Getting To Know Calmbirth Educator Lauren Downie

Educators

Lauren Downie is a GP Obstetrician working in Gippsland, currently based out of Warragul  and is a Calmbirth Educator. She has been working as a doctor in Women’s Health for 10 years, across many different settings, including in General Practice, regional and rural hospitals and large, tertiary hospitals. Lauren is passionate about providing informed, holistic, individual-centred care to each person she looks after during their pregnancy and birthing journey; and she loves being able to then look after her patients postnatally and as they enter into parenting and beyond. She says, "When pregnant with my own child, I attended a Calmbirth class, and I was so impressed and comforted by the amount of knowledge and practical, non-biased information that I, and my partner, received. I could see my partner’s confidence in attending a birth room was boosted and I could feel my own mindset become more confident and positive. "Since then, I have always recommended the Calmbirth course to expecting couples, but noticed that there was a gap in availability in Gippsland – which is what spurred me on to become qualified. I am so excited about being able to impart this gentle confidence and calm to couples who are expecting; I want to be able to make a difference to the way couples approach birth and how they feel afterwards, as they welcome their baby to the world, regardless of the path their birth takes. "I am passionate about providing care to all expecting couples, as I recognise that families are all different – LGBTQI+ families are very welcome".