Informed Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

Sally is a Birth & Postnatal Doula, Sling Consultant, Lactation Supporter & trainee Hypnobirthing Instructor, who also co-facilitates the F&G group.
I am passionate about supporting women & other birthing people during this transformational period of their lives! Caring & nurturing them to step into their own power, to prepare for & experience positive birthing, postnatal & parenting journeys. Being part of the Informed Pregnancy Birth and Beyond team, gives me a greater capacity to reach more expectant & new parents, as together we strive for an inclusive, informed, better birthing world for all.

Elizabeth is the facilitator for the Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond Community Group based in Fareham and Gosport.
I found my local positive birth group really helpful personally when I was planning my second birth and I value the opportunity to provide that for other mums. I’ve always had an interest in human rights especially the rights of vulnerable groups. I’m committed to empowering women to author their own birth stories. 

IPBB was a lifeline for me being pregnant during the pandemic. The peer support was invaluable and I continue to be moved every time I have the privilege of hearing someone’s birth story. My own experience of birth was calm, powerful and safe. I have joined this community to try and ensure more people are given the chance to enter parenthood in that way, and to have the support and tools to address when it wasn’t.

Sarah is a doula and supporter of doulas and families.
I'm part of this group because I know people are amazing. Because I want to see as many people as possible realise for themselves the power they hold in their own lives and especially in their pregnancy, birth and parenting experiences. I believe the best way to achieve this is as a group who build each other up and support each other as we support and inform families in Portsmouth, South East Hampshire and beyond. 

Kimberley is a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist. 

I was fortunate to have a beautiful home birth with my daughter and am sure that this was in part due to knowing what options were available to me and having confidence in my informed choices. For the same reasons, I then went on to have a wonderful cesarean birth. Having a heightened awareness of body autonomy and consent (and who does the ‘allowing’ made this an empowering and healing experience. Informed Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond is an amazing source of support (whatever ‘positive birth’ looks like to you) and a wonderful community to be a part of.

Sophy is a birth & postnatal doula and antenatal hypnobirthing teacher with specialisms in  lactation/breastfeeding support & baby slings/carriers based in Portsmouth, UK. 

I have always been fascinated, since I can remember, by pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and our bodies' natural abilities to go through life-changing and life-giving processes. I was lucky enough to have parents that gave me a positive and empowering outlook on human bodies and all things perinatal. I believe that a knowledge of our human rights; making informed choices and knowing the benefits of educating ourselves as preparation for giving birth and becoming parents - are crucial aspects for ensuring a positive experience for all. Social face-to-face support is also critical in allowing the most positive experience possible. I co-founded Southsea Slings in 2012; a baby carrying not-for-profit advice, support, hire and retail service. I ran Portsmouth, UK La Leche League Breastfeeding Support group for many years and was actively involved in Portsmouth Home Birth Group many moons ago. My past experiences and my vocation fuels my passion for actively working with Informed Pregnancy Birth and Beyond in promoting positive perinatal experiences for all and I love working with the IPBB team.

Over a year ago I gave birth to my daughter at home. Looking back on the day I felt
supported and empowered.
Informed pregnancy, birth and beyond had a huge part to play in how empowered I felt. The
topics covered in meetings informed and made me consider what type of birth we wanted.
The amount of knowledge I have gained since becoming pregnant and giving birth is
astonishing to me. I am not the first of my friends to have children but I feel a lot of parenting
is done 'behind closed doors'. I knew so little before embarking on this journey! I believe this
isn't how it should be. We need a 'village' and a huge part of this is talking and sharing
stories.
I feel so lucky to have met the incredible IPBB members who support women during this life
changing time in their lives and I hope I can help others in the same way.

I'm mum to my daughter, born in November 2020, which led me to discover IPBB. I'm utterly fascinated by anything and everything to do with pregnancy, birth and babies and passionately believe in the importance of women and birthing people being empowered through information and support. I'm really excited to be a part of IPBB and support in the amazing work they do.

Sarah is a perinatal educator, working with The Parenting Network.

I was lucky to have a positive homebirth with my second son and I learnt so much when planning for it. I'm part of Informed Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond because I want other expectant parents to know they have options, and that birth can be a positive experience. I want people to be excited about giving birth, not scared.