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#midwiferytraining I met one of the loves of my l

#midwiferytraining

I met one of the loves of my life @bonnieswalsh & we remain besties and I returned from her Hen party in Athlone today in an absolute hoopla-hoop;after one of the best nights celebrating a diamond of a human.

👯‍♀️#ourstory begins with Training to be a #midwife. Absolutely the best thing I ever chose to do.However it was a challenging, long &at times,soul destroying. It is incredibly rewarding but as a mature student , in my late 20’s, I gave up becoming a barrister to move back home with my dad, in Dundalk, after having realising law wasn’t for me; I was the ultimate fish out of water. I know people did not understand my decision & some thought I was insane.

❤️The only reason I made it is because I met the most wonderful people. Other than the privilege of working in the birthing~work space ,with & for women, pregnant people and families-the greatest gift is you work with some of the best people that exist.

🌟Siobhan and I were unlikely besties-I am the best part of a decade older;siobhy was 17 and wasn’t sure she wanted to be a midwife or go to college in Dundalk. But we clicked and have been adoring each other ever since.

😍we made each other better midwives. She didn’t believe sometimes,but I knew she would be a spectacular and incredible midwife & I couldn’t be more proud to know & feel hope because despite its massive issues-the irish maternity service is filled with people like her. #hopesurvives

🇦🇺🦘 Our friendship thrived even though she midwife in Australia for 8 plus years. But shes back !

😎This human has taken all actively learned birth knowledge & is now a Midwife Manager in a very busy Irish unit; she’s in for the long haul and I’ve no doubt will improve the service, strive for excellence and mind both staff and clients in the way that they should. #bettermaternitycare is being fought for in every single shift by people on the ground who are underpaid, understaffed , under resourced & dealing with unimaginable challenges every minute of every shift. Bonnie is also teaching students:I am in awe , but not in any way surprised.

🥳Last night we laughed, danced -thank you Bonnie.

#midwifefriends #madwives

♥️What a night celebrating @_geraldinewalsh an

♥️What a night celebrating @_geraldinewalsh and launching her amazing book #unravelingmotherhood in the best book shop there is @gutterbookshop

☘️I feel so lucky to have such immensely talented friends and to have been trusted to help Ger launch 🚀 into the world as an author,in her own right- was just a joy.

😃Was also lovely to catch up with old pals @heatherbetsy @helenatubridy @jenhoganjourno @standingbythewall_ and also meet some lovely new ones.

📚I want every mother and every parent to go and buy this compassionate , amazing and life - affirming read. I haven’t read a book that so reflects the huge duality of motherhood and ways in which we can unravel our own stories, and sew ourselves together a-new.

🥹So proud and so I’m awe of my awesomely talented friend. Thank you for writing book that I know is going to help so many people.

#buythisbook #motherhood #parenthood #irishbooks #irishauthor

♥️What an absolute treat- himself and I haven’t been away just ourselves together for over a year ( and it’s been a YEAR) so I was lucky enough to be whisked off to , what has to be, one of the most beautiful grand old house in Ireland @mountjulietestate .

🪄It was magic in every way, the most incredible place, amazing staff, beautiful food and remembering that I have a life partner whom I adore and just have the best craic with. We are very lucky to have the best grandparents who happily mind Felix and allowed us to go off gallavanting, living our country house dream (for a weekend). I would have made a great lady of the manor 🤣.

🔋I feel recharged, excited to dig into work and get cracking on some much needed advocacy for #womensheathcare.

🤩I am beyond privileged to have the resources ti be able to visit and stay in such a beautiful place, and I really do know how lucky I am. I enjoyed every single second. I don’t take any of it for granted for a millisecond. In the avoidance of doubt, I’m no influencer and paid for my trip in full. This isn’t an ad, just an appreciation post for the best weekend.

💪🏻The staff at @mountjulietestate are just the best of people. They made us feel like royalty and work so hard to cater and mind all the guests. Thank you to each and every one.

🌞Now- no excuses - to work I go!

♥️I am delighted to be helping the wonderful @

♥️I am delighted to be helping the wonderful @_geraldinewalsh launch her new book #unravelingmotherhood

📖it is an exceptional book- a love letter from Geraldine to her kids and a deep dive on the complex, conflicting humbling, joyful and challenging aspects of motherhood and parenthood.

🪑I am so honoured to be getting to chat with Geraldine about her magnificent book, parenting in modern Ireland & becoming the mother/parent you are as opposed to the one you think you should be.

🌏I have never read a book that resonated with me on such a deep level and read words so accurately described my own motherhood experience and made me really think differently. I hope EVERYONE buys and reads it!

🌚I hope to see some of you there and go order this book! You will not regret it.

#newbook #booklaunch #motherhood #parenthood #geraldinewalshwriter

⭐️ Hello- it’s me! 😃I am back….. 🤸

⭐️ Hello- it’s me!

😃I am back…..

🤸I took a long, needed extended break. But, Fear not my lovelies- All is well.

🫡I needed to take my own advice and focus on the stuff I needed to work on, as opposed to trying to do it all and getting overwhelmed.

👋🏻But I’m back - lots to do, lots to say, LOTS to advocate for. So I’m very grateful you all didn’t unfollow and hope you guys can stick around and you can tell me what’s some important stuff I need to highlight or talk about …

On my return… I thought a nice selection of some fairly cringe snaps was appropriate

😂🤣 I’m getting better with age thank goodness but the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s do offer some photographic gold!

⚡️I’m still midwifing and working away helping as many families as I can but I’d also like to share some other bits of my life too- I make ZERO apologies for broadening my horizons 🫣

👀hopefully there will be some interesting stuff to look at & unfortunately #womenshealthcare, #maternityservices & the rest have not gotten any better in my absence- so hello, annoying me is back with a bite! ❤️♥️👋🏻⭐️

#midwifelife #photostomakeyousmile

While I failed miserably to convince Felix to get

While I failed miserably to convince Felix to get a trim- Granny succeeded ♥️♥️

Great day at the @inmo_irl Midwives conference. I

Great day at the @inmo_irl Midwives conference. I was there with @activeironworld and great to catch up with friends and colleagues from all over. Some brilliant talks too ❤️❤️

#loneliness 💔Early motherhood and parenthood

#loneliness

💔Early motherhood and parenthood can be really lonely!!

✍🏾I was so delighted to be invited to write an article for @belfasttelegraph recently, on how to combat the often lonely times that can occur in early motherhood and parenthood.

🔗Link to article in my bio

Connecting with other parents, talking through your feelings and asking for help sound so easy! But in the fog of new born babyhood- it can be so hard.

😳Feeling lost at sea and lonely are incredibly normal and so common yet we are useless at taking about it.

☝️Please don’t suffer in silence - be honest and do something to combat it. And as always if you are feeling lost- reach out .

👥Also, if you know of a new parent - #reachin and keep reaching ! it doesn’t just take a village; it takes all of us helping each other.

⭐️Be the hand that you might have needed; it’s the best gift you can offer

#midwifeadvice #lonliness #earlymotherhood #baby #earlyparenting

👻🎃#oichesamhain #happyhalloween #oícheshamh

👻🎃#oichesamhain #happyhalloween #oícheshamhna
I hope you and yours have lots of spooky fun 🤩

👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻

Happy Halloween 🎃

Happy Halloween 🎃

#betterdaysperiod is a campaign to highlight recen

#betterdaysperiod is a campaign to highlight recent research into how we experience our period health and what we could do to improve things.

🗣Message is clear - we need to all be having a bigger #menstruation conversation!

🙏🏻Thank you @activeironworld for such a great morning talking all things periods. Brilliant panel, lovely discussion in a really nice venue @theclarencehotel

🩸Great to hear from @hersport.ie :By educating around period health we can keep girls playing sport and make life easier for all of us. Boys should. NOT be excluded from the conversation either.

🫂We need to chat more about periods and woman’s health. So great to hear different peoples experiences. Well done Claire and Gretchen and all the @activeironworld team for such a great event.

#betterdaysperiod #period #periodhealth #menstruation

#Family ❤️I love being from #louth and I’m

#Family

❤️I love being from #louth and I’m so proud of #Dundalk #blackrocklouth

😍All of my siblings, niblings and Ofcourse Dad supreme , Bonzo live there. It will always be #home.

💎Watching Felix wishing grandad Bonzo happy birthday with his #bff #cousin Arthur would gladden the hardest heart.

✨Ultimately,we are carved, moulded and supported by our history and family. I feel eternally grateful that these are mine. Dad is the most positive guiding light, who has solo parented and grandparented us all since my mum died nearly 19 years ago. We have so much fun, love and the best chats: I don’t take a single moment for granted.

#sunday #love

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