ABOUT

Samara’s passion for birth-tending began with the birth of her daughter in 1995. She went on to train in Shiatsu at the Zen School in London, and in 2000 began to specialise in Shiatsu for Maternity Care with Suzanne Yates of WellMother. Over several years, Samara completed the Diploma and Teacher Training and became a WellMother Teacher. In 2002 Samara moved to Ashland, Oregon and began training with CPM Maureen Mitchell of Helping Hands Midwifery, and continued to learn from Maureen up until her death. Upon Samara’s return to Wales in 2004, she continued working as a Community Doula and Traditional Birth Attendant. Both of Samara’s son's were born at home in 2005 and 2008, and she then put her energy to building a roundhouse for them to live in and tending the land and animals, continuing her work as a Doula. In 2013 Samara founded WellMama CIC, and began to teach the WellMama Holistic Doula Training, she was soon joined by her two apprentices, and together they formed WellMama Community Interest Company, based in Wales, which continues to offer services and training to support and celebrate the Childbearing Year. Samara volunteers annually at the Chinamhora Birth Clinic in rural Zimbabwe, and supports their efforts to establish a purpose built Birth House.Samara is a certified Counsellor, Healing Tao, Chi Kung and Tai Chi Instructor, and a visiting lecturer for the School of Midwifery at Swansea University. Samara has a calling to learn, weave and tend Traditional Midwifery Skills and Herb Lore in order that women and their families continue to have access to this ancient knowledge. Samara has attended more that 120 births, and supported numerous women and their families throughout the Childbearing Year.

I became passionate about traditional midwifery after I gave birth, unattended, to my two daughters in rural Africa. I feel a deep connection to the sacred circle of women who I feel committed to serving in many ways. For the last 15 years I have devoted myself to the art of birthkeeping, studying with diverse midwives in the Global South, creating medicinal tinctures from the placenta and umbilical cord, and organizing sacred birthing and postpartum rituals ~ all while home-schooling my two daughters and producing natural cosmetics. I have lived in Africa, Brazil, Europe and Asia where I have worked with local traditional midwives. These experiences has given me a multicultural honoring of women and their different realities.

I am a new mama. I am a life co creator together with Owen, we’re now a new family of three. I am a baby loss survivor and mama warrior. I am a newly trained yoga teacher and am passionate about all things, pre and post natal, children’s yoga, energy healing and reiki. I am. I came unto this path when I got pregnant with my first son and met Samara, whom we had as our doula. A whole new world of birth, pregnancy and motherhood was opened up to me. I discovered many beautiful ways people come together to support one another and I was very touched to be part of a world I never thought I would get to experience. I have been interested in natural medicines and have learnt so much about nourishment, healing, herbs and food while on this journey. I have been so blessed with my experience, getting to know ancient knowledge and wisdom. A decade ago, my husband and I began trying to have a baby. We had many visions and plans on a big family. This, never worked out for us, however, it led us to birthing our wonderful son now and I couldn’t have asked for it to be any other way. The journey opened the doors to reiki and yoga and I’ve found much healing and strength on those paths. With the birth of my blessed son, I had planned for a drug free home birth. That too, never worked out for us, I ended up having a peaceful c section. During my recovery, I learnt that I needed much more support than there was, I needed emotional support and family which was something I found that many new mothers needed but lacked. Together with Owen and the loving guidance I got from Samara, I discovered so much about postpartum healing. Not only did I need to heal physically from the birth, but we needed to heal spiritually as a family. I truly learnt what it meant to be a mother, not only to my son, but to all around me. This deeply inspired me, I saw something that many new families needed. I wanted to offer a service in the form of retreats to help them reconnect with each other and to strengthen their relationship as a new family. To re ignite the spark that may have been lost during the tender postpartum period. I am a mother. I am here. From mama to mama, we are family. Let’s heal on this journey together.

I am a Mother of two daughters. My first was a home birth, and Michel Odent was the midwife, I was 32. Alice had 2 community NHS midwives and was a home water- birth. This experience combined with supporting many difficult birth experiences in my healing practice led me to train as a birth doula. I trained with Kate Woods of Conscious Birthing in 2015. I worked as a Doula in Stroud, being at hospital and home births’ before moving to West Wales. I have shadowed Samara Hawthorn of Wellmama for 6 months during antenatal sessions and birth as part of my desire to immerse myself further in an area I am passionate about. I am an alternative health therapist in Buqi Healing, (1999), Shamanic Healing, (2014), Moving and Sounding the Land retreats since 2003; (MA Dance and Somatic Well-Being 2020) and Plant Spirit Healing, (2002). I have been teaching taiji37 form and Taijiwuxigong since 1999, and have witnessed transformation where students have “turned around and stand in a new life.” Buqi is a unique energy medicine, supporting purification, and the release of sometimes difficult past experiences, resulting in reconnection of body, mind and spirit. Buqi supports antenatal, birth and postnatal experiences. A Shamanic session, offers ancestral healing, soul retrieval or power loss that needs to be returned. One to one Somatic movement sessions gives you a space to deepen your trust in what your body is needing now, for self nourishment and time to process your birth experience. Plant Spirit Healing gives you the gentle power and support of the plant spirits. A plant will bring the pulses of your vital organs into balance. A protocol based on 5 Element acupuncture but without the use of needles.I qualified with the late Eliot Cowan, the founder of Plant Spirit Medicine.

I became a father in 2022 with my amazing wife, Charlene Monaghan, who has been the catalyst to curating this amazing retreat concept. Becoming a father for me has been an amazing journey yet a very challenging and emotional one for over 10 years now when we actually started to try for a baby. After all these years, I cannot imagine life now without our little most amazing 9 month old son, also called Owen. Professionally, I am a qualified teacher and football coach and whilst originally from Liverpool though grew up in South West Wales, I have been living in Singapore for close to 20 years now where I met Charlene 18 years ago and our journey together began. I am passionate about this retreat and the content and support it will provide to not only fathers but to their loved ones too. Charlene and I have gone through some challenging times since Owen Jnr was born and I felt there is not enough support for fathers to help them navigate fatherhood whilst still retaining that love and intimacy for their partner. I am just a normal guy who loves sport and hanging out with his mates creating banter and I know the work and guidance Samara and her team creates for the family dynamic is first class and has truly helped me. I wish to share my experiences and hopefully it all adds a level of support to other fathers too.

I came to know Owen and Charlene with my work as an Events Manager for Ludih, many years ago and have remained good friends ever since. After studying hospitality at Bali State Polytechnic, I have been in the service and events industry for several years with major hotels across Bali and am experienced in dealing with people from all backgrounds. I enjoy meeting people all around the globe and I love being of service to others. I am also a Mama of a beautiful daugter called Farah who is now 15 months old and look forward to being your exclusive concierge for the retreat.