Alice Keely, Registered Midwife, MSc, PhD
I have been a UK registered midwife for over twenty years, having worked in London, Scotland and now back in my native Yorkshire. I’ve worked in complex care teams, homebirth teams, I’ve taught hypnobirthing and done everything in between! Along the way I’ve had my own three children, two in hospital, one at home – all very different experiences.
Almost as soon as I qualified back in 2001, I became interested in specialising in care for plus size women. I made sure I got plenty of experience and got all the extra training I could, and in 2008 I was lucky enough to secure a position specialising in plus size care. I’ve never looked back.
Over the past decade or so I’ve also tucked an MSc and a PhD under my belt and in doing so I’ve taken a deep dive into plus size women’s experiences of pregnancy and care. More recently I hung up my hospital scrubs and I’ve been lecturing and researching in universities, spreading the word to policy makers and health professionals about how we can improve care. My published research was used by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in their latest UK plus size care guidelines.
Now I am bringing it to you! I can help you! By teaching you to understand and celebrate your unique pregnant body, empowering you to understand what your body actually does during pregnancy and birth, but also to understand evidence, medical guidelines, your choices and how to make decisions and to ask for what you want. Too often I’ve seen impersonal, rules-based care offered to women and I’ve made it my mission to change this through empowering women to advocate for themselves..
I’m glad you’re here and I’m looking forward to helping you.