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Help women to feel more empowered and positive about birth

To be involved with something that would help women to feel more empowered and positive about birth

Sally – volunteer for the Leeds Maternity Voices Partnership

I’m Sally and I’m a mother to two beautiful girls, Lois who is three and Lori who is just over three months now. I found out about the Leeds Maternity Voices Partnership (MVP) through seeing a post being shared on Facebook and I knew instantly I had to be involved! It was something I had been searching for but didn’t know existed.

After the birth of my second daughter I wanted to be involved with something that would help women to feel more empowered and positive about birth. I had this overwhelming sense of pride for what my body could do after birthing my children, and I wanted to help others to feel like they could do it without any fear. After all we are built to do this! After my 20 week scan on my second pregnancy, I was told I was having a ‘big’ baby so was booked in for growth scans every three weeks. I seemed to hear the words ‘big’ baby every time I went to a hospital appointment but not really much else. I asked what this meant and at the time I really wish I hadn’t. All I was given was negative outcomes to having this ‘big’ baby. Words like ‘getting stuck’, ‘complications during labour’, ‘tearing’ and I didn’t really hear anything that was positive. So that was it, fear set in and with a bit of my own “Dr Google” I really became quite scared. I didn’t feel I had any support and I even started to look in to how I could stop my baby growing! (Which you can’t by the way, they are the size they are) This was crazy as we want a healthy baby and that’s all.

Anyway a long story short I was induced at 39 weeks and my labour started instantly, after three hours later I was holding my beautiful baby girl. I had a wonderful and straightforward birth with no complications, or any need for any sort of pain relief or intervention, I did it, I birthed my baby all 10lb 4oz of her all on my own. My midwives and my husband were amazing during my labour, and didn’t doubt for one second that I wouldn’t be able to do it. This support got me through those hours and I will always be grateful for that.

Birth is amazing whatever way you do it and the main thing is that you CAN do it.

I’m just a mum who wants to help other mums find their superpowers.