Dear friends,

Back in April I found out I had a tiny poppy sized seed growing in my belly! It’s now far larger, and by the end of December they will be watermelon sized and hopefully wanting to come and join us to live on this beautiful Earth.

I have a strong intuition on how I’d like to support them coming into the world, and how I’d like to be supported in bringing them. I want to be able to trust my body’s natural ability to birth, to trust the incredible (!!!) an intricately designed blueprint offered by nature, and that I have the knowledge passed on through millions of ancestors before me. So I am hoping to have a natural birth - away from hospitals, technology, and without the assistance of medical professionals unless it’s necessary.

So far I’ve had no medical interventions (scans, tests), and have recently found a wonderful doula who lives locally to me in Cornwall, who I’d love to be supported by. She is now working outside of the system, but has lots of knowledge & experience (as has previously been a long-term NHS midwife). I’m also getting lots of wonderful support from Savannah, a close friend and birthkeeper who’s early in her apprenticeship to birth.

I’m asking for support for the following:

£1800 would be enough to be able to pay for this wonderful doula / birthkeeper to support me before, during and after the birth

(This includes: 6 x 2 hour visits / antenatal sessions before the birth. For her to be on call and available 24/7 for for 2 weeks before and after my due date. + 2 visits after the birth to support with the transition)

£2100 would cover the above, and help pay for Savannah to rent a hut where we live, for up to two weeks before and two weeks after (£300). She is offering all her time, care & knowledge for free.

Anything beyond this would support us (myself & my partner Matt) in the first 6 months of paying for -

So it would help us to be at home for longer, getting precious time with a squishy little bear before going back to work.

I’m deeply grateful for anything you can give. I feel soooo lucky to even contemplate that having money for this is possible, due to being connected to a wonderful communities & sanghas.

If you can’t give anything financially right now… the fact I’ve sent you this means you’ve probably already supported me in so many ways already. So thank you. And you probably will going forward in lots of other ways too.

With heaps of love,

Jess / Storm xxxx

To add -

I feel I can strongly trust I can do this, due to being young, healthy and well supported by community. The medical services and NHS offer incredible and life saving support to people who need it. Often midwives working in the system are amazing and care so deeply, but sadly are usually overworked, under-resourced and sometimes have to do things they may not agree with due to protocols & hierarchies.

I have a beautiful vision of how I’d like to birth, but I’m committed to a safe birth above anything else - and my baby might have other plans. Which may mean I end up going to a hospital / working with medical professionals if there’s a need.

If you don’t feel able to offer support because you don’t agree with the way I’m doing things, that’s ok too! <3

If you’re curious in learning / reading more about why I’m doing it this way - here’s some stuff:

How western medicine controls the start of labour and why this needs to stop (Podcast)

Consequences of knowledge from screening / testing - Sara Wickham

(article)

Reclaiming childbirth as a rite of passage (podcast)

Inductions associated with more interventions & adverse outcomes (article)