Meet the Team
Felicity Warner
Founder and Soul Midwife
Felicity Warner created the idea of Soul Midwifery for the dying after sitting with many hundreds of people at the end of life.
Her pioneering work over the last twenty-five years has brought a new dimension to holistic and spiritual palliative care, both in the UK and abroad (there are now Soul Midwives working in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Europe). She is a respected lecturer, teacher and author of four acclaimed books – ‘Gentle Dying’, ‘A Safe Journey Home’, ‘The Soul Midwives’ Handbook’ and ‘Sacred Oils’.
‘The Soul Midwives’ Handbook’ is a text book used by both complementary therapists and in medical and nursing schools.
Katie Costello
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Katie has completed Level 1 and 2 of her Soul Midwife training and is a TLC trainer based in Sussex. Katie has many years experience working in Domiciliary and Palliative care and currently works part time at a local hospice. Katie is able to offer a wide range of End of Life support in the community, Hospices, Care Homes and Hospitals. Katies experience means she has extensive knowledge of working with multidisciplinary teams and directly offering personal hands on care. Katie holds multiple qualifications including End of life and Dementia care and The Care Certificate. She is ‘Sage and Thyme’ foundation level trained, has completed courses in Grief and Bereavement and is a qualified Life Coach. Katie is also a qualified Angelic Reiki Practitioner.
Jude Meryl
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Jude is a Soul Midwife, Mentor and TLC Trainer.
After over thirty years of working in education and educational retail, Jude trained as a Soul Midwife in 2013, and has since continued to work alongside families, Care Agencies, GPs, District Nurses and Hospice at Home to support those at end of life who wish to die at home.
Jude is a member of the National Association of Complementary Therapists in Hospice & Palliative Care and of the International Observatory on End of Life Care. Living and working in Scotland, she is also a member of Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief, whose vision is ‘to create a Scotland where everyone knows how to help when someone is dying or grieving.’
Krista Hughes
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Krista is a Soul Midwife, Mentor, Introductory Day Tutor, and TLC trainer (and supports curriculum development in the SM School)
Krista has a long-standing background in teaching and as a University Lecturer in Primary Education. She is also a Yoga Therapist, Reiki Master Teacher and Holistic Relaxation Therapist, and she is training as a Medical Herbalist.
She trained as a Soul Midwife in 2013 and works actively in the community. She represents Soul Midwives on the NHS Surrey Heartlands End Of Life and Palliative Care Strategy Group.She has a salaried role as “Therapy Lead Soul Midwife ” at The Mulberry Centre, a charity providing information and services for those affected by cancer and anyone with and end of life diagnosis is referred to Krista and her team for support.
Krista is passionate about helping everyone to unlock innate skills and knowledge in compassionate care, so that death and care for the dying are brought back into life and living.
Helen Latham
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Helen spent more than thirty years as a High School teacher of Philosophy and Ethics before training to be a Soul Midwife in 2017.
She brings to her work additional skills and qualifications in hypnotherapy and aromatherapy.
She is also a TLC tutor and regional mentor and regularly hosts an online Death Cafe. She has taken an active part in Dying Matters Week in her local community and hosts regular “Meet a Soul Midwife” coffee mornings. Whenever possible Helen regularly spends time with patients in her local hospital and care homes who are receiving End of Life care and believes that anyone can be trained in end of life skills.
Bet Huws
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Bet is a native Welsh speaker, a grief counsellor and A founder of Caffi Angau (Welsh-medium Death Café),
She is the mentor for Wales and has studied both life and death extensively, with the mission to continue a family tradition of caring for her people within the community
She sees Soul Midwifery as a way of empowering individuals at a time of great vulnerability. She is also Myrrophore working with essential oils
Laura Yarham
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Laura has been a registered nurse for over 34 years and has care and compassion at her core.
She has spent the past 8 years working in a palliative care setting while also undergoing her level1 and 2 soul Midwifery training. She has gained mentoring and counselling skills during her nursing career and remains focused on keeping those she is caring for at the centre of all she does.
She is passionate about providing truly holistic care at the end of life. She is a regional mentor for Dorset
Cathy Chiplen
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Cathy is our Soul Midwife Mentor for Somerset and Avon. She is a highly skilled Soul Midwife, Thanatologist, complementary therapist and Reiki master.
She has a particular interest rites and practices of death and grief in indigenous cultures. Cathy’s studies of grief practices, coupled with her own personal losses, have led to an interest in ‘Grief Tending’ with particular reference to the teachings of Francis Weller in his seminal work ‘The Wild Edge of Sorrow’. Cathy feels she has further callings in this direction as a natural extension of her Soul Midwifery work
Cathy is both a Trustee and Therapist for Somerset-based baby and child loss charity “Towards Tomorrow”
She is also a co-host of Death Café Taunton, which gained gained national media recognition for it’s proactive approach to Covid-19 lockdown, being one of the first Death Cafés to go ‘online’ during lockdown.
Tracey Vickery
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Tracey has a background as a degree trained Oncology/Haematology Nurse with a wealth of end of life experience within the acute hospital setting.
She qualified as a Soul Midwife in 2017 and has since completed her Level 2 and she is also a TLC trainer (taking the TLC training days into a group of national care homes) and is a regional Mentor for Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.
She has delivered a presentation on Soul Midwifery during Dying Matters Awareness Week at a university to student nurses. She is a volunteer Soul Midwife/Chaplain at her local hospital and runs a local Death Cafe in her community.
Tracey has also been actively involved in the SM in Residence scheme within the Midands and is is openly active about encouraging everyone to talk about all aspects of death and dying with an open and compassionate heart.
Jo Franklin
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Jo is mentor for the Eastern region. She is a practicing palliative care nurse with over 25 years experience caring for patients, families and those going through loss and bereavement. She also volunteers for Cruse and supporting those going through grief, and sudden loss.
As a Soul Midwife, she has helped many people have peaceful and natural deaths in their own home working collaboratively with their own Gp’s and community teams.
You can find her on Facebook as Cambridge Soul Midwife. And she is happy to be contacted to offer help and support.
Please contact me for further information.
Ashley Liddington
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Ashley is a Soul Midwife, Mentor and TLC trainer, having completed both Level 1 and 2. He is a passionate advocate for the work of the school as well as the use of holistic therapy in end of life care with a particular interest in aromatherapy, flower essences and sacred oils.
Having worked as a chaplain within the private care sector for over 15 years he holds qualifications in many areas including, Community Chaplaincy, Grief and Bereavement Counselling, End of Life Care, Spiritual Care, Dementia Support, Aromatherapy and Mental Health First Aid.
Along with his Soul midwife work he currently works in private healthcare as a Chaplaincy and Wellbeing Services Manager where he is also the company trainer for End of Life Care, Grief and Bereavement and Equality and Diversity as well as training all care home teams to use the TLC model of care.
In 2019 was made a Founding Fellow of the Faculty of Funeral Celebrants and in 2020 a Fellow of the Society of Bereavement Practitioners for his dedication and commitment to End of Life Ministry.
Claire Ball
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Claire is a Soul Midwife, TLC Trainer, Regional Mentor and Reiki Master Teacher.
Claire worked in the finance sector for some 30 years. Claire cared for her Mother who suffered from locked in syndrome, this changed her values and the way to live her own life, leading her to train as a Soul Midwife. After a period of time volunteering in Palliative care, Claire now follows her passion of caring for people at the end of life and currently works as a Private Domiciliary Carer and Soul Midwife in the community. Claire is passionate about the importance of dying well and providing Soul Midwifery to all who need support.
Claire uses her beautiful Narrowboat, Daydream, for small TLC training groups and also to offer people in need a tranquil space to relax, cry, laugh, love and just be.
Claire describes herself as a very ordinary Woman carrying the message and teachings of Soul Midwifery to as many as possible.
Minna Bruce
Soul Midwife and Mentor
Minna lived in London in her early life and ran her own Montessori Nursery School for 10 yrs. She is involved with her local church and is a Street Pastor in Winchester.
For a number of years she has been working in the community with those suffering with mental health issues and specifically those effected by childhood trauma.
Minna trained as a Soul Midwife 7 years ago after her mother died from Dementia/ Lewy Body Disease and is trained in a method called ‘Contented Dementia’.
She is a ‘professional volunteer listener’ with the Acorn Christian Healing Foundation, and works with the Anne Robson Trust as a mediator with ‘Peaceful Solutions’ using Compassionate Listening through their specific method called The Dialogue Road Map.