Specialty: My speciality is in the preparation towards becoming a family and what that might mean to each individual person.

I grew up listening to my mum talking about her different birth experiences and how she was made to feel by each one. I was her second to youngest of seven children and I enjoyed hearing about the difference that each birth had not only on my mum, but on my dad and the rest of the family too. The impact of hospital birth on a very young girl who was alone and afraid and who was expected to follow rules and processes compared to the relaxed births when the midwife was called to the house by my dad because the baby was on the way. The magic and excitement of a new baby being welcomed into the home.

I grew up in Scotland was educated in many countries and came to South Africa at the end of my school career. I studied nursing at the BGA in Hillbrow and worked at the Jo’burg Gen in those days. I returned to the UK to study Midwifery and to go on to add a BSc in Midwifery at the University of Abertay in Scotland and to become a lactation consultant with the NCT.

For decades women have fought for the right to wear their own clothes in labour, to be mobile during labour, to be upright to give birth, to be supported by their partners in squatting positions to birth their babies, to eat during labour in order to have the energy to see labour through to the end. To be the first to hold their healthy infant, to put the child directly to their breast, to enjoy the sensation of their newborn baby left in their arms and against their bodies for as long as is convenient to themselves.
For as long as I have worked as a midwife women and midwives have fought together to have childbirth recognised as the physiological process that it is and not as a disease that needs to be controlled medically.

I see pregnancy as a time of preparation and education for the whole family. Each member will be changed by the arrival of a new member, and with guidance this can take place with the least disturbance and an ease of passage. Childbirth affects women not only physically, but emotionally, mentally and spiritually too and when we can recognise the enormity of child birth and the wonder of it all, I believe that is how we make powerful families that make a positive mark on the world.
It is my pleasure therefore to not only guide couples towards pregnancy, but to educate them and prepare them for childbirth through pregnancy and to continue caring for the family as a breastfeeding consultant to ensure that they have all the knowledge and support needed to understand the behaviour of the newborn in the first week of life. It is my belief that if you can breastfeed your baby for a week, you can breastfeed for as long as you like as you will meet all your challenges in that first week. I haven’t mentioned the role of the dad in this discussion, but I do go through it on my Podcast which is called Two doulas and a midwife.

For the quickest response from me I suggest WhatsApp on 082 853 3445. I offer a free consultation for a meet and greet and to discuss particular needs, ideas and expectations.

LET’S GET IN TOUCH:

• tel:+27828533445
• sharonmarsay@gmail.com