The only book addressing the stark psychological impact of midwifery work while giving midwives the tools to choose a brighter future. Flourish aims to support you as a midwife to do two things: to name what’s going on around you and within you, then to find and claim your distinctive place in the midwifery world. You might be a newly qualified or early career midwife facing the challenges of finding your voice as well as your feet. Maybe you’re an established midwife but feel as though you have lost your way – and with it the energy to reshape either yourself or the environment you work in. Perhaps you're a team leader seeking to find the vocabulary to connect with your team, acknowledge what they might be feeling and reach out for resources and tools to support them to thrive, reflect and grow.

As a guidebook, Flourish is a tour of discovery that reveals how ‘standard’ maternity environments and practices might be impacting you personally, and then invites you to reconnect with the core of your personality and purpose. You'll recognise more clearly the realities of trauma exposure, burnout, compassion fatigue and moral injury, and explore what's really needed for psychological safety. You'll choose from an array of exercises to practice living well in the day to day, and you'll find a way back 'home', to a place where your sense of motivation for being a midwife is rekindled – a place where you can reconnect to your values, strengths and your unique voice. Once there, you will be able to make real, rich choices about your life and your career.

Kate Greenstock is a distinctive combination of practising midwife and coach, bringing the flavours of both: reality and possibility; rawness and hope.