"What is the greatest lesson a woman should learn?"
That since day one
she's already had everything she needs within herself.
it's the world that convinced her she did not.
Rupi Kaur
My Story
How did I get here now, doing what I do?
Originally from Edinburgh, I spent my 20s mostly travelling, living abroad, and making the kind of mistakes that it usually takes to get a pretty decent understanding of yourself.
I lived in communities around the world and experienced a range of healing modalities, from Panchakarma in India to Cacao on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Honestly - I thought I had it all figured out and came home in 2018 with my bag emptied of clothes to make space for a pretty cool swing chair and 10kg of Ceremonial Cacao, thinking I was off to heal the world (well Edinburgh at least).
But that didn't happen (shocker). I landed home with a bump, and the realities of life back in Scotland sent me into a bit of a tailspin.
I took myself off on a Vipassana meditation retreat, and it was there, digging into the confronting pain of stillness and complete silence for ten days, that my path became clear. I retrained as a massage therapist, knowing that this was the first step of many that were to come on this journey.
I met my now partner shortly after and settled in Glasgow. It was then in the insane year of 2020 - we found out we were pregnant. Navigating pregnancy and birth through a pandemic was INSANITY. I thought I handled it well - learning what I thought was important, but support was minimal, I didn't have a doula, and eventually, a cascade of interventions led to a really difficult and traumatic birth experience.
In all honesty, the birth of my daughter set fire to my foundations and split me apart. I tried to make sense of it all, but it took serious months and months of therapy, unravelling, deep soul searching, complete (Un)learning, and ceremony to get where I am now.
I can take everything from that day and the weeks that followed and use it now as pure fertiliser - giving so much energy to everything I do.
So, in essence, who am I? I am a woman, a mother, a daughter, a partner, a massage therapist, a birth worker...
...and I am here to shake things up a little
Why WithWomban?
Originally deriving from Old English, the term MidWife come from mid 'with' and wif 'woman' - With Woman.
WithWomban encompasses everything I am and everything I have to offer. From Fertility and Womb massage to Pregnancy, from birth support to postpartum care.
In a time where we rarely see the same medical professional or midwife twice and have no idea who could be supporting us at our birth, this is a whole other level of continuity of care. It is something our women desperately need.
Supporting women through menstrual health, fertility journeys and the birthing year is what lights me up completely and I am here to support you through any or all stages of your journey.
My vision is a world where women feel connected, empowered and liberated.
"Peace on earth begins with birth."
Jeannine Parvati Baker
"Defined by no man, you are your own story,
blazing through the world, turning history into herstory.
And when they dare to tell you about
all the things you cannot be,
you smile and tell them:
"I am both war and woman and you cannot stop me."
Nikita Gill