Naomi Delap

Naomi Delap
Birth Companions' Chief Executive Officer

Taking Birth Companions on from its founders

Naomi is Birth Companions' Chief Executive Officer, leading the organisation through more than a decade of growth while holding on to the vision established by its founders. She leads Birth Companions' team and represents the organisation through her work with the Women's Justice Board, the Nursing and Midwifery Council's Strategic Advisory Group, and the National Women's Justice Coalition. She has a background in working with women in the criminal justice system, as well as communications and the media.

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Tell me about your connection to Birth Companions

I've been Birth Companions' Chief Executive Officer for the last 12 years. I started in 2014 when the organisation was smaller than it is today, but it was still very much Birth Companions. It's been quite an exciting ride ever since.

It was already an amazing organisation, and together we've built on those strong foundations in different ways. I feel like that's still the direction of travel: continuing to grow, evolve and become ever more exciting.

Is there a particular moment or story that has stayed with you?

I love whenever we're in a room with politicians and decision-makers alongside women from our Lived Experience Team and The Birth Companions Institute. I love seeing women speak up, be listened to and make things happen as a result.

It doesn't always work out. I remember one meeting with one of the many prison ministers we've had over the last decade. The minister really wanted to hear women with lived experience tell their traumatic stories. But the women from our Lived Experience Team were there to ask questions and hold her to account. In the end, we had to stop the meeting because she simply didn't want to answer them. That was quite a moment.

I also remember finding myself in a lift with Liz Truss when she was Justice Minister. I thought, "I've got to do an elevator pitch for Birth Companions." She wasn't very interested.

What feels special or unique about Birth Companions?

Everybody involved in Birth Companions shares the same underlying values. That's evident in the way people work together, collaborate and respect one another. It's incredibly strong.

What still needs to change for the women and babies Birth Companions works with?

We need to see fundamental changes in the systems women come into contact with during pregnancy and motherhood. But for that to happen, those systems need to change the way they listen to women with lived experience and to the organisations supporting them. That's why the work we're doing to shift power in those rooms and spaces is so important.

Finish this sentence: "Birth Companions is..."

The power of love in action.

Tell me about the object you've chosen and why you chose it

When I started at Birth Companions, Annabelle, the Director I was taking over from, told me that Birth Companions is like a precious bowl filled with liquid that has to be held very carefully so none of it spills. I've carried that image with me throughout my time here because it reminds me that we must protect what sits at the heart of the organisation and what makes it so special.

At the same time, it isn't fragile, it's strong. It can stand a bit of sloshing about. But ultimately, we have to hold on to that magic ingredient created by Denise, Diana and the other volunteers who founded Birth Companions in those early days at Holloway Prison. What they discovered during that process still underpins everything we do today - compassion, meeting women where they are without judgement, and a sense of sisterhood.

We're all part of a community of women working together, in different ways, to support other women and make things better.