An Interview with Private Midwife Rachel Allen-Mepham
Meet Rachel, an Independent Midwife dedicated to providing continuous, individualised care, fostering trust, safety, and empowerment for birthing families throughout their journey to parenthood.
WHY DID YOU BECOME A MIDWIFE?
From a young age, possibly even pre teens, I was drawn to the wonder held within pregnancy. One afternoon, I found almost by accident “Spiritual Midwifery” by Ina May Gaskin, I sat in the sunshine and read it from cover to cover. I was born at home and somehow there was a kinship between these stories and my own. My desire to become a midwife was embedded in the stories of gentle, peaceful, powerful roaring Birth.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE INDEPENDENT MIDWIFERY?
Medical midwifery is a wonderful thing if it’s really what you need. Most people would agree with that, but it is seldom needed. I couldn’t be the midwife I dreamt of being, within the NHS. The midwife I strive to be is deeply sensitive, enquiring and compassionate. I want to mould myself to each family rather than fit families to a model of care. As an IM I can develop unique relations with those families I care for. I can give each family my time without pressure and can work as I dreamt of working.
DO YOU EVER FEEL ISOLATED IN YOUR WORK?
No, that is the quick answer. I was always the different one during my midwifery degree and while working in the NHS. I was well liked by my peers and colleagues, but not understood. I was recognised for my passionate points of difference but rarely did anyone have the courage to join me even if they knew it was right – and that felt lonely.
WHERE IS YOUR ‘PATCH’?
I cover the South East including East and West Sussex, Kent, parts of Surrey and Greater London
WHAT ARE THE BEST PART(S) OF BEING AN INDEPENDENT MIDWIFE?
I am answering these questions as I sit outside a birth room. Inside that space, a new baby has arrived and I can hear those distinct newborn sounds, the counting of fingers and toes and the wonder and reverence as parents greet their dew daughter. The placenta has just been born and still attached to its baby, offering its final stores of blood and nutrients. Two hours ago I was elsewhere entirely, but the call came and I jumped at the opportunity to bear witness to this arrival.
WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY AROUND PREGNANCY AND BIRTH?
Through experience, I see how wonderful and beneficial continuity of care is. I know that everyone growing and birthing a baby deserves and has a right to feel safe, tended to, loved and supported. I think if you were to ask what it felt like to be looked after by me, you would hear that I am calm, trusting and dependable. Families would tell you, they felt safe with me and heard. How I make people feel, enquire and discover is very important to me, I want people to know that there are always more answers and ways and that it is possible to do things a little bit differently if needed.
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR ROLE DURING BIRTH?
My role is always dynamic and never fixed. At times my physical presence and voice is needed to guide and reassure. Sometimes to offer or remind you of the course your birth is likely to take or through touch or massage helping you open and trust that your body is as powerful as it feels. But I am frequently there as a space holder and silent reassuring presence. And of course I also come with my medical kit and skills necessary to support should that moment ever occur. A role of many facets but most importantly an intuitive role that is flexible.
DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR BIRTHING WOMEN?
In the words of Sheila Kitzinger:
“for far too many, pregnancy and birth is still something that happens to them rather than something they set out consciously and joyfully to do themselves”
As I go about my birth work I never forget that the work you and I do today does not just last 9 months or a mere day or 2, it lasts through generations and shapes what our children and grandchildren know and feel about birth. The ripple effect of the choices you consciously make today will joyfully impact the future.
