What's in the doctor's bag of Uwe Porters – midwife, writer, entrepreneur and mother?
1. Hi Uwe! Let's dive in. What's in your VanVeer bag?
Everything I need for both pre-and postnatal home visits as a midwife. That includes items for blood sampling, listening to the heartbeat, weighing a baby, and conducting urine tests. But I also bring my ´little breast´ for breastfeeding consultations and my laptop. Yup, it's all in there.
2. How was the design of your VanVeer created?
I had a wonderful Private Design Session with Vera. It quickly became clear that I wanted to incorporate the colors of my branding. So, I chose Brown Leopard, which symbolizes cellulite in women for me. Combined with Blush Pink for the body and Burgundy details, the bag turned out stunning. And totally Uwe!
3. Now, let's talk about you. You do a lot: midwifery, writing, mothering, Instagramming, and entrepreneurship. What is the common thread running through your story?
The driving force behind it all is my love for everything related to midwifery. I am a midwife, who also happened to become a mother (and a writer!). This is what my Instagram bio says, and it's truly who I am. Becoming a mother has made me a better caregiver.
Along the way, I like to challenge taboos. I have faced certain obstacles on my journey, related to maintaining control over your own childbirth and preserving intimacy as a young mother. These are things I had to experience myself first. Nowadays, I help other women with this, for example in my course ´The Woman Within the Mother
.´4.Tell us, how do you balance all these different roles?
That's simple: I don't. I am extremely busy, and I set the bar (too) high for myself. I think many female entrepreneurs can relate to this. My partner works long shifts, and I'm often on my own. This isn't a plea for pity, but the fact is that there are many balls to juggle. And I don't always succeed in doing so. For me, this remains a pitfall and a matter of balancing with boundaries. Don't use me as an example, haha! I still have much to learn!
5. You often speak out about sensuality and womanhood. Why do you find this important?
Ha! In today's society, it still seems as though sensuality and motherhood are incompatible. There's this prevailing idea that as a mother, you can't be a sexual being. I think that's nuts. Research shows that sexuality has a positive effect on motherhood and our overall health. This totally makes sense!
Yet, it remains challenging. I believe women don't receive enough space, and they also don't take enough leadership themselves to experience this. Especially when some space returns after the ´hard days´. We often think that ´the good days are over´, but it doesn't have to be that way. On the contrary, it can even get better! As you can tell, I can talk about this for hours.
6. If you could change one thing in midwifery, what would it be?
I would go back in time and halt the medicalization. Someone once wrote, "In the beginning, there were Adam and Eve, and a midwife. Because there have always been midwives supporting women." I strongly believe in this.
Due to medicalization, we have seen certain shifts in complications and interventions. I would immediately put a stop to the systematic incorporation of midwifery into hospitals. Initially, midwifery shouldn't have ended up there at all.
7. What future plans do you still carry in your bag?
Spoiler: I'm working on my third book! I'm fully immersed in writing, and I can already tell that it will be super fun and much anticipated. Also exciting: a new edition of the ´midweek break´ (breek-de-week) cards is coming soon.
And you know what? There's still so much in my bag, I'm far from done! But if I can create a warm space where people feel free, open, and empowered without judgment, then I'm doing a good job.