Lived Experience Programme

Women with lived experience of disadvantage and inequity during pregnancy, birth and early motherhood hold huge power to change their own lives, and the lives of others

That’s why lived experience engagement is at the very heart of everything we do at Birth Companions. It’s about raising voices and expectations to drive positive change.

This work runs across every part of our organisation and is managed through our trauma-informed Lived Experience Programme.

Our Lived Experience Programme has been a driving force behind many meaningful changes in policy and practice across the criminal justice, health, social care and the immigration systems.

Since 2018, we have made sure the voices of women who have experienced inequality and disadvantage are not only heard and valued, but embedded into the co-design of systems and services.

Members of our Lived Experience Team participate in paid research and advisory work

Through paid research and advisory work, our LET members drive improvements in the systems, services, policies and practices that shape the lives of women and babies.

To enquire about commissioning our Lived Experience Team for an upcoming project, please get in touch.

Our trauma-informed model of engagement

As lived experience engagement work becomes more widespread across the voluntary, public, and academic sectors, we want to raise expectations around how this work can be done well. We want to share what we have learned and support the development of best practice.

Trauma-informed engagement training, delivered in partnership with members of our Lived Experience Team

Our online interactive training is designed to help explore the core values of the trauma-informed approach, develop an understanding of Birth Companions’ engagement model, and support others to develop their own safe, meaningful and trauma-informed engagement work.

Birth Companions has a wealth of experience in trauma-informed engagement work, and we want to share it

We are working to raise expectations about lived experience engagement work, and we want to share what we have learned and support the development of best practice.

We offer a paid consultancy service, through which our Director of Engagement and members of the Lived Experience Team advise other organisations, researchers and professionals, supporting them individually to develop their own safe, meaningful and trauma-informed engagement work.

To enquire about consultancy opportunities, please get in touch.