In celebration of International Women's Day yesterday I did a quick video...
International Women's Day is a global celebration of the achievements of women across all areas of life but it's also a call to action, driven by collective efforts - not owned by one form of feminism or another - to improve and accelerate gender parity across the world.
This year's theme is #PressforProgress
As a midwife my vocation, my calling, is to serve women during their childbearing years and I'm passionate that women's voices should be heard and the services that they use should be designed with women at the centre. Maternity Services are being transformed at present in the UK with the Better Births Initiatve and the National Maternity Reviews. There are challenges and we will see how successful these are in terms of improved outcomes and better services for women in the future.
But beyond that I want to serve and be part of a community that recognises the power, the strength and the adaptability of women. A community that celebrates and values women in the many roles they take. As part of this community I am ready to grow and lead and make changes to improve the world for the women, and men, who follow. I also want to support other women to step up and change the world, or at least change their little bit of it.
This is the reason I'm training as a Coach with One of Many – the tools and programmes they've developed are truly transformational and I'm so excited about starting on this part of my journey.
I spent last week in the company of amazing women at the coaching intensive – the residential part of our training – we laughed, a lot... we also cried a fair bit as we experienced 'aha' moments about our own limiting beliefs and released unhelpful emotions or behaviours.
We also danced! We danced to celebrate, to move our bodies in joy, to shift difficult emotions, to embody strong female archetypes and sometimes just to keep warm.
We also listened, deeply listened, listened with devotion and love as our colleagues discovered themselves, and then we were listened to – deeply and with love – as we discovered ourselves.
We held space for each other and the amazing trainers and support team held space for us all. A beautiful space where we could unpack anything and allow ourselves to be vulnerable in order to grow and learn. Knowing that we were safely held.
So Happy International Women's Day to all the amazing women I know – the women I work with, the women I serve, the women serving others, the women making a difference to themselves, to their families, their communities and the world.
Each one of us has something to offer and can effect change so let's #PressforProgress together