My Calm Birth Collective

06/05/2026

This was posted by my lovely friend and colleague. Every word rings true to me 🤍

Today is International Day of the Midwife and this year’s theme is .

The world is currently short of one million midwives. Investing in midwifery is the single most effective way to save the lives of mothers and newborns and yet the largely female midwifery workforce continues to be undervalued, underfunded, and too often excluded from the decision-making tables that shape their profession.

I’ve been a midwife for over 30 years. And in that time, I’ve learned that midwifery is so much more than a clinical skill set.

Midwives carry extraordinary technical knowledge, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, risk assessment, emergency response. We hold life and death in our hands, often in the middle of the night, often alone, often in circumstances that no protocol could fully prepare you for.

But the skills that make a truly great midwife? They’re the ones that are hardest to teach and impossible to measure.
The ability to read a room. To sense when a woman’s words and her body are telling different stories. To know when to speak and when to simply be present.
Emotional intelligence that runs deep. To hold space for fear, grief, trauma, joy and exhaustion sometimes all in the same hour. To witness the most profound moments of a person’s life and remain steady, warm and fully present.

Resilience that is quietly extraordinary. Midwives go from a bereavement to a birth and back again. They carry other people’s hardest days home with them, and return the next morning and do it all again.

Trust-building under pressure. In moments of vulnerability and uncertainty, women need to feel safe. A midwife’s calm, her presence, her tone of voice, these things are clinical tools as much as any piece of equipment.

This is what we don’t talk about enough when we talk about midwifery.
The emotional labour. The intuition honed over thousands of encounters. The capacity to hold complexity, clinical, relational, ethical simultaneously, without flinching.

To every midwife reading this: what you do is extraordinary. Every part of it.
And to anyone who has been supported by a midwife through one of the biggest moments of their life, today is a good day to remember them💙

05/05/2026

Can you help with this important question?

Thank you for taking part in this survey. We want to understand the experiences of neurodivergent parents who have used maternity services in the UK. This survey is anonymous, so we will not ask for your name or contact details. It should take around 10 to 15 minutes to complete. You can skip any qu...

04/05/2026

They start noticing every small sensation and wondering if it means something.
They pick up their phone, search a few things, and within minutes they feel more unsettled than they did before.
Not because anything is wrong, but because there is no one there to say what is normal or what actually matters.

Sometimes what’s missing isn’t more information, it’s a steady voice at the right moment.
Thats exactly what I offer you, please get in touch if I can help.

14/04/2026

One Born Every Minute

How do you feel about this series?
Is it helpful for pregnant women to watch?
Have you watched it?
I’d love to hear your thoughts 😊

05/04/2026

This is what you get when you work with me!

Ready to chat when you are 07828 315622

01/04/2026

Here’s a great resource for anyone interested in managing pain in labour 😊

Ways of managing your labour. This page looks at the effectiveness, benefits, and possible downsides of both non-medical and drug-based approaches to coping with labour contractions. https://www.aims.org.uk/information/item/managing-your-labour

29/03/2026

Many women leave appointments thinking of questions afterwards.
This is really common.
Appointments can feel rushed, and there's often lots of information to take in all at once.
So here's one simple thing that can help.
Before your next appointment, you might like to write down one or two questions that feel important to you.
For example:
• What are my options here?
• What are the benefits and risks?
• Is there time to think about this?
Having even a small amount of clarity can make a big difference to how confident you feel.
Confidence grows step by step.

22/03/2026

One thing I want to gently say to any first-time pregnant woman reading this is:
It's very normal to feel anxious about pregnancy and labour.
Even women who are excited about meeting their baby often carry quiet worries in the background.
Will I cope?
What if something goes wrong?
What if I panic?
These thoughts are far more common than people often realise.
Much of this anxiety comes from uncertainty.
When things are explained clearly and you understand what is happening in your body, those feelings often begin to soften.
Pregnancy doesn’t have to feel overwhelming.
With right support and understanding, it can feel much steadier.

20/03/2026

Hello, it’s been a little while since I last posted here.

Over the past few years, I’ve continued working closely with women through my private midwifery practice, supporting them through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood in a more personalised way.

During that time, something has become increasingly clear to me.
Many pregnant women are not lacking care — but they are often lacking time, explanation and continuity of support from the NHS.
Appointments can feel brief.
Information can feel overwhelming.
And questions often arise afterwards.

I’ve seen how much calmer and more confident women feel when they have the space to slow things down, ask questions and truly understand what's happening.

So I’ve quietly been developing something alongside my existing work!

My Calm Birth Collective, is a space where I’ll be sharing gentle, evidence-based guidance for pregnant women — along with a new way to access ongoing support throughout pregnancy.
If you are pregnant, or know someone who is, you are very welcome here!

19/03/2026

🚨 Our new report, 'End Coercion in Maternity Care in the UK' is now live 🔗: www.bit.ly/ENDcoercion

Coercion has no place in maternity care.
Yet in 2025, more than 1 in 5 people supported by our advice and information service reported experiences of coercion.

We heard from nearly 300 people who shared their experiences of coercion: whether directly as the pregnant person affected, or those who witnessed coercion from colleagues or others within the system.

Their experiences reveal patterns of behaviour that compromise informed consent, bodily autonomy, and trust in care.

Our findings also show how structural racism and discrimination, alongside widespread coercive practices, inappropriate referrals, and a culture of fear among maternity care professionals, continue to undermine safe, rights-respecting care.

➡️ What needs to change?
Join our live webinar today (5.30–7pm) to explore the key findings, hear from maternity care experts, and be part of this important conversation to drive change: www.bit.ly/BRwebi 📣

11/04/2024

What do you call a bimonthly meeting of acupuncturists? Quick answer is ‘a bloody brilliant way of spending a morning’! These 3 beautiful, strong, sassy women form one of my 3 supervision groups that I facilitate. We meet to have a space in which we can reflect upon our work, explore and enquire about how our working life is impacting on our personal lives and take some time out to look after ourselves. Good coffee courtesy of Heart, also helps!

27/03/2024

More interesting reading from Sara Wickham

If you step on the scales during a medical or midwifery appointment your BMI will be calculated and used as a screening test to determine what care you will be offered.

You have every right to decline.

Plus size women may also be asked to step on the scales again in late pregnancy.

Again, it’s up to you to decide whether or not this is right for you.

Not your midwife, doctor, doula or childbirth educator, and certainly not the RCOG or NICE.

Remember that guidelines ONLY tell health professionals what to offer.

You do not have to follow any guideline or recommendation, or accept anything that isn’t right for you.

For more information, see my website and books.

You’ll find info on plus size pregnancy at https://www.sarawickham.com/plus

And info on your rights and decisions more generally at https://www.sarawickham.com/me