Belinda is an experienced midwife who works full time in a Practice Development as well as being a qualified Supervisor of Midwives. Her career spans 20+ years, and in that time she has cared for hundreds of women through their pregnancy and labour, and helped them welcome and care for their baby.

One of her priorities is to ensure pregnancy, labour and the postnatal period remain as normal as possible for individual women, and that they are enabled to make fully informed choices about decisions in their care. She passionately believes in the power of the woman’s body and her ability to birth normally in the majority of cases, and believes that women in the UK are very lucky to have the choice to do so in the majority of cases while still being 100% confident of the 'safety net' of obstetric expertise that is available for those cases when help is required to save the life of the mother or baby.

Belinda has particular expertise with breastfeeding, and has worked with the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative, teaching health professionals and supporters about how breastfeeding works, and how to support women effectively. She is currently part way through the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers counseling course.

She is involved in several other agencies and initiatives relating to the health of women and their families, including training midwives and obstetricians on facilitating normal birth, how to deal with obstetric emergencies, and domestic abuse.

Belinda has one son, Richard, who is 19, and she is divorced.

Websites

Baby Friendly Initiative - www.babyfriendly.org.uk
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers - www.abm.me.uk