Managing your Emotions & March with Midwives Movement

Pregnancy is a beautiful thing, one of life's greatest gifts. But it can bring with it a whirlwind of emotions. Tears of joy, feelings of fear, and a profound love that can't quite be put into words. Everyone who goes through their birthing journey wishes for a positive experience — from bump to birth and all the little milestones along the way. The same goes for those working in maternity services. They, too, hope for the safe arrival of every newborn entering the world and that the parents are treated with high-quality care every step of the way.

Sometimes, however, not everything goes smoothly, and unfortunately, issues may arise

In 2017, CQC shared reports of comprehensive inspections of NHS acute hospital services in England. Concerns were highlighted around the safety measures of maternity services and the increasing number of women experiencing complex pregnancies. Since then, NHS maternity service ratings have risen, but almost 40% still require safety improvements. The current pandemic has made an already bad situation worse. Let's take a look at some statistics:

• 2021 has seen maternity services become critically unsafe for staff and users.
• A recent RCM survey of midwives found 60% of staff are thinking of leaving the profession. For every 30 newly qualified midwives, 29 are leaving.
• UK breastfeeding rates are drastically low and continue to fall due to a lack of skilled support.

Exploring emotions in the workplace

Emotions invite us to pay more attention to what is really going on. To slow down and venture within so that we can move forward with clarity. Each emotion sends a different message, such as:

• Anxiety motivates us when we are faced with challenges
• Fear lets us know that our safety is at risk
• Frustration encourages us to make a change

We store the energy of trauma in the body, and if we don't deal with our emotions this can lead to dis-ease.

Learning to embrace your emotions

Emotions can be overwhelming, and when we don't acknowledge what we are going through and instead try to push them down, that's when we suffer. Learning to embrace our emotions can teach us a lot. They are messages from the body telling us how we are truly feeling inside. When it comes to negative emotions, we often try to avoid them, push them down and march on. Rather than avoid, learn to embrace your emotions.

A way that you can welcome your emotions is to become present. Whenever you begin to feel any kind of way, pause. Take a second and return home to yourself. Sit with these feelings for a few moments or more and venture within. Ask yourself, "How am I feeling?", "Why am I feeling this way" "Is this emotion sending me a message?". Tap into your emotions before releasing your body's feedback and moving on. The mind and body are wonderful built-in guidance systems that, when we listen carefully to them, we can find a profound sense of peace and freedom. Having this insight can be particularly useful when in the workplace if experiencing feelings of frustration and doubt or worse still the feeling of being bullied and coerced which is what many of our midwives are currently facing in the workplace.

There are many ways you can manage negative emotions. One of our favorites is The Wise Hippo Cloak of Protection. We have adapted this session specially for anyone looking for a way to protect themselves from negative emotions and people within their workplace. This is our gift to you to help you cope with any challenging situations you find yourself in.

Cloak of Protection – For all.

We wanted to share The Wise Hippo Cloak of Protection with you. The Cloak of Protection is designed to reduce the emotional effects of negative people and situations. Whether you are a midwife or an individual suffering from challenging situations in the workplace, you can discover a deep sense of peace and protection with this powerful 12 minute session. You can turn to this track at any time. Sit back, relax and allow this audio to guide you to a place of strength. Giving you a useful tool to help protect you from negativity whenever you need it.

"Reminisce to the times when you were brave and strong, occasions when you have shown persistence and determination as you strive to achieve something you believe in, hope and courage when others have not necessarily shown the same, fun and creativity while enjoying doing things a different way, having an open mind when appropriate and sticking to what you want when you know it is right for you and those that you care for."

March with Midwives Movement

The Wise Hippo hosts a community of women from all walks of life, and many of our Wise Hippo teachers are also midwives. We hold this movement very close to our hearts and want to do all we can to raise awareness and acknowledge the challenges that our wonderful midwives out there are facing.

Let's stand together to support our local midwives and families.

On Sunday 21st November, 2 pm - 4 pm, nationwide vigils will be held in a call for the government to implement urgent crisis management and resources to support midwives. You can find out where your local vigil is by joining the March With Midwives UK group on Facebook or following the hashtag #MarchWithMidwives.

It's time for a change. Let's make it happen together.

The Wise Hippo x