Biography

In 1995, I completed a Master's degree in counselling and for ten years had the privilege of working with children and their families in both in-home family therapy and school counselling. As often is the case, our lives unfold and prepare us for our next steps, and it was during that time I received a copy of Frederick Leboyer's book 'Birth Without Violence'. I was stuck by his wisdom which acknowledged what mothers have known all along; that babies are born as complete human beings with an ability to express a full range of emotions. I was moved by how Leboyer was able to illustrate how we can create an environment of tranquillity in which to welcome our children: a relaxed mother, gentle lighting, soothing atmosphere, and a warm bath that mirrors the child's prenatal surroundings.

Therefore, it was no great surprise that I soon began to research how I could support children from the beginning of their lives and I found myself enrolling in a doula training course. In 2006, I began attending births with women and their partners as a professionally trained birth support person. From that moment, I was struck by the importance of helping couples prepare for birth so that they could look forward to this amazing life event. That same year, I was fortunate to find myself in the rooms of Peter Jackson as a participant in his Calmbirth course with a dear friend of mine when she was pregnant with her son. The transformation that occurred for both of us in how we viewed birth and the amazing capacity women have to birth their children, ignited a spark in me to want to also empower women and their birth partners to approach birth with the same calm confidence and joy.

I attended the second Calmbirth Educator training course that was run by Peter Jackson in August 2006, and I have been teaching the Calmbirth program for the past twelve years. In this time, I have also been blessed by the amazing births of my own two children which have only reinforced the beauty of the Calmbirth program. I am still overcome with sheer delight by the transformations that I have witnessed in mothers and their birth partners, as they come to a deeper understanding of how they are able to birth their babies in a calmer, more gentle way. I absolutely love what I teach and I look forward to sharing the Calmbirth program with families so that they can have the same confidence to birth their babies without fear using their own natural resources.