CALL THE MIDWIFE!
WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?
I was born in Scotland and moved to South Africa as a child.
WHERE DID YOU QUALIFY?
I studied nursing in South Africa. I started as an oncology nurse, but I soon realised that I preferred helping people into this world than out of it. I went to the UK specifically to study midwifery. I then went on to do a BSc in midwifery in Scotland.
YOU RETURNED TO SA IN 1996…
Yes, after democracy we felt ready to return.
YOU BELIEVE THAT A WOMAN’S OWN EXPERIENCE OF BEING MOTHERED INFLUENCES HER BIRTH CHOICES. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR OWN MOTHER, AND HOW SHE SHAPED YOUR VIEWS?
My mother had seven children, and I am the sixth. Her first- and lastborn were hospital births; the rest of us she had at home. This was the norm at the time. I grew up with my mother’s stories of being in labour at home while cooking, baking a cake or
