Me, you and baby too

Midwife & Antenatal Teacher

Stefanie Docherty – Owner and founder of Me, you and baby too.

Stefanie has 16 years experience of working within the NHS as an Adult Nurse, and over 9 years experience in Midwifery. She has worked at Manchester’s leading Hospital, St Mary’s, in various departments from Antenatal Clinic, Labour Ward, Postnatal Ward and as a Community Midwife. Her most recent role has been dedicated to serving women and their families on a Midwife Led Birth Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital, where the philosophy is one that recognises the normality of childbirth. To complement her practice and offer more personalised care, Stefanie has also trained in Aromatherapy in Childbirth, become a Hypnobirthing Practitioner, an Examination of the Newborn Practitioner and is an accredited First Aid Trainer.

Stefanie became a Midwife because she felt passionate about families having the best start in life, after all the Midwife is likely to be the first health professional your baby will meet. With good care, families are more likely to be happy and healthier, and happy, healthy families make for a more positive, enriched society. It is common that women and their partners feel scared about birth, that they sometimes worry about decisions they have to make about their birth and that new parents often feel overwhelmed about the sheer responsibility of parenthood. By being able to offer quality antenatal education, a good dose of care, compassion and a sense of humour, Me, you and baby too can alleviate this anxiety and new parents will feel much more positive and prepared for their journey into parenthood.

Stefanie’s aim in creating Me, you and baby too is to give you impartial, evidence based information to empower you and give you the confidence to make the right decisions for you, your birth and your new family. (We want you to walk away from our courses feeling excited about your birth!) The second is to connect parents along the way to make this journey a more fun and friendly one.

Stefanie is kindly supported in her endeavour by her mother and sister. She also has the privilege of offering to you some complementary services provided by some wonderful colleagues whose information can be found in the Services section.

Early Years Educator & First Aid Trainer

Penny Docherty

Penny has over 50 years experience of working with families. She is an NNEB qualified nanny, has an Advanced Diploma in Childcare and Education, holds graduate qualifications in teaching adults and is a First Aid Trainer. Whilst raising her own large family, she has provided childcare, taught childcare education and has set up children’s nurseries. Her most recent role involved working with deprived families, educating and helping them to give their children the best possible opportunities in life.

Penny has a fun and friendly approach to sharing early parenthood information. She is resourceful and works hard to make even the toughest of parenting problems solvable with humour. Penny is most happy when in the company of her own family, and so we include a rare shot of her surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

Physiotherapist

Sophie Banks

Sophie is a Senior Physiotherapist for the NHS with over 15 years of experience in healthcare. Physiotherapists are involved with movement. Because they are experts in muscles, they work in various fields, such as respiratory care (we use muscles to breathe) and pelvic health (you might be surprised how many muscles are involved here!), which you might not have previously considered a Physiotherapist being involved in. Sophie can give advice and insight into various conditions associated with pregnancy, like back pain and pelvic girdle pain (symphysis pubis dysfunction).

Crucial advice can also be given on pelvic floor health during pregnancy and in the postnatal period. If treatment is required, support can be provided to access services in your area. Sophie will also be on hand for any exercise queries you have. There is little Sophie finds more satisfying than truly hearing what people need and being privileged enough to support them with solutions. When she isn't working hard, you will likely find her at an aerial yoga class or running around after her two young boys.