Teacher Details

I qualified as a Hospital Play Specialist in 1994. Whilst working as a play specialist in a London teaching hospital my interest spread into the field of positive touch in the Special Care Baby Unit. Here I taught an abbreviated form of baby massage to the parents of these very ill babies. I helped to set up a programme of positive touch in the unit. I wrote a booklet on baby cues entitled "My Own Language". I am a certified infant massage instructor having trained with the International Association of Infant Massage in 1997.

During 2002 I qualified in both infant yoga trained by Francoise Freedman, through Birthlight, as well as yoga for children with special needs with Sonia Sumar, from Brazil. In 2004 I qualified and received my Birthlight Perinatal Diploma and I also took the Advance 1 “Yoga for the Special Child” training. In 2006 I undertook Advanced levels 2 and 3 in Brazil and in 2007 completed the final Advanced Level 4 and qualified as an Integral Hatha Yoga Teacher.

I am trained in Makaton Signing to level 6 and the PECS communication system.

After giving twelve years to the National Health Service I worked in the community for three years as a teacher working with children and families with a variety of profound special needs as a qualified PortageTeacher.

I am self-employed running Yogababies as well as teaching antenatal yoga for sure start in two areas. I also teach yoga to children with special needs in two special schools. In May 1999 I attended a Workshop run by the University of Halmstad in Sweden as part of a European Union project to create toys for use by children with special needs. During summer 2000 I received an award, which took me to the USA to undertake a research project on the need of touch in the Neonatal Unit and positive touch for teenage parents. I regularly present lectures and workshops on positive touch, baby cues and communication and yoga for children with special needs around the country and have lectured at many conferences around the world. In 2007 I was made the Special Needs Baby Yoga Tutor for Birthlight