Birthcare with Katie

Birthcare with Katie Mental Health Midwife & birth educator. Supporting you in pregnancy after a difficult or traumatic birth. https://linktr.ee/birthcarewithkatie

Move from fear and uncertainty to calm, confident and prepared for a better birth. Birthcare offers hypnobirthing courses to expectant parents at any stage of pregnancy. Birthcare can offer you the opportunity to approach birth with confidence, calmness and excitement and help to achieve a positive experience of birth for you and your baby.

Birth trauma doesn't always look like you might think.But you weren't in a war, how can you have PTSD?" I hear this a lo...
14/07/2026

Birth trauma doesn't always look like you might think.
But you weren't in a war, how can you have PTSD?" I hear this a lot, and I understand why. PTSD is so often associated with war veterans that it can be hard to recognise it in yourself after birth, or to see it in someone you love. You might not feel like your experience was that bad compared to others, but trauma is not defined by how bad it looks to other people, it is defined by how it affected you at the time and subsequently how it continues to affect you afterwards.

Birth trauma can look like flashbacks or nightmares about the birth. Avoiding medical appointments, or things like smear tests.
Avoiding socialising in case someone asks about the birth, and becoming more isolated as a result.
Feeling numb or disconnected from your baby, even when you desperately want to feel close.
Blaming yourself for things that were never in your control.
Feeling on edge or hypervigilant about your baby, watching them constantly, fearful something bad will happen, never able to fully relax.
Struggling to sleep even when you're exhausted.

If you're a partner, friend, or family member, these are worth watching for too, especially if someone seems "not quite themselves" since the birth but can't explain why.

None of this means something is wrong with you. It means what happened affected you, and that deserves to be taken seriously. If this sounds like you, or someone you love, please reach out. You don't have to carry this alone.

This week is Birth Trauma Awareness Week.This year’s theme is the cost of birth trauma, the financial cost, the social c...
13/07/2026

This week is Birth Trauma Awareness Week.

This year’s theme is the cost of birth trauma, the financial cost, the social cost, and the psychological cost.

Around 1 in 3 women describe their birth as traumatic. For some, that experience stays with them long after they’ve left hospital, shaping how they feel about their body, their relationships, and future pregnancies.

If this is you, you are not alone, and what you experienced matters.

I’ll be sharing more this week. If there’s something you’d like me to cover, drop it in the comments 🤍

12/07/2026

Ever wonder why your body tenses up the moment you walk into a hospital?

It makes complete sense. For most of us, hospitals are places we associate with being unwell, or with something going wrong. So when your walking into that same environment to have your baby, it’s no surprise your body’s instinct is to tense up, rather than relax, this is an involuntary response for most people.

Here’s what can help:

Reframe why you’re there. You’re not going because something’s wrong, you’re going because it’s where you’re having your baby.

Practice ways of calming your body beforehand. Breathing techniques, meditation, anything that helps you feel settled in unfamiliar spaces, so it’s easier to use on the day, the more you practice, the easier it will be. Familiar yourself with the environment, go on a tour, look at pictures online, imagine yourself being calm in that environment.

Adapt the environment itself. Bring familiar things from home, dim the lighting, make the space feel more private and less clinical, and take things to distract you from where you are.

Get the right support around you. Let your maternity team know exactly what helps you feel safe and cared for, so they can actually help you feel that way.

Your body can only relax as much as the environment lets it. Small changes make a real difference.

10/07/2026

Just been told you’re high risk?
It can feel like it takes away your choices. It doesn’t have to.
Start by asking what kind of risk you’re actually looking at. Is it something already diagnosed, that needs managing now? Or a risk factor that makes something more possible, but hasn’t happened?
Then ask for the real numbers behind it. Statistics can be presented in very different ways, and the way they’re presented can change how frightening they feel.
If you do decide an intervention is right for you, you still have choices. What can you ask for? What can you negotiate?
Get it all written into your birth plan, so your team know exactly how to support you.
Interventions aren’t what most of us would choose. But sometimes they’re the right decision, and understanding the full picture is what helps you feel at peace with that.
Comment GUIDE and I’ll send you my free Birth Plan Guide

Most people are never told this, or don't find out until they're already in labour.Gas and air takes around 20 seconds t...
10/07/2026

Most people are never told this, or don't find out until they're already in labour.
Gas and air takes around 20 seconds to reach full effect.
Which means if you wait until a contraction peaks before you pick it up, you've missed the window.
Here's how to use it properly:
Start breathing it at the very first sign of a contraction, that initial tightening, before it builds.
Breathe slowly and steadily through the mouthpiece. Long breaths, not short puffs.
By the time the contraction peaks, the gas and air will be working at its most effective, exactly when you need it most.
Between contractions, put it down, sip some water, rest.
Save this. Tell your birth partner to remind you.
Katie
NHS Mental Health Midwife | Antenatal Educator

If you've just been told you have gestational diabetes, you might already feel like the pregnancy you were picturing has...
10/07/2026

If you've just been told you have gestational diabetes, you might already feel like the pregnancy you were picturing has changed. More appointments. More scans. More people making decisions about your body.
That feeling is understandable and really common, but it doesn't mean your choices have disappeared.
One thing that helps a lot of the people I work with: BRAIN. Before any decision along the way, induction, how often you're monitored, anything, ask about the Benefits, the Risks, the Alternatives, what your Instinct says, and what happens if you do Nothing (wait).
You're allowed to ask why. You're allowed to want to understand. That's not being difficult, that's being informed and making choices that are right for you. This doesn't mean you lose control, you can still have a say in your care.

Comment below if you've been through this, what do you wish you'd known?

Why bother with a birth plan? It never goes the way you want anyway.I understand why this idea sticks. Especially if las...
09/07/2026

Why bother with a birth plan? It never goes the way you want anyway.
I understand why this idea sticks. Especially if last time didn't go how you'd hoped.

But a birth plan was never about planning the events, because none of us can control how labour unfolds. It's about letting your maternity team know your preferences and how best to support you, no matter what happens on the day.

The disappointment doesn't come from having a plan. It comes from not feeling listened to when things shift.

Has this thought crossed your mind before? Tell me below
Grab my free Birth Plan Guide, link in the comments 👇

Here's a few things that you might not think to pack, but will be really helpful for you on the day.A phone charger with...
08/07/2026

Here's a few things that you might not think to pack, but will be really helpful for you on the day.

A phone charger with a long cable.
Snacks that don't need chewing much.
Lip balm, because hospital air dries everything out.
Your own pillow, in a coloured pillowcase so it doesn't get mixed up with hospital ones.
These are the small things that make a big difference once you're actually there.

Save this for later in your pregnancy

08/06/2026

There's a reason speaking up in a maternity appointment can feel impossible, and it has nothing to do with how prepared you are.
When your nervous system reads a situation as threatening, it pulls resources away from your ability to think and speak. You might go completely blank mid-sentence. Or you might find yourself nodding along and agreeing to things you weren't sure about.
Both of those responses are threat responses.
They are not a failing. They are your body doing exactly what it was designed to do when it feels unsafe.
The problem is, they tend to show up most in the moments where your voice matters most.

Episode 12 of Building Birth Confidence is about what you can put in place before those moments, so you are not relying on your brain to find the words when it is at its most stretched. We cover the BRAIN framework, prompt cards, how to prepare your birth partner to speak for you, and what you are actually entitled to at every stage of your care.

Link in comments to listen. The BRAIN questions are in the show notes, worth saving to your phone before your next appointment.

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