- Cheryl Rowe
I trained at Addington Hospital. Midwifery was my main and at times my only motivation for doing the nursing training. Eventually my training started, what a disappointment. NOTHING made sense to me so much monitoring of mom and baby, many invasive procedures and very little to no support for the labouring mum.
How was this good patient care?
So I bravely raised my hand in class and expressed my concerns.... The response was mind blowing
"Wait for when you give birth nurse Rey and we will talk again!!"
And at that exact moment I silently vowed to prove her wrong!
Robert James Rowe
7/12/1999
My first proudest moment was the birth of Rob, at home, unmediated and with the assistance of a midwife, Doula and proud although panicked Dad!
The labour although painful, scary and at times some what insane was totally manageable. The most intense part was the push. It was very over whelming and completely beyond my control (for me that was hard, I felt that being a midwife I would have control and perhaps even breath him out. Nope that's not life I yelled him out - luckily 4 pushes and my precious boy was born.
The Love, pride and feeling of completeness is beyond description.
And so within 6 months of Robs birth my private practice started - slowly at first and then as word spread and people experienced childbirth as it should be, calm and supported.
Reassurance and positive attitude as my Practice grew from strength to strength.
In 2004 my husband and I decided that it was time to do it again and so we got into the business of getting pregnant again with the pressures of a busy practice and a pregnancy - there is no denying that it was a huge challenge.
Jonathan Grant Rowe
6/07/2005
Coping with nausea from hell and many if not all of the pregnancy niggles, I finally made it to 38 weeks and I went into labour - Jonathan's birth was a whole different experience I had a midwife and Doula for safety and the rest was up to me!
After a short but manageable labour I was ready to push.
Grant had been given the role of assisting me to catch my precious boy and so with nerves frayed and no time to change his mind he assumed the pose, and with me yelling No no no Jonathan literally popped out in 4 pushes!!!
Wow, what an amazing awesome empowering experience!!
My 2 perfect boys, the lights of my life and Daddies of course, are without doubt my proudest and most crowning accomplishments!!
I am forever grateful for the births I had , I could not have done it without my amazing teams and the unquestionable support of Grant Rowe.
Cheryl's Philosophy
- I believe every woman deserves to be able to cherish her birth experience.
- I want mothers to feel that they have the opportunity to work with their bodies, knowing that they and their babies are safe and that their best interests are in the hands of someone they know and trust, so that they enter labour with excitement and anticipation and not fear and trepidation.
- I truly believe that it is just as possible for women who has an emergency cesarean birth to feel like she has had a wonderful birth, as it is for a women who has her baby at home with her older kids playing around her. The key is not what happened, but that you were able to participate in the decisions taken and make an informed choice. Then it is how you feel about that experience.
- Healthy birth experiences result when a women feels looked after, but also part of the decision making process. Safe in the knowledge that help is at hand in the form of the gynaecologist and modern-day technology should it be needed, the labouring women should be left to listen to her body and allowed to deliver as her body directs.
- I feel that the father has a vital role to play in the birth process: Did you know the oxytocin, the hormone that helps your uterus to contract, is released every time Dad physically touches the labouring mother?
- I am in complete favour of the appropriate use of technology, without it many pregnancies would result in a catastrophic outcome for mom and baby, however I do feel that a low risk pregnancy and labour need not end in a “hi-tech delivery”.
- I sincerely believe that birth, from baby’s viewpoint, is an upsetting and traumatic experience, and that a midwife who employs the principles of active and gentle birth, greatly reduces the tough transition from womb to world for YOUR little one.
Background Experience;
Cheryl trained in 1986 and in 1993 went on to specialize in midwifery and worked for many years in the traditional labour ward setting.
It is here that she gained valuable experience in the management of complications in pregnancy and childbirth, but it is also here that she began to realize that there must be a gentler option for the birthing mother with a low risk pregnancy, and that less intervention meant a better outcome for mom and baby.
She started her private midwifery practice in 1999 and has been in private practice since then having delivered close on 1500 babies.
She personally has had two unmedicated, water births at home, which only served to strengthen her belief in a women’s right to choose the type of birth that is right for her, and to be surrounded by a team of women who provide a holistic approach to pregnancy, labour and birth.
Every birth is attended by Cheryl as the midwife and a doula, who herself is a midwife and often a second doula. That means there are never less than two fully trained midwives at your birth, midwives whom you have built a relationship with, and who are intricately aware of your and your partners wishes concerning your special birth.