Today, birth exists in the space between medical advances that save lives and obstetric practices that ignore the natural needs of mothers and babies. Becoming a mother myself invited me to reflect on what we’ve gained and what we may have lost in a medicalised birth culture.

Birth is a natural and intelligent process that unfolds best when women feel safe and undisturbed. Yet birth doesn’t always follow one path. Whether it unfolds through physiology, intervention, or caesarean, what matters most is that you feel safe and empowered in the process.

What I find most troubling about modern maternity care is how often it separates women from the natural intelligence of their own bodies. Many enter labour expecting a straightforward birth, but quickly encounter a cascade of interventions presented as standard care. In a system driven by efficiency and risk management, true informed choice can become obscured. Genuine choice means being given clear information, time to decide, and the emotional safety to make decisions that truly belong to you.

My philosophy recognises that birth is an enormous event in human development for the baby and for the mother. The hormonal and emotional environment surrounding birth leaves a lasting imprint on how we bond, heal, and experience safety in the world. When the mother is nurtured and supported, her body and mind work together to create the most protective beginning for her baby.

I also believe that nurturing the mother is not an afterthought but a crucial part of care. When women are given time, food, warmth, and understanding, they replenish what pregnancy and birth required of them and meet their babies from a place of presence. Postpartum is not separate from birth but its natural continuation, the next chapter in the same story of transformation, deserving of the same reverence, continuity, and care.