Who we are
A collective of experts who bring together lived experience and extensive professional knowledge of birth trauma and vicarious trauma.
Our Founders
The dream team who brought Make Birth Better to life.
Dr Rebecca Moore, Founder & Perinatal Psychiatrist
Rebecca works as a Perinatal Psychiatrist in London, dealing with infertility, pregnancy loss, anxiety, depression, OCD and trauma. She’s got experience spanning over twenty years. She developed a particular interest in birth trauma, which led to founding the annual Birth Trauma Conference and Make Birth Better with Emma in 2018.
Nikki Wilson, Co-Founder & Former CEO
Nikki was the first CEO of Make Birth Better. She played a key role in scaling the organisation from the ground up, combining her lived experience of postnatal PTSD with a strong career in the charity sector. Her leadership is driven by empathy, advocacy, and a deep commitment to transforming maternal mental health.
Dr Emma Svanberg, Founder & Clinical Psychologist
Emma is a Clinical Psychologist, writer, speaker and campaigner. She supports parents(-to-be) and professionals throughout pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. She’s also known as Mumologist and founded The Psychology Co-operative – a network of psychologists who offer whole-family support. She started Make Birth Better with Rebecca in 2018 and co-produced the Make Birth Better model along with our early stakeholders. Though she will always support our aims to prevent birth trauma for everyone, she left the organisation in 2023.
Our Core Team
Together with our founders, we lead on the strategy, planning and delivery of all of key areas of work.
Laura-Rose Thorogood, CEO
Laura-Rose is an LGBTQIA+, Maternity and Fertility Activist, educator, lecturer, writer and campaigner. She’s also Founder of LGBT Mummies, and has campaigned and influenced policies and law within UK Government and globally. Her own birth trauma lead her to this role. She is passionate about influencing systemic change to create equity and equality, especially for marginalised communities. She leads on our organisational strategy.
Natasha Williams, Associate Trainer
Natasha is a trauma informed Psychotherapist with nearly 30 years of working within social care and mental health provision. She brings a wealth of personal and professional experience, knowledge and insight in terms of Reproductive trauma. Natasha is passionate in advocating for change, particularly through effective training.
Trudi Webber, Training Lead
Trudi has over 15 years of project management experience, particularly in charity and corporate relationships in maternal health and education sectors. She has also worked as a childbirth educator, yoga for pregnancy teacher and doula for 20 years. She uses her extensive skillset to facilitate and improve our Make Birth Better (bespoke) training and its effectiveness.
Lauren Parr, Community & Business Development Lead
Lauren is a business development and business support expert with a strong passion for well-being in the perinatal period. She’s also a trained doula, yoga teacher, retreat leader and book worm. She leads on the development of our online training products and support for our much-loved Champions and Organisation Partners. She’s an out-of-the-box thinker and has a knack for spotting business potential.
Illiyin Morrison, Chief Campaign Ambassador
Illiyin is an award-winning, dedicated registered midwife, author (The Birth Debrief) and perinatal trauma specialist. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her work and her unwavering commitment to maternal well-being extends beyond the birthing suite. She advocates for comprehensive postpartum care, destigmatising mental health challenges, racism and unconscious bias and fostering a supportive community for all parents.
Our champions volunteer their time and share their voice so we can make birth better for all
This is a volunteer position and it’s flexible to suit the amount of time you have available, as well as your interests e.g. co-producing Make Birth Better work, local flyering, writing a blog, sharing lived experience, promoting @birthbetter online. To become a champion, a short on-boarding online training session must be completed. We then meet half termly online and provide bespoke resources to supprt the role.
If you’re interested in becoming a Make Birth Better Champion - please contact us - we’d love to have you.
Our partners advocate for trauma-informed ways of working, represent parents or professionals affected by birth trauma or vicarious trauma and we collaborate wherever possible.
Our partners include:
If you’re interested in becoming a partner, please contact us. We’re always been to work in collaboration with others.