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Daisy's Story

I became pregnant after our fourth round of IVF. I initially became pregnant with twins but sadly miscarried one at 8 weeks. I had also previously suffered from a missed miscarriage during an earlier IVF attempt so being pregnant was a very nerve wracking time for me and I suffered very badly with anxiety. We met Erika when I was about 9 weeks pregnant and it was so brilliant to have someone at the end of the phone to text if I had concerns and we met regularly for check ups to put my mind at rest. I had always thought that independent midwives were for people who wanted to have their babies at home or under the nearest oak tree. But for me the most valuable thing was the support in these early weeks. There is no way I would have received such care and attention in the NHS in early pregnancy.


Erika was also invaluable in acting as a coordinator between all the different agencies. There are so many different teams and clinics and these experts don’t always talk to each other, blood tests get lost and people forget to follow up with results – all of these things happened and would have been unbelievably stressful but Erika acted as a go-between and chased everything and explained results to me so that I could just get on with being pregnant. I was so impressed with the way that Erika worked with Salisbury District Hospital. It was like she knew everyone and could use their rooms so that I could have appointments there and at home. She came to every appointment with me and there was a seemless link between her and the hospital that gave me real confidence.
When I reached 34 weeks pregnant we started talking about my options for birth. I remember sitting at my kitchen table writing out the pros and cons of natural/induced/c section births. I had about 6 million questions which she answered and I felt in control and empowered but under no pressure to decide right away. When the time came to make a decision I had about an hour long chat with Erika on a Sunday afternoon. This is where having an expert who knew both me and my husband really well was so important. The decision was ours alone, but she knew what our wishes were and what our concerns would be. Knowing you have an advocate who is an amazing midwife, knows the hospital and the procedures and also completely understands you as a couple is invaluable. It meant that we could just be excited together without feeling like we had to tell lots of different people what our wishes were or fight to get what we wanted.

"Knowing you have an advocate who is an amazing midwife, knows the hospital and procedures and completely understands you as a couple is invaluable".

In the end I had a planned C section which was absolutely the right choice for me and Erika was by our side throughout. She went to such lengths to ensure that we had the most positive experience of the birth and we did. It was simply the best moment in our lives. After our baby was born Erika’s care continued. She immediately diagnosed a tongue tie and we had it sorted out when our baby was 4 days old. She helped me with breastfeeding and 4 months later I am still breastfeeding and plan to continue for as long as possible. Her post natal visits were invaluable too, helping us to feel confident in what we were doing. When I was readmitted to hospital again with an infection a week after our baby was born she helped ensure that there was a midwife that we knew ready to meet us and helped explain what was happening. I don’t know what we would have done without her during this very stressful time.
An independent midwife does so much more than deliver the baby – Erika acted as my counsellor, hospital coordinator, nutritionist, diabetes specialist, mental health practitioner, midwife and friend. She listened to me and supported me and gave me the confidence to make the best choices for me.
It was Erika’s mission to get me to enjoy my time being pregnant but actually she did much more than that she got me to trust my body again. As a result of her constant care and reassurance I was able to enjoy my pregnancy. I am so grateful that thanks to her help I was able to enjoy such a special time being pregnant and I feel had the best support when my baby was born.


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