Katie the Midwife

20/12/2022

There has been lots of media attention this year in the USA since the overturn of Roe vs Wade on 24th June 2022. It has changed the reproductive rights of millions of women, overnight in some cases from freedom to a death sentence (some states have a total abortion ban meaning they won’t perform abortions even to save the mother's life.)
I volunteer for here in the UK, and we are trying to change the law here in the UK. Abortion law is very old in the UK and is still a criminal offence under the Offences Against Person Act 1861.
I thought I would look at other countries closer to home to see their stance on abortion. It was shocking to see that there were countries close to home where abortion was either banned, or there were restricted.
Head over to ReproductiveRights.org, and they have published a European Abortion Law comparative overview – definitely worth a read. (shorturl. at/lGS14)
Everyone deserves bodily autonomy and reproductive rights over their body. It is her body, it is her choice.

19/12/2022

The History of Midwives
Midwifery is an ancient practice. To practice as a midwife, you must be qualified and registered with a governing body. Women have always supported women in challenging and life-threatening situations. Many indigenous cultures have been practising various traditions for years. There is mention of ‘midwives’ in the Egyptian and Greco-Roman eras, where it was a respected and paid profession. But like most things, it changed under the hierarchy of men and turned into a male-supervised medical profession. They turned it into a profession that women had done for many years and, in certain parts of the world, condemned as ‘heretics’ or ‘witches’. They would be hung or burnt to death. Yet, worldwide, women have supported, advised and cared for women during pregnancy, labour and postnatally. I am proud to be a midwife and feel honoured to be there to help and support women at life-changing moments in their lives.

18/12/2022

BLOG – How to Return to Practice as a Midwife?

Are you interested in returning to practice, have had time away and wonder what you need to do to return? Look no further!! I am returning to practice after time away on other ventures. I have made it simple and easy. You ALWAYS have options. I feel called to go back, maternity services are in crisis, and all hands on deck are needed. I am returning with a positive attitude and help support my fellow midwives.
To FIND OUT MORE – check out my blog
www.katiethemidwife.org

17/12/2022

|INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST S*X WORKERS|
S*x workers are usually victims of violence and often don’t receive help, support and treatment. In recent times in the U.K, the police have been highlighted as part of the issue. According to Red Pepper (2022), ‘between 2016-2020, there were over 500 cases of proven s*xual misconduct by police’ – these are meant to be the ones there to protect and prevent harm coming to the public. The law in the U.K. does not permit s*x workers to work indoors with others (although this would be safer). S*x workers include a wide variety of individuals, including migrants, transgender people and women of colour, who are often discriminated against, and less likely to report violence.
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Raising awareness is so important! S*x workers deserve to be treated with respect and in a safe environment.
*xworker

15/12/2022

This is scary!!

When you look at the countries/continents listed in the post, it showed a variety of causes for maternal health. When doing my research, I looked at various countries/continents (it would be nice if this information were all in one place – if you know, please comment). A study by Lawn and Koenen (2022) found that ‘women in the US are more likely to be murdered during pregnancy or soon after childbirth than to die from the three leading obstetric causes of maternal mortality (hypertensive disorders, haemorrhage or sepsis). Until recently, it wasn’t a requirement for death certificates to indicate if the individual had been pregnant at the time of death. In 2018, all 50 states are now required by law to document this information.

Sadly the MBRRACE-UK Report published this year showed that in the UK, su***de was the leading cause of maternal death. This is an unfortunate statistic. Just like in the US, both maternal causes of death deprive women of motherhood and require social change.

Haemorrhage was the leading cause of maternal death across several continents. Again, this can be prevented, but resources are required, including skilled workers, medication, facilities, and education, which, unfortunately, due to funding, they do not receive.

With our knowledge and skills, women should not be dying from childbirth in this day and age. We need to do better!!

***deprevention

14/12/2022

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmJm2Usjkpk/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Katie 🙂 shared a post on Instagram: "Women are inspiring, strong, beautiful, intuitive, independent, magnetic, creators and empowered! What are women to you? Be kind x ". F...

13/12/2022

That’s right, it’s a week of all things new, yesterday was my new blog, and today is the release of my podcast ‘DID YOU KNOW?’
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I have started this podcast to share, learn, engage, and much more. I chose to create a podcast so that I could have time to chat (I do love to natter), as on social media, it is challenging (for me, at least!) to condense everything I want to discuss. I have high hopes for the future of my podcast and have a list of people I am working up the courage to interview. I will be releasing a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday AM.
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Make sure to follow me over on Spotify and Apple Podcast The Midwife
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I appreciate your support!!
COMMENT & Let me know what you want to hear about!

12/12/2022

I am so excited to be sharing my new blog with you all
www.katiethemidwife.org

It has taken lots of hard work, time and dedication to get it where I wanted it to be. I am super excited about what may lie ahead. If you are passionate about midwifery and would like to collaborate, please do get in touch. The contact details and ways of collaborating are on my website. All links can be found at my linktr.we in my bio.

I appreciate your support!
Let’s do this

29/08/2022

| GET THE L OUT |
A le***an feminist activist group who do not want to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community. In my opinion the come off as being ‘anti men’ and are most certainly in my eyes transphobic.

Would love to hear your thoughts?

Be kind
X

28/08/2022

| HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK |

HUNGARY IS SCARED OF ITS WOMEN
According to the BBC (2022), ‘pink education’ in Hungary favours women, and a report found it could endanger the economy, cause low birth rates, fewer marriages and disadvantage men. From the outside, it appears that women are doing well for themselves and men are starting to resent it and want to cap it. They are introducing a tax exemption for women with four children (by becoming a baby factory, you won’t pay tax for life).

IT TAKES A ROBOT
How sad is it that women get better care from robots than humans? A new study found that robots were better at diagnosing women’s heart attacks. Women’s heart attacks are often missed, as medical professionals often assume that patients are more likely to be men, and symptoms aren’t always as obvious. - The Telegraph (2022)

IT BAFFLES ME THAT I EVEN HAVE TO WRITE THESE HEADLINES
How is it that women aren’t allowed to watch football in certain parts of the world? Women were banned from entering large stadiums in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution. I know each country has its issues, but something so simple is something that has to be fought for. Aljazeera (2022) reports that a LIMITED number of women have been allowed to watch a league football match in Tehran.

MEGHAN MARKLES
As always, Meghan is back under the media's scrutiny following the release of her new podcast - Archetype.
I have yet to listen to it, but there have been many complaints already on various platforms and broadcasting stations that she is lying about events and treatment from the Royal Family. Watch this space…...

be kind
xx

28/08/2022

| INSPIRATIONAL WOMAN OF THE WEEK |

If I could go for lunch with anyone to chat about gun control and the corruption of the gun federations in the US, it would be with Gonzalez. For someone still so young to have been through all they have, and to come out of it the other side fighting, I think they are truly incredible :) keep doing all you do, Gonzalez!

Have you heard of Emma Gonzalez? What are your thoughts on gun control?

be kind x

25/08/2022

onferences by Sanna Marin since she was seen in videos ‘partying’. I don’t know what the issue is personally, aren’t we all entitled to privacy and, more importantly, a life outside of work? How would you feel if someone filmed you on a night out, where you were socialising with friends, dancing, letting your hair down? Only to wake the next day to find those videos on the news, you have to speak to your company and make statements defending your actions.

We aren’t talking about Sanna going to a strip club, being s*xually inappropriate, exploiting persons for her own gratification, or sniffing co***ne off a table filled with alcohol. Let’s face it, at one time in your life, you would have heard/seen in the paper a male MP or PM doing something like that.

Is she being treated differently cause she is a woman?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

be kind

24/08/2022

| HEADLINES SO FAR THIS WEEK |

Scott and White
Sadly Jill Scott and Ellen White are retiring from football. Both Scott and White who represented Women’s England in the recent Euro Cup, and who have had a long history in the sport have decided it is time to retire. I’m sad to see them go but have tremendous respect and gratitude for their roles in the sports arena and their positive impact on young girls to take up the sport.

Do you go topless, or is it a thing of the past?
According to new research, women are more likely to take offence to topless women, after a study interviewing 300 plus men and women, by showing them images of topless women in different scenarios and environments. Each participant would score on how they felt.

Working Women = More Babies
I would have thought differently, but this piece of research shows that working women are now having more babies, compared to how it was in the 1980’s.

Sepideh Rashno
Protests and condemnation have occurred following a TV confession of Rashno 28, following her arrest last week for defying newly hardened hijab laws. Viewers claim that the confession was forced as a result of torture.

What are you thoughts??
Be kind
x

22/08/2022

| WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE FOR WOMEN OF THE UK |

Prior to starting GN4W, I was a registered midwife, and I believe this is what started my passion for women's rights and equality. I knew the laws around abortions, as it was something we were briefly taught during our time at university. I was however shocked when upon researching I found that women could be and are being prosecuted for having an abortion in the UK.

Roe vs Wade being overturned in the USA was a life-changing moment for American women, and part of me did panic that it could potentially be something that spreads, as more countries may want to take control of women and their bodies. (Who would have thought that in 2022 women are still being controlled over their bodily autonomy….crazy right?!)

Little did I know that it was already happening in my own country. I found 2 current cases of women in the UK potentially facing jail time for having an abortion, why isn't this in the mainstream media?

How does this make you feel?

Be kind x

21/08/2022

INSPIRATIONAL WOMAN OF THE WEEK
| AMINATA TOURE |

I loved writing this post and learning about and her rise to her new role. A real inspiration to young women worldwide, and the changes they could make in the world :)

Would love to hear your thoughts

Be kind x

21/08/2022

| HEADLINES OF THE WEEK |

1. Starting off with Scotland making sanitary products FREE. This is an excellent step in the right direction, and I am hopeful that the rest of the UK will follow suit. Period products will now be available at libraries, swimming pools, public gyms, community buildings, town halls, pharmacies and doctors' offices. There will be an app for women to be able to search and find the nearest location to pick up free products from. I am so excited about this!!

2. On a sad note - that this is something that has only been put into place in the year 2022… under new guidance police officers in the UK could be sacked if found to have been violent towards women. This came about following the investigation into the murder of Sarah Everard.

3. A great article on the NY Times website by Tsukasa Yajima, talks about the treatment of ‘comfort women’ after the Japanese photographer whistle blew on the care received by former s*x slaves in nursing homes and the financial donations being taken by managers of the care homes.

4. Lastly, have you considered ways to make more money, due to the current living crisis? Is one of the ways - s*x working. If so, you are not alone.

Would love to hear your thoughts

Be kind x

*xslaves *x

20/08/2022

always thought that women lived longer than men, but maybe I was wrong?

The British Medical Journal published the works of Dr Marie - Pier Bergeron Boucher et al study (https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/8/e059964)

They found that ‘although male life expectancy is generally lower than female life expectancy, and male death rates are usually higher at all ages, males have a substantial chance of outliving females.'

What are your thoughts?

Be kind x

16/08/2022

DO YOU THINK THIS IS A JUST CASE?

I feel that this case is massively political!
I am not condoning bringing drugs into another country, each country governs itself very differently to the next.

That being said, do we think that the case and the treatment of Brittney has been fair?
Do you think she is being treated poorly because she is a woman?
Do you think it is because she is an American? 🇺🇸

I am sending my thoughts out to her and her family, during this very difficult time!
I really hope we can come to a resolution soon 🤞🏻

Please LIKE COMMENT & SHARE

Be kind x

15/08/2022

WHAT IS HAPPENING??

On the 24th June 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, its little more than a month since, and we have our first US state that has made abortion illegal, with a near ban in its state - INDIANA

As a woman living in the UK and as one who in the past was a Midwife, I can’t begin to understand what women are going through right now and my heart goes out to my fellow sisters across the water.

What are your thoughts? Are you worried or concerned that this could affect you, or that the law may change in your country?

Please comment below!!!

Be kind 💓

15/08/2022

| WELCOME TO GN4W |
My name is Katie and I have created ‘Global News for Women’ (GN4W) for ALL women ALL around the world 🌍

My goal is for US to build a community that is passionate about ‘being a women’ what it really means, what we can do to improve our lives, our rights and laws to ensure that the women of the women are treated equally. I want to ignite a passion in YOU, so that you too are fired up and ready to want to improve what it is like to be a woman in this day and age.

I will be sharing news from around the globe, key issues facing women, studies which affect women, inspirational women, charities and organisations that are women focused and much more.
I will be hosting debates and LIVES with guest speakers, opening up and examining key issues that we face daily.

I hope you are as excited as I am!! 😊

Please let’s all be kind to one another. This is a safe space for women to come together and share, we suffer from scrutiny daily, so let's not do so to one another. Regardless of race, gender, gender identity or s*xuality we are all human and have feelings, and my goal is to build a community that builds each other up not tears one another down.

Please be sure to LIKE, FOLLOW and SHARE with friends, family, co-workers or a neighbour so that we can all be apart of something great! (I’m hoping it is)

katie x