PEOPLE AND COMMUNITY
Dr Rebecca Moore1. You are a consultant psychiatrist who specialises in caring for people transitioning through all phases of motherhood, from pregnancy, through birth and beyond. You have cofounded- Make Birth Better, an initiative that aims to create a world where people no longer suffer from birth trauma. What personal and or professional experiences led you into this work and your co- creation of Make Birth Better.
I have been a perinatal psychiatrist for a long time now and I was really lucky at the start of my career to work for Dr Liz MCDonald one of the pioneers of this work in the UK.
She was an inspiration for me and I fell in love with this work. To me it remains the most important and interesting role, one that supports women and birthing people as they are pregnant and become parents with all the immense change that brings.
The work is so important as we are supporting women and their families but also impacting on the next generations health too. I love the mix of obstetrics, psychiatry and paediatrics.
Once I became a mum myself, having hyperemesis through all my pregnancies and miscarriages and two very colicky babies I only felt more strongly about the work having experienced all the emotions and feelings it brought to me. I struggled and needed help and found it hard to access at times, so it made me more determined that no person should ever go through this alone.
2. What significance does this work hold for you?
Everything, it’s vital and important. To hear stories is a privilege and a honour. Perinatal work captures a time of people’s lives where women and birthing people are vulnerable to many physical and emotional changes. It remains a time where suicide rates rise. It remains a time where black and brown women have different outcomes and are more likely to die than a white women. So there is still lots of work to do to ensure there is equity of access and care for all.
3. In your work as a consultant psychiatrist you support pre-pregnant and pregnant people in their transition into motherhood. Often the realities of conception, pregnancy, birth and motherhood sit jarringly against its idealisms, with many people/ women experiencing difficulties in conception, pregnancy loss, birth trauma, and the inherent challenges of motherhood. How do you feel awareness or support for motherhood can be addressed to be more inclusive and representative of these experiences.
I think we need to talk more frankly and openly about the realities in all the spaces we can starting from at school.
I think trauma informed antenatal care is vital and has been reduced in most trusts.
We need to give spaces through pregnancy to really be able to express our fears and hopes, to ask all the questions we want, to understand that birth cannot be planned for most people.
For example, I hear so many women who knew nothing about the risk of having a forceps birth versus a cesarean birth and they wished they had known so they could make an informed choice.
4. Caring for people can be both rewarding and confronting, what resources, support, approaches do you use to support yourself in your life and in caring for others.
Managing my own reserves is one of the most important parts of having a long career and it’s something I wish I had been taught more at medical school and through my training.
We know lots of staff are currently leaving the NHS and there are high rates of burn out and depression or PTSD in all staff groups.
I don’t always get it right but for me it’s a mix of firm boundaries about the hours I work, lots of sleep and learning to say no. I want to always help but I can’t help everyone at the expense of my own health.
I speak to my peers for support and decompression and outside of work I walk my dog, do a lot of yoga and take regular holidays.
For me what’s really missing is the NHS meaningfully caring for its staff, this needs to embedded in people’s working week- not as an add on- adequate staffing, consistent supervision at every level, time to debrief and reflect, adequate spaces to rest and better food on site 24 hours a day would make a start.
5. What does wellbeing mean to you? What do you feel wellbeing may mean to the people you care for?
For me well-being means I feel healthy and strong, physically and mentally. I have enough resources within myself to listen and give and be consistently kind to others.
I hesitate to describe what well-being means for others as it’s so subjective, the things we love and seek out will be different for everyone and are often tied to other issues such as privilege or financial security. It’s hard to feel a sense of well-being if your basic needs aren’t being met such as housing.
However, I think it’s good to talk about these things with people and find those glimmers of hope and joy and social prescribing can be really vital here, so many areas have brilliant initiatives that can be used to give people time and space to feel good.
6. Outside of work what are your inspirations, passions, interests?
Lots! Food, travel, reading, and yoga.
My kids inspire me daily, personally I am loving the teenager years, I think they often get demonized and they are sparky, curious and fun to be with.
My work still inspires me after a long time, I love the new research coming out about the genetics of trauma and the role psychedelics are going to have as an innovative treatment.
I have so many inspirations in and outside of work, my colleagues, the team at Make Birth Better, those with influence who use their voice politically, socially or to break taboos.
I am passionate about those I work with, collaborating and listening. It’s just the most amazing position to hear peoples stories, endlessly fascinating and moving.
7. Where do you find joy and comfort?
Home is a big part, with quiet and peace and my kids and my husband and the dog and cat. With nothing to do, nowhere to be and just being safe and at peace.
I find comfort in the work community I belong to, knowing that there are so many good people out there, when the world feels dark and cruel and relentless they bring me solace. I know they are all out there dotted around the world and that they make a difference everyday.
8. What challenges do you encounter in your everyday life- how do you overcome these?
Lots! The same as many, I am in the middle of the menopause so I feel a lot of new tiredness and fatigue.
I worry for my kids and their future.
I worry about the politics of the UK and how we support those in need and hold onto compassion.
The pace of work can be relentless and sometimes it feels a lot to hold and I hate tech! Working more from home more can be a blessing and a curse.
9. What triumphs do you face in your everyday life?
I feel a lot of pride for the work we are doing at Make Birth Better. We started with me and my work wife Dr Emma Svanberg and are now a big collective. I think we have done a lot to raise awareness about birth trauma and also last year alone we trained over 3000 UK NHS staff.
I am also proud that we have created a space online where people can freely express thoughts and views and that most importantly all views are valid and can be expressed respectfully. I think in the increasing cancel culture we live in the ability to respectfully hear and disagree with each other is so important.
10. Do you have any guiding principles or philosophies that you use to support you personally or professionally in your decision making and actions?
I try to be kind and compassionate to all, whatever someone brings to me I try to hold that steadiness in how I respond.
I think it’s so important to treat everyone with the utmost dignity, respect and kindness. Kindness matters so much with trauma and it’s often the thing that distresses people the most when their care has been unkind or cruel.
11. Three best books/ most turned to books on your bookshelf? Any on your reading list?
Recently I haven’t been reading as much, it’s often a sign I need to rest more for me, when I can’t read as I am an avid reader.
Recently I have loved Real Self Care by Pooja Lakshmin, Birth Debrief by Illiyin Morrison and I just recently read and loved Minnie Driver’s autobiography.
My next reads are Tessa Hadley’s Free Love and I am looking forward to Africa Brook’s next book. Also need to read Emma’s book Parenting for Humans.
I always have a pile by my bed I dip in and out of- I can’t stop buying books!
12. Do you have anything else you would like to comment, is there any close to your heart or feelings central to you as women/ person/ professional that you would like to share or be asked about?
Just to any person reading today that’s struggling with low mood, anger, after a traumatic birth, trying to be pregnant, after a termination- to know that you are not alone. To know you matter and how you feel is valid. There are people and places where you will be listened to and where you can begin to untangle how you feel.
And as I always say: my DMs are truly always open if I can help in any small way at @drrebeccamoore
4/08/2023
Find Dr Rebecca Moore on social media here: @drrebeccamoore
Find Dr Rebecca Moore online here: https://www.doctorrebeccamoore.com
