The way of becoming a midwife was not straight forward for me. I studied languages for five years until I realized that I wanted to work with people, rather than words. So I volunteered with midwives in my local area, to find out more about the job. Most of these experiences were with independent midwives in Germany. They provided antenatal care at home, deliveries in birth centres and at home and postnatal care with breastfeeding advise and I fell in love with the job. So for two years, while still in college, I applied for every apprenticeship in midwifery possible in Germany and was admitted to the School of Midwifery in Bonn in 2005. Even though Bonn is one of the bigger maternity units in Germany, I learned a natural approach to pregnancy and birth, thanks to the wonderful midwives running the school and the labour ward there. We were able to see problems that could occur, for Bonn being one of the Prenatal Diagnistic Centres in Germany, but we were always encouraged to see birth as a natural event in life and treat it with utmost respect. We were able to welcome babies being birthed by their mothers in various positions and offered them birthing chairs, ropes, pools, acupuncture, aromatherapy and homeopathy to help them find their way. I learned a lot about optimal fetal-maternal positioning and how to help woman to labour without pain relief. I could see and experience that birth is a lot easier for woman if it is natural, without intervention and guided by a midwife, who is able to be with the woman through the whole process of giving birth. After qualifying I got offered a position in a big maternity hospital in Dublin and set out for another adventure. I set my roots and began to love this country for many things. I gained a lot of experience working in a postnatal ward, the delivery suite and the emergency department but my heart kept calling me out to the homebirth setting, so I signed my MOU with the HSE in 2013 and started working as a second midwife at home births.

All these wonderful experiences encouraged my drive to leave the hospital and offer homebirth services myself. So in December 2014 I made the final decision and I am now looking forward to all the wonderful woman I will meet in the course of this adventure.

To have a few tools, I did a course in acupuncture for midwives in Germany and a course as a Hypnobirthing teacher in Ireland. These skills are a great addition to the oils and remedies I use to empower woman in their path to motherhood.

I have also always striven to educate myself further and offer most evidence-based care possible, so I finished a Bachelor In Midwifery in 2011 and a Master in Learning and Teaching in 2023. In 2024 I signed a contract with Private Midwives Ireland to add to my portfolio and gain the ability to offer greater choice to woman in Ireland.

 

I hope to meet you soon. 

 

Nanni