Nurse/Midwife from Poland, UK and Spain
Maryla is a registered nurse and midwife with over 10 years of experience working in the UK and across borders in clinical practice, education and capacity building. As an inner-city homebirth midwife, Maryla has attended births in bedrooms, kitchens, bathtubs, gardens and in hospitals. She believes in the power of a good birth story, where empowered birth leads to empowered women and mothers, and has organised protests and rallies to amend policy and fight for women’s and birthing people’s right to quality maternity care.
Born in Poland, then raised in England and Spain, Maryla has grown up in many cultures and loves learning from people who are willing to share their life stories – always mindful of her own positionality. She especially enjoys trying new languages and dance moves, and having long discussions with abuelas – the wisest of us all!
She fell in love with the Canadian and Guatemalan Safe Motherhood Team after a series of happy chances and fortunate events led to her joining the team on a project in 2023, which cemented her passion for the vital and love-filled work of the Safe Motherhood Project Guatemala. She was delighted to be asked to join the Steering Group and to be invited back again.
Currently studying for her MSc Global Maternal Health in London, Maryla is passionate about women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, and implementing midwifery-led models of care around the world. With a current turn in the global thinking around indigenous knowledge and respectful care, she admires the prescient and constant work of the Safe Motherhood Project Guatemala to empower and exchange knowledge with Traditional Birth Midwives/Attendants, and is excited to see the day when traditional midwives and their skills are recognised and integrated into global maternal health systems.
