Who even is she?!

So you’ve just found this random person on Instagram/Facebook/through word of mouth. You’ve seen her content and you’ve noticed she is literally OBSESSED with empowered birth experiences, but…WHO EVEN IS SHE?!

So, a little bit about me to get you warmed up...

My name is Lauren. I am a mama of one - a little boy called Jacob, I’m a military wife, an NHS Midwife, and founder and CEO of The Mama Collective. I have a huge passion for education and empowerment, and am so dedicated to helping you achieve an amazing and positive birth experience!!

I started my Midwifery training in 2014, and for three years I watched and learnt how women gave birth, how to best support them, and of course how to provide good quality care. The trust I trained within had an impeccable education programme for the women who used their service, and this was extremely highlighted in women's experiences. The staff also received regular training to update on parent education, why it matters, and to revisit the physiology of birth - this is extremely important, it is SO easy for maternity staff to get clouded by pathological birth, especially if we tend to only work within high risk situations, that it becomes difficult to remember that BIRTH IS A PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESS!!

When I became fully fledged as a Midwife in 2017 I followed my military husband down South and started working within a new trust - one without any in-house education options and not much going on locally either. Very quickly I began to notice how women's experiences were much different, and the level of holistic care being given was also very different. And from this, I decided that parent education was ABSOLUTE KEY when it comes to preparing for birth 🔑

If you think about it, it makes huge sense!! The more we know about something, the more informed we are, and the more informed we are, the better we can make decisions and feel in control!

You wouldn’t buy a house without first doing your research right?!

So off I went in 2018 to train and become a Hypnobirthing practitioner, but when I then went about creating my course programme I realised that it was hugely important for women and their partners to know about ALL possible pathways that birth can take, and how to make any experience a positive experience. At the end of the day, not everybody is going to have their ideal birth scenario, but everybody CAN have a positive birth scenario.

My course focus became education and empowerment. I lay it all out on the table - understanding how birth works, and how your body works, what the journey of labour looks like, what are the possible curveballs, and positive reframing of said curveballs, and also HOW ON EARTH to make informed and educated decisions about your body, your baby, and your birth 💭

In 2020 I became a mama to my gorgeous little boy, Jacob. Motherhood was a whole new adventure and set of curveballs, and a journey I thought I was prepared for but actually concluded that no amount of prior experience can fully prepare you for a new baby. And postpartum support is actually extremely minimal (even outside of COVID times).
This is when the idea for The Mama Collective was born (pun intended!) I wanted to provide more of a well-rounded education for women and their partners - preparing them for birth AND parenthood. So in 2021, I launched my signature Birthology course to do just that 🌿🤰🤱

Knowledge is power!!