| The
faces behind www.healthvisitors.com
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Catharine
Parker-Littler
midwife and founder of www.midwivesonline.com
With over 20 years experience of working with the UK NHS, Catharine
Parker-Littler also has extensive research and training experience
in the areas of pregnancy and birth. Her career has also included
time spent as a practicing midwife in Africa. Catharine initially
developed midwivesonline as a midwifery-led, one-stop information
portal for midwives and related healthcare professionals to
access the latest scientific evidence, job vacancies, courses
& conferences, info for 'wannabe midwives' and the latest
product innovations, all to support career development. However,
concerned at the lack of midwifery-led, quality information
for parents on the Internet Catharine used her professional
experience to develop the 'For Parents' section of midwivesonline.com
inviting parents to access information relevant to their experience
during pregnancy, birth and the post-natal period. |
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Teresa
Fleming
Administrator
Behind the scenes, Teresa, our administrator extraordinaire
ensures the smooth running of operations at HQ in Bradford.
Her work includes regular contact with advertisers, midwives
and parents using the site, as well as keeping our paperwork
and accounts up to date. She also oversees projects such as
Baby Shows and conferences which the team attend to promote
the websites and meet parents. |
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Georgina
Crossley Stretch
Web
Development Worker
Following
the completion of a HND in Spacial Design Georgina moved to
the South of France where she lived for six years. During
her time in France she developed clientele in Graphic and
Web Design, providing services for local Restaurants, Hotels,
Mobile Home companies and Bars.
After meeting her husband in France, they moved to Bradford.
She is currently finishing a diploma in Web Design and started
building healthvisitors.com in May 2005. |
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Tim
Snell
webmaster
Following the completion of a BSc in Media
Technology and Production at Bradford University, Tim went on
to freelance for a number of multi-media projects with work
including web design, film editing and print design for a number
of Yorkshire based businesses. He joined www.midwivesonline.com
in April 2004. |
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Syed
Zeeshan Ali
Applications Developer
Syed
completed his B.E. in Computer Systems from NED University in
Pakistan and worked at NED University as IT Manager for around
two and half years. He than moved to the UK and has just completed
an MSc in Mobile Computing at Leeds Metropolitan University.
He has been involved in different types of projects ranging
from computer networks to software development. |
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Bimala
Shankhar
Office
Support
Bimala
was born and raised in Nepal. She came to the UK in 2000 after
studying in Bangalore (India). She works with Teresa, organising
events, travel and day to day running of the office. Also
as part of the administration team – Bimala updates
our databases. She also keeps the staff happy by making them
lovely cups of tea.
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Angela
Davy
Health Visitor and New Mum
A qualified Nurse and Midwife before she became a Health Visitor. Angela also teaches Massage, Yoga and Swimming for babies whilst undertaking an MA in Infant Mental Health. |
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Shirley
Sowray
Community Specialist Practitioner
Shirley
lives on a farm in North Yorkshire with her husband Rob and
even though she is a 'towny' at heart, she really loves the
rural life. She has been nursing for many years, working mostly
with children and their families and qualified as a Midwife
in 2001 at the University of York. Because of her interest
in healthy living and promoting health, she carried out her
University Specialist Degree with 'First Class' Honors at
Leeds Metropolitan University in 2002.
Shirley works 4 days a week in a community clinic and utilising
her endless energy stores, she provides a wide range of health
visiting services to families and the community. Shirley also
holds a great interest in teaching and has recently taken
on the role of Community Practice Teacher, facilitating and
guiding Student Community Specialist Practitioners of the
future. Shirley feels honored and proud to join the team and
is excited about helping to support other practitioners and
their clients.
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Gill
Martin
Pre-Schood Education Specialist
Gill trained to be a teacher in London and spent the first
4 years teaching in an upper school in Lancashire. For the
past 6 years she has been the Foundation Stage Coordinator,
managing teachers, nursery nurses and children aged 3 to 5
years in an inner city school in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
She
has been married to Phil for over 30 years and they have two
married children. When her children were born she happily
became a stay at home Mum for 11 years and when she returned
to teaching it was in the Primary sector.
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Sharon
Keay
Specialist Community Public Health Nurse/
Health Visitor
Sharon
joined the team in 2006 and is delighted to be involved. She
returned to nursing after raising her children and undertook
a Children’s Nursing degree, qualifying with a First
in the late 90’s. Having a taste for the outdoors, she
joined a paediatric team and worked with children and families
across a large rural area. She was also the School Health
Advisor for children with special needs and followed this
with a spell in a Special Care Baby Unit. Leaving to become
a Health Visitor, she qualified in Specialist Community Public
Health and Health Visiting and joined a city GP practice.
Her interests include general child health, supporting families
to make lifestyle changes and breastfeeding. Sharon and a
colleague run the local smoking cessation groups to support
parents in making these changes. She is also part of a team
teaching the breastfeeding peer supporters and is currently
the breastfeeding link in her practice.
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Linda
Green
Health Visitor
Linda
is a health visitor with 18 years experience, working part-time
for North West Leeds PCT. Her particular interests include
supporting breastfeeding mothers and working with the child
development programme to empower parents to enjoy parenting
to the full. She also helps parents to deal with difficult
behaviour using a positive parenting programme.
Within her health visitor role Linda trains other health visitors
to detect postnatal depression as she has a special interest
in this area. Linda is married with 3 children.
Her interests include running, hill walking and reading.
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Sharon
Trotter
Midwife
Sharon Trotter is a Mother
& Baby Consultant with special interests in breastfeeding
and baby skin care. Sharon works as a midwife within the
NHS and independently to advise and promote best practice
in these areas. Following publications in midwifery journals,
Sharon has implemented a new policy for baby skin care within
her NHS organisation. These are now backed up by the recent
Postnatal Care Guidelines published in July 2006 by NICE.
She is also author of the best selling book, Breastfeeding:
the essential guide. Details of this, skin care tips and
TIPS reviews of baby products can be found on her web site
at www.tipslimited.com
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Frances
Byatt-Smith
Health Visitor
Frances
is a health visitor with over twenty years experience and is
working part-time in an NHS Community Health Partnership in
Scotland. She has a particular interest in helping parents to
have a positive experience of parenthood and happy children.
She does this throughout her work and in delivering positive
parenting programmes. Part of her role as a health visitor is
a parenting coordinator in her locality. As well as delivering
community-parenting programmes, she trains facilitators to deliver
the programmes She is also a qualified specialist practice supervisor
for public health/health visiting students. Following graduation
as a Health Visitor she studied with the Open University and
gained an honors degree in psychology in 1993. Frances is married
and has a twenty-year-old son. Her interests include cookery,
travel, gardening and art. |
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Heidi
Wright
Specialist Practitioner in Public Health
/ Health Visitor
Heidi has held various roles since qualifying
as a Specialist Practitioner in Public Health Nursing (Health
Visiting). Her experience within the NHS has mostly been within
the community field working as a District Nurse, Health Visitor,
Public Health Nurse Specialist and held lead Nurse roles. She
has also worked as a Lecturer in Community Nursing, Public/Child
Health at a number of Universities and continues to lecture
with the Open University and the Royal College of Nursing on
various modules. Heidi recently completed her phD, which looked
at the Health and Educational effects of providing drinking
water to children in schools. The government were keen to take
on the findings which Heidi presented to the Health Minister
Rosie Winterton at the House of Commons in July 2004. Heidi
is very excited to be given the opportunity to help and support
parents in this innovative and much needed format. |
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Naomi
Smith
Health
Visitor and Children’s Nurse
Naomi has over 20 years experience as a
nurse, paediatric nurse and health visitor. She has considerable
experience working with children and their families, helping
them to successfully navigate the many challenges and pleasures
of parenthood. In addition to working with families, Naomi leads
a paediatric service within the independent sector and regularly
works with childcare and health professionals developing services
and delivering specialist training courses.
As a working mum, Naomi understands that continual balancing
act that helps to keep everything running smoothly. She lives
in the south east of England with her husband and two small
children.
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Mary
Goodchild
Midwife
Mary has worked as a midwife for 15 years
with occasional breaks in her career for children and further
study. Over the last 6 years of her midwifery practice, Mary
has specialised in fetal medicine in a regional referral unit
in the north west of England. Here, she worked closely with
consultants to monitor high risk pregnancies, carry out investigations
and provide information and support. Her excellent clinical
skills as well as her warm sensitive approach and proven academic
ability enabled her to provide a very high standard of clinical
care for childbearing women. Mary has taken a break from midwifery
and has completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling and
Psychotherapy. She has 2 years experience of counselling in
a Primary Care Health Centre and she now provides counselling
in a hospital setting for women and their partners who have
suffered loss or trauma in pregnancy. She is currently undertaking
a certificate in body massage and hopes to incorporate this
within a stress management programme. Mary is affiliated with
the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists.
She is married with 2 children and enjoys running, dancing and
reading. |
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Jackie Charlton
Health
Visitor
Jackie has worked as a health visitor in
London for the past 12 years. Prior to this she was a school
health advisor in inner city schools.
Jackie has a particular interest in facilitating families in
the adjustments to parenthood. Resultantly she works very closely
with mums (and dads too!) in the detection of post natal depression,
and has been a post natal depression counsellor for 8 years.
Having had 2 boys of her own who were terrible sleepers she
has enormous empathy for those families who are sleep deprived.
She has been running a sleep clinic for 2 years offering support
and practical routines for sleep training.
More recently Jackie has undergone extended training in the
detection and treatment of minor ailments, and is running a
clinic for children in the primary care setting.
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Mandy
Sagoo
Health Visitor
Mandy has twenty years experience of working
in the NHS. She has been working as a Health Visitor for the
past thirteen years and as a Community Practice Teacher for
the last eight in the West Midlands. Mandy is a qualified Practice
Educator and has recently obtained her Masters in Education.
In her spare time she works as a Family Planning Nurse. Mandy
has an interest in alternative therapies and is looking forward
to starting a Reflexology course in the autumn. |
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Tash Lawton
Pilates
Instructor - PICP
Tash is a 31 year old everyday mum of two
kids (3 and 1) with a passion for wellbeing and exercise just
trying to create a balanced life. Along her road to discovery,
she fell upon pilates roughly 7 years ago. Tash says "I
will never forget the day I realized just how beneficial pilates
is for pregnant women. I had been training a woman for her nine
month term and at the end of a drug-free, 18 hour labour, she
managed to give birth naturally to a baby girl born posterior.
Midwives believed pilates had made it possible to avoid intervention.
That baby girl was my daughter."
Tash qualified as an instructor in both mat and studio exercises
after fifteen hard months training with PICP (Pilates International)
in Melbourne. Her specialism was in ante and post-natal pilates
and that led her to present on Australian national television
for Pilates TV as their pregnancy expert. Since then, she has
also appeared and demonstrated at national expos and on the
radio.
Tash broader pilates experience includes training professional
athletes including an AFL footballer suffering from a condition
that he was told would only be cured by surgery. Six weeks later,
he was injury free with no operation necessary.
Over the years of working with pregnant women, Tash realised
that there weren’t any pilates for pregnancy dvds on the
market that featured a pregnant instructor. So when she fell
pregnant with her second child, she decided to make the most
of my situation and filmed four separate trimester specific
pilates workouts. These dvds are now available for sale on her
website: www.pregalates.com
It is Tash's dream to make pilates a regular part of every
pregnant woman’s preparation for birth and their ongoing
recovery. She wants to promote its benefits to as wide an audience
as possible. |
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