Kay Hardie, RN, RM (Dip)

I'm Kay and this is me with one the lovely babies I have had the pleasure of 'catching' recently. I live in Ashford, Kent with my husband and two children. We share our home with three cats and a rabbit. I've been a midwife since 1996. I started my midwifery training soon after my son was born - I looked forward to seeing my own midwife during pregnancy and that spurred me on to train myself. I worked for the NHS in the local hospitals and then as a community midwife for almost two years.

I loved working as a community midwife but became increasingly frustrated because I wasn't able to give complete continuity to each woman I knew.

Becoming an independent midwife has enabled me to practice in a way I always felt inside was right. Knowing and trusting your midwife during pregnancy is of paramount importance and research has shown that as well as a woman being happier and more relaxed, there is a strong positive effect on the outcome of labour and birth.

This is reconfirmed each time I see the wonders of birth unfold before me and I feel honoured and privileged to be part of such a special event .

Virginia Howes, RN,RM,BSc(HONS)

This is me, although my hair changes from time to time.

I live in Ashford Kent with my Partner, 2 daughters and ours 3 dogs. When I'm not working I love going on holidays and having family trips to theme parks. I enjoy reading and movies. I also adore dancing. I love my job and feel passionate about the rights of women to have a good childbirth experience.

Becoming a Midwife was a dream come true.

I was young when I had my own babies but even then I had a great interest in childbirth and always wanted to know more than what was available in the books and magazines written for pregnant women. As the years past I always thought it was too late for me to go down that long path of education that would lead to achieving my dream of becoming a midwife.

Once I had made the decision that I was going to do it there was no stopping me. It was hard work juggling family and work but I really enjoyed all the education that went with obtaining my midwifery degree. I was really lucky that the very first midwife I learnt from carried her own case load. This meant that she cared for the women all through pregnancy, the birth and afterwards. I was able to see how wonderful, even when tiring, getting to know the families you are working with can be.

I worked with different patterns of care after that and often only met women for the first time when they were in labour. I hope all of those women found me caring and supportive. Yet after knowing how it COULD be, I always felt that the women did not know how, just a little bit extra, could make it so much better.

I once met a woman in the postnatal ward who I had looked after when she had her first baby in the caseload system. She had now had her second baby under a different pattern of care and had not known the midwife who had been at the birth. I remembered that the first labour had been long, painful and tiring for her. The second baby that she had now just birthed had been a very quick and according to her an easy labour. Yet her words were “It was not the same without you and Paula”. This re-enforced my belief that the whole pregnancy and childbirth experience is enhanced if women have continuity of carer. From then on I knew that I would not be truly happy until I could work in a system where if I was going to be part of this amazing event in people’s lives then I want to know them and have them know and trust me.

And so I decided to become an independent midwife.

Nanette

My name is Nanette; I live in Rainham, in North Kent with my husband and three children. My hobbies include working out at the gym, family bike rides and the cinema.

I wanted to become a midwife after the birth of my first child over ten years ago. During that time I received a “domino system” of care, which meant I would get to know a small group of NHS midwives, the idea being that one of them would be my midwife at the birth. There was one particular midwife I clicked with, I trusted her and she gave me complete confidence to birth the way I had hoped.

We built up a rapport and she knew how important it was for me to birth naturally. On the day I was relieved to see her, as there was no guarantee who it would be! The level of care I received inspired me to become a midwife. Unfortunately, such continuity of care is now rare. I went on to have two more children, both home water births.
I felt passionate about empowering women to make informed choices and wanted to support women in having a positive birth experience.

During my 3 year Diploma in Midwifery studies at the University of Greenwich, I quickly realised that the only way I would be able to do this was by becoming an independent midwife.

Over the last three years, I have had the fantastic opportunity of working & learning with Virginia and Kay. This has given me the chance to increase my knowledge, and given me the privilege of witnessing many homebirths. The Kent Independent midwifery practice enables me to support women in making informed choices and to assist them in having a positive birth. I believe childbirth is an amazing experience and I have felt honoured to be present at each birth.

I also have a keen interest in Hypnobirthing, and have completed an introduction course, with a view to becoming fully qualified in Hypnobirthing by the end of 2007.