I help you choose the right care provider
Following friends (or facebook) recommendations is not good enough because your choice of care provider will impact your birth outcome. I have the skills and resources to guide the process and steer you in the right direction or help you course correct until you find the right person for YOU.
I help you decide where to give birth
This is hugely personal and involves many factors, both medical and non medical. I walk you through the available options and explain the benefits, risks and advantages of each. This is an opportunity to explore all your options without having to explain, justify or commit to anything until you are certain.
I brief you before every appointment and debrief afterwards
You will experience strange symptoms and emotions throughout your pregnancy, not just when you see your care provider, which is on average 10 times during your pregnancy. I am with you every step of the way, guiding you to ask the right questions, get the right advice and providing relevant resources and recommendations BETWEEN appointments.
I help you avoid “pregnancy google overload”
You are entering unchartered territory so you are spending hours online to make sure you do not miss anything. Research and preparation is a vital part of my support packages but I will teach you to be discerning and guide you to the correct resources along with my courses and curated content.
I give you the right information when you need it
The internet is overflowing with scary birth stories and advice that constantly contradicts itself. Fear mongering is rife online and we all have a tendency to focus on the negative rather than the positive. Go there if you will, but for every negative birth story you show me, I will counter you with ten positive.
I demystify your options
I know that you want the BEST for you and your baby, and I am here to help you get it. In my “real” life I work in a home birth practice but I still maintain a strong online presence because I know it is the first place you go when you are pregnant. I do not want you to get steered into making choices based on fear.
Technology allows me to connect with you wherever you are in the world.
I will not be your primary care provider. My role is to guide you to find the best care provider, the best place to give birth and to be with you every step of the way.
My value lies in the relationship of trust that we create. I share my wisdom, experience and expertise in a way that makes sense to you and that is in line with your beliefs and expectations.
I am virtually with you 24/7 and I share the right information and resources as and when you need them.
While it is true that women have been doing this for millions of years, they did not have to navigate a system that supports policy and procedure over women’s choice.
I support choice. I support you and I believe that knowledge is power.
3 ways to work with me. Which one suits you?
10 Day Birth Plan
This is the course I wish everyone I met when I was working in the labor room had done. This course will give you a clear sense of what you want, what you need and how to get it in 10 easy steps.
The Midwife Guide to Hospital Birth
Coming soon! While 75% of births are still being done in hospitals that are governed by policy and procedure rather than personal preference and choice – this course is essential for anyone having a hospital birth. You will learn what to expect and how to manage the restrictions that may be placed on you so that you can still have a positive and memorable birth experience.
Virtual Midwife VIP
A highly personalised package that includes access to all my courses & resources plus regular 1:1 calls. This is the ultimate way to get complete care and support throughout your pregnancy. I have a team of experts and together we provide a holistic and comprehensive guide so that you can enjoy every moment of your pregnancy knowing that every aspect of your care will be covered.
The Virtual Midwife … at a glance
– GETTING TO KNOW KAREN –
My mother was a midwife and also my first and greatest teacher.
She taught me that birth was natural, normal and incredibly beautiful.
I love to travel and I am blessed that my work takes me around the world supporting women online and in person
Favourite things include yoga, sailing, singing and cheese and tomato sandwiches.
Writer, speaker, entrepreneur, adventurer, sailor, musician and keeper of women’s traditions
My ‘first birth’ was actually a cow. I was 8 years old and from that moment I was hooked on birth!
Nursing, midwifery, hypnotherapy, yoga, marketing, business administration & adult education
“So much of who we are is where we have been.” Lao Tzu
The Virtual Midwife in the Press
How Karen helped me
Karen taught me about “holding space” before I even knew it was a thing. The lessons I learned from her altered the course of my life. My pregnancy and birth experience was so amazing that it inspired me to become a doula.
Hayley RandKaren was not only with me for both of my pregnancies and births, she was also my mentor during my doula studies. She taught me the value of honoring every woman’s experience.
Lindsay Lane Ward HoffmanThroughout my wife’s pregnancies I often felt overlooked and rather like a spare wheel. Karen was the only person to make me feel entitled to share and take part in the birth experience. For that I will always be immensely grateful.
Ross BairdI never believed that birth could be so beautiful.
Sofia TsiafiI thought it was just a class about birth, but for me, it was life changing.
Natalia CostaWith her holistic approach, Karen helped me experience childbirth as it is meant to be – natural.
Chloe SteeleBeing virtual is the most simple and effective way of connecting with you.
I left the hospital system in 2009 because I had a vision of creating change. At least 80% of the women I met in the labor room were not prepared for the challenge of labor and it was TOO LATE when they were already IN labor. Added to that were the many hospital procedures that quite frankly, made me uncomfortable. I realised I needed to unlearn everything I had been taught, and relearn it in a way that serves YOU not the system.
I now work with women online and in person, sharing my wisdom, experience and the many lessons I learned in the labor room so that you are able to have the birth I know is possible with the right preparation. While it is true that women have been doing this for millions of years, they did not have to navigate a system that supports policy and procedure over women’s choice. I support choice. I support you. Knowledge IS power.
The only book written for expats by an expat midwife. Everything you need & more
Start the journey
10 Day Birth Plan
Ultimate Online Birth Course
Virtual Midwife VIP
Join our Community and feel the love
Facebook Posts
I lived and worked in Muscat, Oman for almost 14 years and was blessed to be invited into many muslim homes through the birth of their babies. I absolutely love this post from Bint Taha about motherhood which echoes the need for support, love and understanding and "mothering the mother"
Allah calls initial years of motherhood "WAHNAN ALA WAHN " (hardship upon hardship) (Quran 31:14) - basically the era of pregnancy and breastfeeding...
.
.
وهن
The word wahn comes from the root word
Wow-haa-Nun which means to be weak and feeble, lax in the joints, broken in energy, sap the strength, to lose vigour or courage, to discourage, dishearten, wear down etc.
.
.
And Allah doesn't call this time period just "wahn", rather "wahnan ala wahn" - weakness UPON weakness...
All the above things layered in double. These kind of wordings are also used for Allah Himself in the Quran (24:35) - "Noorun ala noor" (light upon light)...
.
.
So next time, if someone brushes your hardships under the rug by saying:
"but all women do it"
"well, that's why a mother has 3 times better rank"
"you chose this" etc.
Know in your heart that the Lord of the worlds accepts that IT'S HARD! Not just hard, but REALLY hard - so much so that its hardship layered upon another hardship! After which, we don't need anyone's stamp of approval, do we!
.
.
My Rabb knows. My Rabb accepts. My Rabb rewards. And I will complain of my hardships to none but My Rabb, because only He understands. Like how Ya'qub (as) said in hardship:
انما أشكو بثي وحزني إلي الله
.
.
So I will sit here and imagine about Jannah when this hardship upon hardship will be replaced with ease upon ease! Where we will bear fruits in a wink and there will be no wait or pain.
.
.
Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A man from among the people of Paradise will request Allah to allow him to cultivate the land. Allah will say to him, 'Haven't you got whatever you desire?' He will reply, 'yes, but I like to cultivate the land (Allah will permit him and) he will sow the seeds, and within seconds the plants will grow and ripen and (the yield) will be harvested and piled in heaps like mountains" [Bukhari]
.
.
& kids will be the same too.
P.S. if you're in this wahnan ala wahn stage of life, then know that you're not alone and not a single tear and sweat is lost 💜 May we always go through it all for the sake of Allah because no one else can reward us the way He can. And no one can understand the way He does!
In April of 2011, Jen McLellan launched the Plus Size Mommy Memoirs (now called Plus Mommy) blog, www.facebook.com/plusmommyblog/housed within the Plus Size Birthwebsite. plussizebirth.com/
This award-winning blog, which has received over 4 million pageviews, focused on topics ranging from plus size pregnancy to birth, body positivity to motherhood. A Facebook page and exploded overnight and brought together thousands of plus size women of all walks of life.
After blogging for seven years Jen felt a desire to try something new and deeper explore topics surrounding motherhood and body image. The Plus Size Birth website is now focused on conception, pregnancy and postpartum for plus size people. Whereas the Plus Mommy website and podcast hones in on motherhood and body love, while still sharing stories and resources around plus size Pregnancy.
Jen McLellan is a published author, founder of Plus Size Birth and host of the Plus Mommy Podcast. She helps people navigate the world of plus size pregnancy, shares tips for embracing your body and laughs her way through the adventures of parenthood. Jen has grown a community of over 177,000 via the Plus Mommy Facebookpage. Her work has been featured in major publications such as Yahoo Shine, Huffington Post, Everyday Feminism, and International Doula. She authored the My Plus Size Pregnancy Guideand co-wrote the Amazon bestseller, The Peachie Moms Guide to Body Love for Moms. She has an essay in Jes Baker’s book Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls. As a public speaker, Jen has spoken at numerous events including presenting at the National Institutes of Health. Jen is also a certified childbirth educator, wife, and mother to a charismatic eight-year-old.
It was an absolute delight talking to Jen and I am so pleased that she is part of the Virtual Midwife family Please join me in my Facebook group The Virtual Midwife Cafe where I do weekly live mini workshops and share information and resources for pregnancy.
