I have some news I wanted to share with you personally, because it feels like the closing of one chapter and the true beginning of another. I have now fully left the NHS, and from this point on, all of my time, my care and my energy belong to Rise Midwives and to the families I support.
I have been a midwife for almost two decades. I trained and qualified in Italy, where I spent my early days in a small lakeside hospital learning about water birth and upright positions, and later worked alongside two long-established independent midwives who showed me what it means to truly walk beside a woman through her journey of transformation.
When I moved to the UK, I worked in birth centres in London and Cambridge before settling in Brighton, and I spent many years in NHS community midwifery and homebirth teams. Along the way I also supported home births in South East Asia and worked with rural communities in Cambodia.
Every one of those places helped shape the midwife I want to be, one who trusts and respects you and your journey, and who holds your birth and transformation as something sacred.
Rise was born from my own experience as a mother.
When I was pregnant with my second baby, I had booked a homebirth, and instead of spending those months feeling calm and held, I spent them worrying whether the homebirth service would be suspended before my baby arrived.
That worry became the reason I started my own practice, so that other women wouldn’t have to carry the same uncertainty. I shared some of the reasons I left the NHS in my blog post, but as I continued to work through my notice period, I noticed a deeper one.
For a while I held both roles, but over time it became clear that it was time to let one go. Each time I went to work, the atmosphere felt heavy. So many people around me were exhausted, unhappy and struggling, and the sense of discontent was everywhere.
I could feel it seeping into me and lowering my own energy, and I knew that wasn’t the energy I wanted to bring to YOU. The care I offer comes from presence, calm and joy, and from a deep trust in YOU, and I can only give that fully when I protect it in myself.
Leaving was a choice to raise my vibration again, to come back to the reason I became a midwife in the first place, and to give the families I care for the very best of me.
My last NHS shift was on Sunday, and on my first day without the children this half term, I made space for a ritual, because ritual is part of my life and part of what makes me, me.
For ten years, being an NHS midwife was part of who I was. With a candle and a bowl of water and salt, I released that identity with love, and in its place I reclaimed my power, my joy and the midwife I always wanted to be, free to care for families with presence, sacredness and love, in autonomy, authenticity and integrity.
Release and reclaim ritual
My release and reclaim ritual 💫⭐
If you’d like to make your own release and reclaim ritual, here is how I make mine.
- Gather a bowl of water, some sea salt and a candle, and if you like, some incense or herbs to smudge around you for cleansing.
- Begin by writing on a piece of paper everything you want to release, and at the end, write: I release them with love and gratitude. Speak what you are willing to release out loud, then tear the paper into pieces and place them in the water, watching them change form as the ink dissolves and the energy shifts.
- Then place your hands on the bowl and set your intention to feel this shift.
- Now, on a new piece of paper, write what you would like to reclaim, starting with: I reclaim joy, I reclaim my power, I reclaim my worthiness, and then anything else you want to call back to you. Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly, and feel that intention settle into your soul.
- Then stand up and shake for thirty seconds, as much as you can. Move yourself, move your body and move your energy, letting it shift.
- When you’re ready, sit down again, place one hand on your heart and one on your belly, and breathe… Feel the tingling and the energy shifting and moving into your body, and notice how and where you feel it the most.
- To finish, take your bowl, holding your intention and everything you have released, and pour it away with intention, down the sink or into the earth, and watch it transmute into renewed energy. Imagine this energy transforming.
- To end the ritual, blow out the candle.
- Be gentle with yourself throughout the day and notice any shifts without judging or naming them. Drink lots of water or be in the water (a shower, a bath, the sea…), as this element is great to help you process and integrate your intentions.
What this new chapter means for you
I am now insured with Midwife Indemnity Direct, which means I practise fully within NMC standards as an independent midwife. For you, that means care that is regulated and safe, while still being shaped around you, your body and your choices, rather than around a system’s. It means getting to know each other properly over your pregnancy, so that the midwife at your birth is someone you already know and trust.
I’m also now welcoming families across South London, alongside Sussex, Surrey and Kent.
I’m proud to be part of the Womb & Bloom collective, a community of independent midwives, doulas and practitioners who share the same belief in relationship-based care, and who support families facing hardship through their Access Fund.
I can’t promise anyone the birth they hope for, because birth has its own way. What I can promise is that you will be known, listened to and supported in every choice you make, by a midwife who has chosen, wholeheartedly, to rise.
A little more magic
To celebrate this new chapter, I’d love to share a little extra magic.
Book your Cosmo or Sunrise package by 11/11/26 using the code MOREMAGIC, and you’ll receive an extra £200 worth of my services to add to your care!
If you are pregnant, planning a pregnancy, or simply wondering what independent midwifery could look like for you, I would love to hear from you. You can book a free exploration call HERE.
Events
The Circle, starting 11/11/26
A nurturing craft and support circle for mothers, meeting every other week at Friston Forest or at my home in Seaford, around the new moon and the full moon. Time out for yourself to recharge, connect, share and create through the seasons. This is for you whether you are trying to conceive, pregnant, or with a baby in your arms. Each circle has its own theme, announced on my socials. Your first circle is free: use FREECIRCLE at checkout. Check out the dates and booking page HERE
Beginners’ homeopathy course, 28/11/26
Homeopathy course with Pema: Homeopathy for Living starts on 28/11, with six live sessions on Zoom. The course is suitable for anyone, from complete beginners to those who have been using remedies for a while already, and as it’s live, there’s plenty of opportunity for your questions. Small groups, a 30-page colour handbook (sent by email), and if you bring a friend to the same course, you both get 20% off. More info and bookings HERE
For upcoming midwives and birth workers events, check my page.
Coming up next year: homeopathy for pregnancy, birth and early postnatal including emergencies, comfort touch massage, herbal wisdom for birth emergencies, and breech skills with Debs Rhodes. Details for the breech day and the waiting list opening are going out early next week so sign up here: midwives and birth workers mailing list.
I hope you had a nice Samhain weekend 🕸🕷✨🌙. Let me know how the release ritual felt for you 🌝
If you’re ready to work with me
Maybe you’re here because you know you want something different for your birth and your entire journey. Maybe you’re still exploring. Either way, you’re welcome! Private & independent midwifery services We hold limited spaces each month for families seeking transformational, grassroots, family-centred care. Full access to home birth. Full access to one midwife, YOUR MIDWIFE.
👉 Click here to book an exploration call
👉 1:1 virtual consultation: use RISE10 for 10% off
👉 Have a look at my services HERE
👉 Have a look at how I work HERE
Stay connected
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With all my love, Virginia
