Registered midwife Amanda Redford set up a business combining her medical knowledge with her lifelong interest in complementary therapies.

Amanda, from Bagnall, was Senior Research Midwife at the UHNM where her work included clinical trials using acupuncture.

Her business, Women’s Natural Health, sees Amanda supporting women with their fertility and pregnancy journeys using her knowledge of reproductive health and complementary therapies.

She works with couples who need help with their fertility, helps women to go into natural labour and avoid induced birth, encourages breech babies to turn and much more.

Amanda estimates that she has helped thousands of women over the years by using techniques that may not be available in a more traditional setting.

She has a clinical space at Brampton House in Newcastle-under-Lyme and has ambitions to put together a team of practitioners offering the likes of massage, hypnotherapy and nutritional advice under one roof.

Amanda, who left her role at the hospital in 2019, is also looking to develop online packages and to deliver community programmes.

“My mum used to blend essential oils and she introduced me to aromatherapy,” said Amanda. “I used to do complementary therapy alongside my day job and set up a therapy space about 10 years ago while I still worked full time. Whenever I could I would find a way to bring in complementary therapies.

“I taught midwives for around 10 years and I was always passionate about promoting natural birth. I never really thought that it would be a business or that I would be running a business but when it happened I never looked back.”

She added: “I’m pretty niche in the work that I do. There is nobody else locally who offers what I do and I have people travelling a distance to see me, mostly because of word of mouth.”

Amanda is studying for the Peter Coates MSc in Entrepreneurship at Staffordshire University, which she says is helping her to develop her ideas for the business.

She has entered the Alumni Business Person of the Year category of the Staffordshire University Business Awards and has entered Women’s Natural Health into the Small Business of the Year and Skills for the Future categories.