my midwife's better than your midwife

When I first got pregnant, I didn't know much about different models of pre-natal care and delivery options. Like many first-time-mommies, I dove into books like What to Expect When You're Expecting (the "pregnancy bible") and signed up for a couple of different websites to give me weekly updates on bub's development.

And then I met Jeannine Bradow who would turn out to be my midwife.

Jeannine ("Nean") walked me through all the changes of my growing belly and body and baby until that 40-week mark, then helped deliver my precious son, and then looked after us with weekly home visits for the first 6 weeks of Levi's life.

Not only did she teach me so much about being a mother and carrying a baby, but she also helped educate me on the birthing process. Being equipped like that (knowledge = power!) went a long way toward distilling any fears or negative preconceived ideas that I had in my attitude toward the actual event of childbirth.

Now Nean is not only "my midwife" as I like to call her, but she is also my friend. I just want to sing her praises and brag about her a little because, well, she deserves it! She's a champion of mothers and a lover of babies. She helps to bring a sense of empowerment to women during this most monumental time of womanhood: the birth of her child.

Nean just won the award for Townsville's Midwife of the Year. I'm so proud of her and I can't think of any one more well-deserving.

Hooray for Nean! x