CLARE
"Mama" of three
Hey! I’m Clare, the face behind Voluntarily Outnumbered. “Mama” to three children; two boys and one girl. I have a sort-of-sustainable, definitely mindful, leaning-towards-gentle approach to parenting, a conscious balance which has led me to a style of raising my children that I am passionate about.
Throughout my working life I have been an advisor, teacher or instructor, a role that I comfortably fit into. I find it really rewarding when I can help someone with a problem and they go away with an answer or solution they were looking for.
How? When? And Why?
From a young age I knew I wanted to be a mother, my maternal instinct was prominent in my childhood. Fast forward to my late 20s, and after a couple of years of traveling, my partner and I bought a house, settled down and fell pregnant.
My pregnancy went smoothly, I attended yoga classes, NCT classes at the local hospital and dreamed of a water birth. However, towards the end of the pregnancy we were told that the baby was breech and that I would have to have a C Section unless the baby turned. We tried various methods to get the baby to turn, all to no avail. The section was booked. Upon arrival at the hospital I had my pre op scan and we were shocked to discover the baby was head down and engaged. A natural water birth was back on the cards! After many, MANY laps of the hospital, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy in the maternity suite birthing pool in the early hours of the following morning. With no pain relief, just breathing practices I had learned during yoga.
I threw myself into motherhood and loved it! I breastfed, attended as many baby groups as I could manage, and learnt how to babywear (I went on to do an accredited peer supporter course so I could volunteer at my local baby wearing library). I also tried out cloth nappies as I was astonished at the amount of disposable nappies we went through!!
My partner and I got married when our son was nearly 2, and a little later we became pregnant again. I was lucky enough to have another fairly easy pregnancy, I suffered from a lot of heartburn but was prescribed medication for it. This time around we completed a hypnobirthing course that went hand in hand with the yoga I was doing. It made me determined to have another great birth. The COVID pandemic was just beginning towards the end of my pregnancy so we weren’t sure where I was going to give birth. Thankfully I was able to attend the same hospital, even the same delivery room and birthing pool thanks to an incredible midwife! Because of the yoga and hypnobirthing I was able to enjoy a pain relief free, swift, uncomplicated water birth for the second time round.
Babywearing was even more essential with my second, he had to fit in with the lifestyle we had with his 3 year old brother. He breastfed well, although we were dairy free for a long time due to a milk allergy he had. He grew out of it over 6 months or so after he was introduced to solids and with the help of an NHS Dietician (I missed cheese during that time!) We used cloth nappies much sooner and for longer this time around as we were much more confident with our wash routine, and after a little trial and error, found the nappies that worked for us.
We became pregnant with baby number three when our second son was 2 (there’s a pattern!) Unlike the first two pregnancies, this time we decided to find out the sex of the baby at the 20 week scan (I wanted to sort the baby clothes out!). This pregnancy was the hardest for me. I suffered a lot with back and hip pain, sickness, heartburn, and Placenta Previa . While attending pregnancy yoga, the instructor (who has become a close friend over the years) encouraged me to start a social media page to share my pregnancy and parenting tips etc, so Voluntarily Outnumbered was created. A funny little take on some of the comments I received when people found out I was pregnant again! As I had had two amazing hospital water births and the local maternity unit still closed following the pandemic, I wanted to have a home birth this time. I revised my hypnobirthing course and we got the living room ready to accomodate a birthing pool which I borrowed from a friend doing her midwifery training. To cut a long story short everything went to plan! I had an amazing home water birth, that was again pain relief and intervention free.
Being a mother has taught me much more than I could have imagined. Babywearing, cloth nappies, breastfeeding have been huge elements of parenting all three of my tiny humans! Over the years of volunteering at baby wearing groups, yoga and other infant classes, many new and expectant mothers have asked for my advice on various subjects, but often there is so much to say! So from the Voluntarily Outnumbered social media pages, the evolution into a website to share advice, product reviews and recommendations is a natural progression. I hope in time I am able to create a ‘virtual village’ as the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” really resonates with me - I wouldn’t be where I am today on my parenting journey if it wasn’t for the experiential advice I had received along the way.
All that being said…
Welcome to the village.
MY MISSION
With my ambassadorship of the incredible Launch You ecosystem, I am here to empower, educate, and support you in achieving your version of success with our proven online business blueprint that, if followed, will make your success in life and business inevitable.
MY VISION
I am a proud ambassador of Launch You, and our vision for you, a powerful creator, is to construct your own reality; a life by your own design where you can reside in a place of flow and purpose, making a living not just by what you do but as a byproduct of the positive impact your work has on the lives of others.