Free Live Session · 7 & 21 September · 1pm
The Self Made Midwife Business Drop-In
A live session for midwives building an independent practice, whether you're just getting started or established and wanting more clients.
You don't need another webinar telling you the NHS is under pressure.
You already know that.
And you've moved past wondering whether independent practice exists. The question you're carrying now is what to do about it.
Deciding to work independently is not the challenging part. Most midwives who come to these sessions decided a long time ago. What they haven't worked out is what to do next, in what order, and why the things they've already tried haven't moved them forward.
This is not a webinar.
It's not a motivational talk.
Here's what nobody tells you :
becoming an independent midwife and building an independent practice are two completely different jobs.
You already know how to do the first one.
Nearly forty years in this profession has taught me that almost nobody arrives knowing how to do the second.
You can be an exceptional clinician with a website, a logo, an Instagram account and membership of an independent midwifery organisation, and still have an empty diary.
That isn't a reflection of your ability.
It's what happens when capable midwives are left to guess at how independent practices actually grow, because nobody ever showed them.
Who is this for
This is not a session for midwives wondering whether independent practice exists. It's for midwives who have already decided, or are close to deciding, and now need to know how.
That might be you if you're still in employed midwifery and you've realised something most of your colleagues haven't: you can start building your practice now, before you leave. You don't need permission and you don't need to hand in your notice first.
It might be you if you've made a start. Some of the pieces are in place, but somewhere along the way you stalled, and you can't quite name what the next move is.
It might be you if you know you want this but the route feels unclear, and you're tired of trying to piece it together from podcasts and other people's Instagram accounts.
Or it might be you if you set up a while ago, and whether you paused or kept going, the clients aren't coming. You want to understand why, and hear it straight.
What matters isn't which of these describes you. What matters is that you've stopped asking whether and started asking how.
The midwives who come to these sessions are experienced and highly capable. What they're missing isn't clinical knowledge. It's a realistic picture of how independent practices actually grow.
So they spend months on websites, branding, social media and service lists before understanding what any of it is for. Or they join an independent midwifery organisation and assume the business side is now handled.
The result is usually the same. Money spent, effort made, and a practice that looks ready but isn't moving. This session is about ending that pattern: what matters first, what can wait, and where your time and money are best invested.
Independent practice is not a refuge for midwives who are simply fed up and looking for a way out.
The most successful independent midwives are not running away from something.
They are moving towards something.
A different way of practising.
A different relationship with their clients.
A different vision for their future.
Building a business of your own asks you to think in ways an employed role never did. That shift is learnable. But it is a shift, and pretending otherwise is how midwives end up busy without moving forward.
Inside the Drop-In
Every session is different because it's shaped by who's in the room. But these are the conversations we keep coming back to:
What independent practice realistically looks like today, not the polished version you see on Instagram
The different ways midwives are building independent careers right now, because there is more than one route and most people only ever hear about one
Why being an excellent clinician does not automatically bring you clients, and what actually does
The mistakes almost every new independent midwife makes, usually expensive ones, and how to skip them entirely
What genuinely needs to be in place before you spend a penny on websites, branding or visibility
Why joining an independent midwifery organisation gives you insurance and community but does not give you a business
The foundations that make an independent practice sustainable rather than a stressful experiment
How to work out your next practical step, whatever stage you're at
You'll also have the chance to ask your own questions and hear from other midwives building the same future. Nothing is recorded, so people speak honestly.
Your Host
Linda Lilwall
Linda has worked in midwifery for almost four decades and has run her own independent midwifery practice since 2008.
After many years in employed midwifery, she chose a different path and built a successful independent practice supporting families through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.
Today, alongside her clinical work, she mentors midwives who want greater autonomy, flexibility and professional satisfaction without walking away from the profession they trained so hard to join.
Her work combines decades of real independent practice, practical business knowledge and an honest understanding of what this work looks like behind the scenes.
Founder, The Self Made Midwife
Independent practice isn't the right path for every midwife. But you already suspect it might be yours, or you wouldn't still be reading.
Reserve your place at the next Business Drop-In
Next Sessions are 7th & 21st September
The Drop-In is free, it's live, and there's no replay.
You come, you ask, and you leave knowing what to do next.