The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Imposter syndrome was (and still can be) a challenge for me. Originally, when I started offering my support to women, I hadn’t personally experienced pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum. For me to relate to what someone might have lived through as they became a mother was impossible. However, what I realised was important was my ability to hold space without becoming emotionally attached to someone else’s story because of my own personal experiences. This truly allowed me to build a foundation of compassion and unwavering clarity in how I lead my client sessions and workshops. I also realised that my capacity to hold space does not need to be determined by all of the credentials or qualifications (it would be an eternity of study!). I have done and continue to do the work to strengthen my self-awareness and to sit with my own discomforts, and that is just as important.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
A pro is the reward of working with women and helping them to move forward – I learn from every client. There is always a piece of them that is reflected back to me that fires up my own self-reflection. A con is finding the balance of creativity and administration of running a business. I love teaching and sharing knowledge and finding creative ways to do so and that is something I could spend all of my time doing; however, there is also the realistic side of administration, which at times I need to find the motivation for!
Hopes and dreams: What next?
I have just become a mother to a beautiful baby boy and living through my own experience of birth has added such an innate depth of understanding to the work I do.
As mothers, we need to connect to ourselves to determine our true needs and be able to have the confidence to express these to those around us, so I am working to create spaces for women to come together to learn, to speak of their fears, their passions, their dreams and to be welcomed into an environment that safely encourages them to heal. By sharing, we receive the medicine of being heard and those holding space to listen are able to receive the knowledge and comforts that they may need to move forward.
Vanessa Werner Birth Care workshops, one-on-one sessions and community talks will continue to aim to create a collective community that recentres the mother as the way of birth and that demands awareness of how important the role of a mother is within our society.
To find out more about the wonderful services she offers, visit the Vanessa Werner Birth Care website and join her communities on Facebook and Instagram.
