Hello

I discovered epidemiology while I was at vet school and from then on was hooked - and have worked in the human side of public health ever since. Infectious disease epidemiology has remained a huge passion, and I have worked on a wide range of topics in this area whilst reserving a special place in my heart for the infectious disease challenges that lie at the interface between animal, human and enivornmental health.

As my career developed, I became interested in the wider determinants of health, and in integrating social science methods with epidemiolgical approaches in order to have a fuller understanding of not just what and how big the disease risks facing population groups are, but also how and why people choose to take those risks (and how they might best be mitigated). To explore these areas further, I chose to spend time working in the wider public health sphere outside of infectious disease epi, in particular in the child and maternal health sphere.

During the Covid pandemic, I realised that although I loved working at the population level of public health, I  really missed having tangible, personal interactions where I could see the immediate impacts of my work. I'd also had three children by then, and as well as learning lots about what's key to maternal and infant health through my work, had realised through my own and others' experiences that often even those basic factors could be difficult to access for women in the UK. Whilst on maternity leave with my third child, on the back end of a grulleing period working on the Covid response, I attended Singing Mamas groups - community singing groups for women, particularly aimed at mothers. There I discovered the incredible power of singng to heal deep wounds and to instantly connect with others - even when you're coming from a place of burn-out and loneliness.

 

That year I decided to train as a doula and as a Singing Mamas leader, to scratch my itch of wanting to make those meaningful connections and to use my knowledge and experience to help women to enter motherhood fully supported and empowered.

I now have the pleasure of combining all of these great loves and passions as a freelance epidemiologist, public health scientist, doula, and song leader.