who are we?!
the women behind withwoman!
     

We are two midwives, midwife teachers and childbirth educators who believe passionately in a woman's right to make decisions about her health, pregnancy, birth and life experiences based on information and knowledge from a multitude of sources.

We hold a fundamental belief in the essential mystery, primacy and wonderment of women's bodies, and in women's ability to "know best" about the things their bodies require and the choices which they need to make along their life's journey.

  
     
we started this web site in 2000, and this is how we looked then!
(lorna on the left, sara on the right)
  
     
We initially created this web site to offer women, their families and midwives one more tool in the creation of a global network of bold women and in order to disseminate some of the information we have gathered on our own journeys, to celebrate the aesthetic aspects of birth and women's lives, and to offer women the opportunity to share their own feelings, thoughts and creative talents, whether online or through workshops.
  
     
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Since then, we've worked on lots of projects, individually, together and with other people, and alot of them are reflected in the ways this web site has grown. But it's still all our own work! Sara is the webmistress and does all the programming and maintenance (with the help of the butterflies on the home page!) and Lorna is the emailmistress and art director, answering mountains of emails and searching for juicy books and sites to link to!
 
     
By the way, this is how we looked in Summer 2004!
     
     
a little bit about each of us...
     
sara wickham

I became interested in women's health issues at an early age, and trained as a direct-entry midwife when this kind of education became a reality again. I have practised midwifery in the UK and USA, in home birth, birth center and hospital settings.

I have always been interested in research, and worked as a midwife researcher before moving into midwifery education. I researched the issue of anti-D and rhesus negativity and published a book on this subject. I have also written several booklets for AIMS, I am the editor of the 'Midwifery: Best Practice' series and 'Appraising Research into Childbirth: An Interactive Workbook' and the author of a book about women's health, knowledge and well being, called Sacred Cycles. I am currently working as an independent midwifery lecturer and consultant and also writing my PhD thesis, in which I am looking at midwifery knowledge in relation to "post-term" pregnancy.

I write alot for midwifery and parenting journals as well and I speak around the UK and the world at midwifery and birth conferences. I am on the Editorial Board of The Practising Midwife, a contributing editor for Midwifery Today, and I write a regular column called "Thinking Outside the Box" for The Practising Midwife.

On a more personal note, I live with my partner, Ishvar, who is a naturopath and remedial massage therapist, and a little black cat called Susie, who sits on my chair and proofreads everything I write! My favourite colour is purple (which is partly why it features so much on this website!) and I like reading, travelling, crafts, campfires, wine, music, green and black's mint chocolate.
  
lorna davies

I have been a midwife since 1992 and have worked in midwifery education since 1996. I am currently employed as a Senior Lecturer in Midwifery in Christchurch, New Zealand where I moved to in 2005. I also work as a self-employed midwife.

Before embarking on my midwifery career I was employed as an RN in a variety of areas, including gynaecology, NICU and school nursing. I was always interested in women's health issues and I worked as a volunteer for a local women's health group, and as a trustee for the Women's Environmental Network. I trained as an NCT Teacher during my last pregnancy and taught for the National Childbirth Trust for several years. My particular interests lie in parent education, breastfeeding, birth art and normal birth.

I have written and published a number of articles in midwifery journals and authored and co-authored chapters in several books. I edited the recently published "Art and Soul of Midwifery" and am currently awaiting the publication of a book I am co-editing on The Examination of the Newborn and Neonatal Health. I have presented papers at many conferences both in the UK and internationally. I was a steering group member for the Association of Radical Midwives for six years.

I am married to Tom, who is a teacher, and I have three children, Alex, Helen and Joe aged 22, 21 and 13 respectively. I enjoy travelling, and in 2005 I went on a five month journey around the globe, taking in South America, Australia, New Zealand and China with Tom and Joe. I enjoy reading, cycling, walking in the mountains, theatre, art and Coronation Street.
     
     

also, we are both rather fond of adventures and singing, as some of these photos show!

                
     
     
we hope you enjoy the site, please let us know what you think by emailing us, and feel free to get in touch if you would like to link with us, either through web sites, by having us write for your publication or inviting us to speak in your area.