Mavis Kirkham is Midwifery Professor Emerita at Sheffield Hallam University and has held honorary professorial positions at the University of Technology Sydney and Auckland University of Technology. After over forty years as a clinical midwife and researcher, she is interested in reflecting and writing on birth and midwifery in its wider context. A major theme of her research has been the way in which the context of their care impacts upon childbearing women and how their working experiences impact upon midwives. She has long been concerned with how birth stories are negotiated and the impact of these stories on tellers and hearers. With Nadine Edwards she has edited a new book titled Freebirth Stories.

In this episode we discuss with Mavis:

• About Mavis’ interest in freebirth and why it seems more women are choosing this way to give birth
• Mavis tells us about the Freebirth stories from women and Doulas she and Nadine collected for their new book
• We discuss the importance of language in pregnancy, birth and postpartum spaces
• The important role that doulas play
• And we ask what Mavis sees as the future of midwifery

Mavis is one of those midwives who has witnessed so many parts of midwifery and her bounty of knowledge and kindness shines through in this episode.

LINKS:
Freebirth Stories

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