a system with defined instructions and parameters is a challenge. The maternity system is designed to treat entire population groups rather than individuals. Currently, many of our political and guidelines are based on research on “failures in motherhood care” and not on powerful clinical elements. This results in the growing number of women who become “high risk” during their pregnancy or within their work. Although the goal is to maintain mothers and babies naturally safe, more and more women are emerging from their trauma experiences and need further research on the long -term effects on the physical and mental health of mothers and babies facing a high rate of birth intervention.
In my clinical practice, I work hard to ensure that women understand their choices, but as I rely on an acute care environment, I do not have the opportunity to build relationships and relationships with families, and I can only do my best to provide the best care in which conditions are in which they are.
In my private practice, I have the space and time to really get to know the women I work with. Knowing the individual stories, experiences and values goes a long way in providing the support and information they need to browse the birth that is appropriate for them.
When I had my first two kids, I wasn’t a midwife. I was young and I sorted as “low risk”. I had two very simple birth experiences both in the hospital and at home. In my most recent pregnancy, I worked full -time as a midwife within the system. I was over 40 years old and was no longer a “low risk”. The standard care of care included several interventions that I didn’t feel would support me. With my knowledge, I was able to clean the care of the pregnancy that was suitable for me, except for standard instructions and recommendations. I was involved with more fear, anxiety and anxiety in this pregnancy because of what I was exposed on a daily basis, but I used this as an opportunity to cultivate trust in myself, my body and my intuition. This experience supported me to help other women do the same.
One of the biggest challenges for me is the polarization of the world of birth. There is an increasing movement of women who are removed from systematic care of maternity, including registered/licensed Mids and anyone with all kinds of medical training, and choosing to give birth to anyone to handle “to” overflow “and give birth to it. Experiences.
