My name is Annie Reid.
I live in Mid Devon and have previously worked as a midwife, health visitor and psychotherapist. I now work independently as Early Days Support so that I can spend more time focusing on supporting wellbeing and strong connections between babies and parents during pregnancy, in the first weeks and beyond.
I bring to Early Days Support my broad experience and a passionate belief in the importance and value of mothering. I understand that babies have their own experience of life in the womb and of the birth journey and have ways of telling us about this so we can support them.
Caring for a newborn baby is an exceptional job. You are creating an environment where your baby can meet their potential as fully as possible. You are building the foundations of wellbeing.
As you listen to your baby you are building connection, developing sensitivity and attunement to how you can support them as a human being. You are growing into the parent you want to be.
My qualifications
These include:
Midwifery (DipHE University of Plymouth, Distinction)
I spent most of my career as a midwife in a Birth Centre and in the community. I was especially interested in supporting natural labour and birth, breastfeeding and caring for the family bond, through individualised care. I have a long standing interest in the way the experience of labour and birth impacts mothers, partners and babies individually and in relationship.
Health Visiting (BScHons Specialist Community Public Health Nursing, University of Greenwich, First Class)
When I became a health visitor my focus on the family system widened and the baby’s experience became central.
Psychotherapy (Diploma Core Process Psychotherapy, Karuna Institute, Devon)
Before I became a midwife I worked as a psychotherapist, following four years training. This training was grounded in the principles of presence, awareness, mindfulness and compassion and this foundation has remained at the heart of my work. I studied pre and perinatal psychology, birth patterning, shock and trauma and how these manifested in the body. The clients I worked with often brought issues, consciously and unconsciously, that related to their own birth or giving birth .
I also practiced Co-counselling, a form of peer counselling that is very accessible and useful for parents.
Birth and the time in the womb are formative periods for all babies and, just as for the mother, there may have been times of difficulty, of overwhelm, fear or pain.
Integrative Baby Therapy holds the space for your baby to tell us something of their experience and supports them to process it. They have a natural impulse to express themselves and can show us through Baby Body Language and Memory Crying where they got challenged, stuck or overwhelmed and what has been unsettling or troubling them. We bring curiosity and deep attentive listening to create a therapeutic space.
Labour and birth can be frightening, overwhelming and painful. For many babies and mothers and their birth companions it was traumatic and you are left with all kinds of feelings and physical residue.
The family is a dynamic system. While your experience may be different you all affect each other. In this work there is space for you all to be heard. It can make way for more settledness and connection between you.
Developmental Baby Massage
I am a certified teacher of Developmental Baby Massage. This form of massage supports your baby’s physical and brain development. It helps them learn to move their body fluidly and develop strength and ease from the start.
Newborn Behavioural Observations (The Brazelton Centre UK)
A newborn baby communicates through their behaviour. The Newborn Behavioural Observations are a set of observations we do together that bring attention and curiosity to their movements and responses and support your understanding of these signs, that indicate their characteristics, who they are, what they like and what they find challenging.
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