My name is Sarah Ifill, and I live in Oxfordshire with my husband Graham and our three daughters, two of whom were born at home.

My qualifications include:

• Registered general nurse
• Registered midwife
• Accredited NCT antenatal teacher;
• Aquanatal instructor.

I have been on my midwifery journey for 18 years, and during this time have had my insights about birth challenged more than once, as I have continued to learn more about it.

I started as a (mostly!) compliant midwife giving policy led care in hospital; went on to champion active birth and give informed choices to couples, whilst also teaching for the National Childbirth Trust; and finally having watched some very active and informed women struggle during birth, I now respect how important spiritual and emotional, as well as physical, preparation is for birth. These aspects encompass a woman’s subconscious believes and past experiences that can profoundly affect her ability to "let go" during birth.

I am competent in homebirth, waterbirth, and HBAC, and can support women using a variety of alternative therapies. With the additional support of more experienced independent colleagues I would be happy to support breech and twin births at home too.

In my spare time I’m a volunteer youth worker, I enjoy walking my dog, listening to a wide variety of music and I'm passionate about sport, football in particular!