Teacher of the Month - Sally Lomas
I believe passionately in the Birthlight vision, helping mothers and fathers towards an empowering birth experience and babies to a gentle and loving welcome to the world.
My approach to all that I do is holistic, I aim to understand and respond to the person - whether mother or baby - as a whole. I believe that teaching, in whatever form too often can easily limit itself to one area of human experience and distort the whole picture. Healing and growth are best achieved in an atmosphere of spontaneity and light-heartedness in which mothers and babies are able to reveal themselves and share with others. I believe that if lessons are fun this does not mean that they will lack rigour.
I lay great emphasis on bonding which is achieved not only by mothers and babies being together but by the quality of the interaction. Mothers should be helped to follow what a baby is trying to communicate and to respond to his or her individual needs.
An important feature of teaching is to ensure the holistic and spontaneous approach while making use of the various techniques, primarily those of yoga which have shown themselves to be helpful.
I has always enjoyed working intuitively and flexibly. From my years of experience as an artist in London to my closer contact with families in my work as a teacher and counsellor, and now my involvement with Birthlight, I have tried to be true to my inner feelings and values.
I originally trained as a textiles designer and with a partner opened a shop in Fulham Rd producing exclusive hand painted silks. I learnt to combine my creative ideas with commercial realism. Although the business was successful I felt the need to expand my horizons and left the UK to travel through Asia, Australia and North America. I was fascinated by the glimpses into the lives of other cultures. I feel travelling has helped me to open my mind, to accept and explore different attitudes in the knowledge that we can all learn from and help each other.
I settled in California and with the birth of my first child my involvement with babies began. It was such a wonderful experience and I so enjoyed getting to know my new daughter.
I began by training and then working as a Montessori teacher with babies and children from birth to 3 years old. Over time I realised I had equal interest in the parents and their relationships within the family. My communication skills developed as I learnt to listen and to guide them.
On returning to England I trained as a counsellor but was unsure which direction to take. When I became pregnant with my second child I attended Birthlight classes with Françoise Freedman. Knowing the joy and support I felt being close to other women about to give birth and realising how special this was to me I knew it was work I needed to be involved with. I felt the different skills I had learnt over the years could come together to help others towards a more enjoyable birth experience.
I combined being a mother with continuing to study. I attended classes to learn from Françoise Freedman and trained at the Active Birth centre in London with Janet Balaskas.
I am now settled in Cambridge, have four children and have been teaching here for over 10 years. My training and experience has progressed and I now teach Antenatal Yoga, Aqua Yoga and Childbirth Preparation courses for couples. I teach fun Baby Yoga and Baby swimming classes through the Dolphin Birthlight Baby Swimming School, of which I am a Director.
I have now become a director of Birthlight and I am involved in the development of the teacher training programme (Director of Training). The courses we have developed are offered in many locations and have gained international recognition. Feeling passionately about an empowering birth experience, I have developed the Birthlight Childbirth Preparation course for teachers. I have been so encouraged that this has been received so well.
I have been fortunate to be able to involved in many workshops and spoken at conferences in Cambridge, Oslo and Hawaii. My professional connections include training teachers for Sure Start, Touch Learn and Kids Unlimited.