Hi Beth, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us. We love what you do and are forever inspired by the content you share. Can you tell us a little about you and your work?
Of course! I’m Beth, I'm midwife and I live in Melbourne with my husband and 1 year old daughter, Poppy. My business Birth With Beth offers face-to-face and digital childbirth education courses to help people prepare for birth and feel excited about what's ahead. My most popular course PowerBirth has been enjoyed by hundreds of couples preparing to meet their baby and it is a privilege to work with people during such a transformative time of life.
What made you want to become a midwife and what was this journey like for you?
When I was at uni studying an undergrad Arts/Media degree I took a global health elective and that was the first time I was exposed to the role of the midwife. I fell in love with the work midwives do in terms of advocating for women and improving health outcomes and once I finished that degree I moved straight into a BA of Midwifery. It has been an overwhelmingly positive experience to study midwifery and work as a midwife, I love working so closely with women.
You’ve built such an amazing brand and a beautiful community on Instagram. Can you tell us a little about the process of starting your Instagram and what inspired this?
In 2020 the world changed rapidly and so too did the landscape of maternity care. Women were suddenly receiving the majority of their pregnancy care over the phone and if they were presenting for face to face care, it was often without the support of their partner and family due to strict visitor policies. This prompted me to start sharing information and support online that was possibly being missed. I did regular Q&A’s and posts in the hope it helped ease some of the anxiety and unknown. I was also running 1:1 childbirth education classes on Zoom, but I rapidly grew a waitlist that I couldn’t keep up with, which prompted me to create and launch PowerBirth Online, a pre-recorded self paced course that people can purchase anytime, anywhere.
My services have since evolved to include PowerBirth Online as well as a face-to-face birth course for people living in Melbourne, an online Induction of Labour course ‘Positive Induction’ and a podcast ‘Growing’, which is out every Monday and Wednesday.
What are some of the most common questions you get asked as a midwife, particularly from mums-to-be?
Why won’t my baby sleep?! Haha. This has to be the number one concern on all new parents' minds. And while i’m not a sleep consultant, I can provide lots of reassurance that newborns are nocturnal for good reason and it settles down, eventually. The second one is, how can I prepare for labour & birth? I’m so passionate about building people’s confidence in their bodies ability to birth and I love being able to send them in the direction of PowerBirth knowing they’ll come away feeling super prepared.
What are some of the easiest and most effective ways that expectant mums can prepare for a positive birth?
Tune out the noise! Hollywood’s depiction of birth is as terrifying as it is unrealistic. Turn it off, it’s not the time for you to watch it, even if you enjoy the drama. Invest some time, and if you can, money, into birth education and do it with your partner or whoever will be supporting you in birth. I always say fear and doubt are contagious in the birth space, so ensuring that whoever is on your birth team trusts you, trusts your body and is there to back you with confidence on the big day is crucial. Learn about your birth hormones, especially ‘oxytocin’. And remember that your body has gone about building your baby from scratch, it just knows what to do… the same goes for birth! Trust the process and trust that you and your baby are a very capable team.
You’re also a mother to your beautiful baby girl Poppy. Can you share any words of advice or tips that you’ve learnt since becoming a mum?
Oh goodness, what a steep learning curve motherhood has been. The biggest thing I’ve learnt is that there are no ‘easy’ stages. Every single age comes with unique joys and challenges and time softens the edge of even the hardest phases. Everything is a season and within each one, there are moments of pure bliss that will make your heart want to burst. Hold onto these and know that the hard patches pass x
GET IN TOUCH WITH BETH:
instagram | @birthwithbeth_
website | birthwithbeth.com.au
