Anna is a hypnobirth teacher, EFT practitioner, and writer with a deep passion for women’s health, birth and the forgotten rites of passage that shape our lives. Her work weaves together research, advocacy and cyclical wisdom to support women from menarche through to menopause. Through her platform Rights and Rites, she creates spaces for informed choice, embodied healing and honest conversations about birth and the maternity system. Here, she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind her work, her biggest breakthrough, the challenges she has overcome along the way, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I spent most of my adult life working in travel, but during Covid I felt a strong pull to take a different path. I trained as a hypnobirthing teacher and an EFT practitioner, initially just for myself and to support friends. I’ve always been someone who loves to research, and I found myself completely immersed in the world of birth by listening to podcasts, reading studies and learning from experts like Dr Rachel Reed.
The more I learned, the more I became aware of the gap between evidence-based care and the experiences many women were reporting, particularly around coercion and lack of informed consent in maternity settings. I had experienced coercion to have an induction for being over 40 weeks and felt a growing need to both understand and share the information I was learning.
My work deepened further when I trained in the blood mysteries, exploring the full spectrum of women’s rites of passage – from menarche to postpartum to menopause. I felt very aligned with this work, and it was at that point that everything came together. What began as curiosity became more of a calling, and Rights and Rites was born.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
In the beginning, I thought I was writing a book. I spent hours researching and writing, but eventually realised I needed a more immediate outlet, so I started a Substack. At first, I was essentially writing to myself by deep diving into topics I felt weren’t being talked about enough, like obstetric violence and informed consent.
When my first 100 subscribers joined, it felt significant because I realised I wasn’t alone in these questions anymore.
Alongside this, I began offering hypnobirthing sessions locally. I didn’t have a website at that stage so everything grew through word of mouth, particularly with women who resonated with the advocacy and human rights aspect of my work.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
The biggest shift came with the blood mysteries work. I realised I didn’t just want to support women in birth. I actually wanted to support them across their entire cyclical lives.
The 9-week course emerged very organically, with each week focusing on a different archetype that appears in both the menstrual cycle and the wider life cycle. It’s deeply reflective work, and women often find that powerful emotions and insights surface. I integrate tools like EFT, journaling, meditation, reiki and yoga, depending on what each woman needs.
The course culminates in a menarche reclamation ceremony which is a chance to revisit and reframe our first experience of bleeding, and gently rewrite inherited narratives that may no longer serve us.
The feedback has been incredibly moving. While I love birth work, expanding into this ‘red thread’ from menarche to menopause gave my business clarity and brought everything together.
My work now includes:
- A Substack exploring maternity systems and informed choice
- Birth and postpartum support grounded in advocacy
- A postpartum ebook
- The Blood Mysteries course and ceremonies
- An Inner Seasons menstrual guide for girls
- A Moon Method Diary to support cyclical living
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Like many people, I’d say it’s a work in progress. We home educate and life is full of lots of exciting projects. I’ve recently finished a degree in religious studies and ancient mythology which has freed up a little more time.
I tend to work on set days during the week, with rights and rites sessions often taking place in the evenings or at weekends. My partner is also self-employed, so we work together to create flexibility where we can. It’s not always perfectly balanced, but it does allow us to prioritise the life we want to live as a family, which feels really important.
