The Motherhood Practice on BBC Woman's Hour!

What France gets right about maternity care, and why we brought it to London.

Last week our founder, Sarah Seror, went on BBC Woman's Hour to talk to Nuala McGovern about why maternity care feels so different on either side of the Channel. It was her first time on radio, in her adopted country, and the reason she was invited is the reason we exist.

Sarah has had two children, one cared for in France and one in the UK. In France, her midwife care began with a positive test. She saw the same midwife throughout, was given eight hours of birth preparation, and after the birth that same midwife came to her home every week for six weeks to check on her, not just the baby. In the UK, care began at the end of the first trimester, she saw twelve different midwives, and after the birth there were two home visits and then nothing until the six week check.

That is not a criticism of the people who cared for her. It is a criticism of the design. The first weeks after birth are the highest risk period for a mother's mental health, and they are the weeks the system is least present for.

So she built the French model in London, with her co-founder and midwife Clarissa Battaglino, alongside NHS care rather than instead of it. A dedicated, expert midwife from the moment you find out you are pregnant until six weeks after birth. Hour long appointments at home, with time for education and emotional support, and rapid escalation to your hospital or GP if something is not right. And postpartum care that is built in, including a physiotherapy assessment at six weeks with the specialists at Six Physio, because in France pelvic health after birth is treated as normal recovery, not something you have to know to ask for.

Sarah is grateful to Nuala McGovern, Simon Richardson and the Woman's Hour team for the invitation. But the conversation it opened is the one we have every day with women who are pregnant now.

If you would like to talk about what this could look like for you, we offer a free 20 minute conversation with one of our midwives.

Listen to the episode replay here from 36'15