Coming soon, Nativity at Union 105 Creative Space in Chapeltown, Leeds

Nativity, an interdisciplinary birthing hub, has been commissioned by Union 105 starting in September 2015 and running until easter 2016. For details see Nativity

Planned activities so far:

Antenatal and postnatal weekly drop in sessions facilitated by myself for local women with a focus on peer support and information sharing. All welcome!

Home Birth: photographic and personal histories project exploring homes within the area where women have given birth at any point of time.

Rainbow Hearts collaboration: women’s arts group for asylum seekers and refugees working with artists Liz Sterling and Laura Robinson.

Birth Stories: intergenerational gathering of memories of birth from local women, with artefacts they may have kept.

Art of birth: Collaborative working between local women, birthworkers and artists to challenge negative representations of women’s reproductive bodies and reappropriate experiences of maternity.

Anyone with an interest in birthing and art (or birthing related art or art of birthing, or creativity and midwifery, or any interesting combinations, as you like) is welcome to get in touch. I’m collecting ideas, expressions of interest, names of artists, writers, creatives in any discipline and interested birthworkers with a need for a space, a platform or others to engage with. Nativity will create a hub for exchange of ideas, information, inspiration and creative practice of whatever persuasion. Including, of course, birthing itself!! xx

Having spent the last three years retraining to be a midwife, I accepted a position with the Yorkshire Storks Midwifery Practice in July. Since then I’ve been shadowing the other members of the collective but as of 15th October I am not only qualified, but registered with the NMC and insured with IMUK! Having jumped all those hoops I can declare myself an Independent Midwife.

I love the collaborative approach independent midwifery facilitates, and being able to offer truly individualised continuity of care. I’m thoroughly enjoying this new career, and it’s taking up quite a lot of time so the photography and art are taking a bit of a back seat for the moment.

I spent today exploring using the arts in health with some very interesting arts practitioners at Delius Arts in Bradford. Have some exciting ideas about how to tie my two careers together. Now, funding…

Yesterday was the final day of my Midwifery Degree, and today I came home to find this outside my door. It seemed very apt

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It’s getting there!! I’m steadily adding content and tweaking pages. Lots more still to come…

Hello there!

Please bear with me as I find my way around my new website… I’ll be transporting content across from my old website and adding new as I go along!

I may be some time…