Interview with ‘Professional Handholder’ Kicki Hansard

Today Zoe speaks to Doula extraordinaire Kicki Hansard. She is also an author and is behind the hashtag #butnotmaternity campaign.   They talk about Kicki’s pregnancy and births, her work as a Doula, physiological birth and her work on the campaign behind maternity services in the current pandemic.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Families, women and babies are suffering because of the strict restrictions still surrounding maternity care in the NHS. Kicki is part of the team behind the #butnotmaternity campaign. The campaign has achieved a lot by putting pressure on every trust in the UK. There was a shocking 20% rise in babies being killed or harmed in the months of the first UK lockdown, this cannot happen again. Kicki found the birth of her children quite easy and straightforward but struggled, like so many mothers, will the newborn phase. The kind of help Kicki wanted was not there. She just needed someone to tell her that how she was feeling was normal. That this transition into motherhood is what many went through and that there is no such thing as a perfect parent. Kicki wished someone had said that babies don’t just cry when they are hurt or sad. Babies cry because that’s how they communicate. It was Kicki’s experience of early motherhood that made her want to become a Doula. A Doula is a person that provides informational, emotional and practical support to parents before, during and after childbirth. There are so many studies showing the importance of a birth partner, having that birth partner be a Doula makes an even bigger difference because of the informative and emotional support they can provide. Birth physiology is such a big secret, Kicki doesn’t understand why it isn’t taught more. It’s the lack of this knowledge that causes so much of the fear around childbirth.     BEST MOMENTS   “I was very much just waking up every day and doing the best I could”   “Is it my expectation of motherhood that’s the problem…yes”   “Unless you feel safe in that environment, you are going to struggle”   “It’s inhumane… it’s completely wrong”   VALUABLE RESOURCES  www.petalscharity.org www.tommys.org www.arc-uk.org www.birthbliss.co.uk www.thedouladirectory.com https://www.change.org/p/partners-allowed-for-entirety-of-labour-birth-in-all-hospitals https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supporting-Survivors-Abuse-Hansard-Kicki/dp/1848194242/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Kicki+hansard&qid=1604815951&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Birth-every-should-motherhood/dp/1517251192/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Kicki+hansard&qid=1604815951&sr=8-2   ABOUT THE GUEST Kicki Hansard. Originally from Sweden but has been living in the UK for the past 30 years where she has become a mother, doula and author.   ABOUT THE HOST Zoe Cresswell Devoted mother of two (and a big hairy dog), UK trained midwife, doula and personal trainer, specialising in pre and postnatal fitness. Zoe was born in the UK and before moving to Dubai in 2013 and worked as a midwife in central London, both in a birth centre and a very busy NHS hospital. Although late to the scene, Zoe is an aspiring athlete having won numerous triathlons and representing Great Britain where she placed within the top 10 on the world stage. With her husband James, the couple will soon be launching their cloth nappy company, Bop & Bee, where they hope to inspire families to swap a few disposable nappies a day for the more planet friendly option of cloth. Zoe’s goal is to share her knowledge and experience, tell real life stories, manage expectations and open up those often difficult conversations. Zoe’s own motherhood journey has been full of twists and turns as she put everything on hold and went through numerous miscarriages and rounds of IVF.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram : @zoecresswell_me Facebook: Zoe Cresswell LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-cresswell