What if the way we support birth needs to evolve just as much as the science itself?

In this episode, Hannah speaks with consultant midwife, nurse, researcher and yoga advocate Maria Buaki-Sogo about her journey from emergency medicine to holistic maternity support.

Drawing on years of frontline experience across hospitals, homes and communities, Maria shares how her perspective on birth has shifted and what she’s learned about truly supporting women through one of life’s most transformative experiences.

Together, they explore what’s working, what’s not, and how we might rethink maternity care with compassion, communication and collaboration at the centre.

Topics covered:

• Lessons from emergency and community-based birth work

• Supporting midwives in high-pressure systems

• What holistic, woman-centred care really looks like

• The role of advocacy in everyday maternity work

• Why nervous system awareness matters in birth

About Maria

Maria is both a practicing nurse and a midwife, last working as a Consultant Midwife.

Maria moved to the UK in 2010 from Spain, where she trained as a Registered Nurse and worked for three years as an A&E resus nurse. On arrival in the UK, Maria worked at Imperial College NHS Foundation Trust, gaining significant experience as a theatre nurse across a variety of specialties, from trauma-emergency cases to elective procedures.

Her midwifery experience includes various roles within a maternity setting, including low risk and high-risk pregnancy care, emergency obstetric care and the post-operative management of women who have undergone caesarean sections.

Her midwifery roles comprise of rotational midwifery (providing antenatal care, intrapartum care, and postnatal care), community midwifery care, caseload midwifery care for vulnerable women, homebirth midwifery services and research nursing and midwifery.

Maria is also a former Lead Nurse for North Thames Genomic Medicine, where she led the nursing workforce in the North Thames Region to explore and re-design clinical pathways of care to implement routine genetic testing in the National Health Service (NHS) via national transformational projects reporting back to NHSE/I (National Health Service England and Improvement).

She is also an Adult Nursing Lecturer, teaching applied physiology.

It is Maria's passion for research that has led her to pursue a career as clinical academic and to complete a PhD following achievement of an MSc in Research in Midwifery Studies in 2018, as she believes research is of great importance in developing clinical practice, standards, and advances in care.

Maria is also a passionate advocate for the incredible charity Borne - you can find out more about their incredible work here.

Learn more with Alba Yoga Academy

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Stress isn’t the enemy , ignoring your body is.

In Part 2, the conversation goes even deeper into the science and soul of healing. Ann and Celest explore how yoga impacts mental health, stress resilience and the nervous system.

Ann shares practical tools to regulate your vagus nerve, explains the science behind yoga "snacks" and exercise breaks and unpacks the myths still lingering in the yoga world. Plus, she offers a powerful reframe around stress, movement, intuition and why listening (really listening) might be the most healing practice of all.

About Ann

Ann Swanson is a self-confessed science nerd. She speaks and teaches on the key research supporting yoga and meditation, along with the basic anatomy for adapting yoga to be safe, effective, and accessible for all body types and conditions.

Ann's books; ⁠Science of Yoga⁠ and Meditation for the Real World, present the science and practice in a straightforward and simple way.

…But she is also open to spirituality and believes there are some questions that science perhaps can’t answer, but she will continue to ask and continue to explore with endless curiosity.

Learn more with Alba Yoga Academy

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more about our Yoga Teacher Training here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch our extensive library of YouTube videos.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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You don’t have to escape to outer space to find deep connection , it’s right here inside your body.

In Part 1 of this inspiring conversation, Celest sits down with Ann Swanson - yoga therapist, science communicator and author of Science of Yoga and Meditation for the Real World.

Ann shares her personal story of living with chronic pain, her journey from China to India to the US, and how yoga, meditation and science came together to change her life.

They dive deep into how yoga and meditation reshape the brain, why mind wandering isn’t the enemy we think it is, and how the default mode network, salience network and neuroplasticity all weave into our personal growth.

Expect practical insights, powerful science, and a whole new way of understanding your own mind and body.

About Ann

Ann Swanson is a self-confessed science nerd. She speaks and teaches on the key research supporting yoga and meditation, along with the basic anatomy for adapting yoga to be safe, effective, and accessible for all body types and conditions.

Ann's books; Science of Yoga and Meditation for the Real World, present the science and practice in a straightforward and simple way.

…But she is also open to spirituality and believes there are some questions that science perhaps can’t answer, but she will continue to ask and continue to explore with endless curiosity.

Learn more with Alba Yoga Academy

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more about our Yoga Teacher Training here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch our extensive library of YouTube videos.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Hannah on Instagram.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Celest on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠