She is not afraid to stand up for normal physiological birth in an age where the right to birth this way is being eroded. vilified and denigrated.
She has been an important role model to me through some tough times in my career, taking time to respond to students and midwives and still fights tirelessly for midwifery and birth at age 67.
Most people are birthing within our maternity system but
I am so happy to share with you this important conversation around birth.
Sheena Byrom is a practising midwife of 40 years, having worked in the NHS for most of that time. Sheena was one of the UK’s first consultant midwives, and as head of midwifery successfully helped to lead the development of three birth centres in East Lancashire. As well as being an international speaker, Sheena provides workshops and consultancy services on respectful maternity care. With her midwife daughter Anna is the proud joint owner of The Practising Midwife journal, and an exciting learning online platform All4Maternity.com
Sheena’s midwifery memoirs, Catching Babies, is a Sunday Times bestseller, and her seminal book, The Roar Behind the Silence: why kindness, compassion and respect matter in maternity care jointly edited with Soo Downe, is being used as a resource to improve maternity care throughout the world. In 2019 Sheena and Soo edited their second book, ‘Squaring the Circle: researching normal childbirth in a technological world’.
Sheena was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to midwifery and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Midwives in 2015. In 2016 and 2018, Sheena received Honorary Doctorates from Bournemouth University and the University of Central Lancashire, and in 2017 she was made a Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University.
Sheena is committed to the humanisation of childbirth, to maximising normal physiological birth processes, and for all women to experience a positive birth.
Check out the links we spoke about:
Low Risk Birth Workshop - online 18th March 2023
Supporting Physiological Birth Choices in Midwifery Practice by Claire Feeley
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