User:Midwifeclarice/sandbox

Clarice Davis

Midwife Clarice
Born	Clarice Johnstone 1984/06/19 Attadale, Western Australia
Nationality	Australian
Other names	Million Dollar Midwife
Occupation	Online Course & Content Creator
Website	www.midwifeclarice.com
Notes
IG: @midwifeclarice FB: @midwifeclarice

Clarice Fiona Davis (born June 19, 1984) nee Johnstone known professionally as Midwife Clarice is an Australian midwife living in The Whitsundays of Queensland. She has been described as a fearless protector of normal birth physiology and continues to spread the word on reclaiming women's rights in the birth space.

Davis provides online birth courses for women, families and medical professionals all around the world, is this where she markedly launched her career in midwifery in 2022 through her instagram page where she has become one of the birth worlds major influencers. She has recently been named a "Birthfluencer" to watch on Instagram.

She continues to educate women and families on the benefits to natural childbirth and spread her message of gentle and fearless childbirth thorough online platforms and her instagram account midwifeclarice.

Life and family

Family

Davis' was born on the 19th of June, 1984 in Attadale, Western Australia. Her father was Michael Johnstone (1957 - present), an communications technician and her mother Ellen-Lousia (1957-2020) having various jobs such as disability support work, beautician and accountant in Davis' younger years. Davis' father was an abusive and chronic alcoholic who became estranged from Davis in her early years. Davis' mother suffered complex mental health conditions such as Bipolar disorder and Personality Disorder. She has one older sister, named Alicia who is profoundly deaf.

As a child, Davis and her older sister, Alicia, grew up in Western Australia until they moved to South Australia with their mother and step- father, Ian Clarke, who later became "her rock" during her midwifery studies and marriage break down. Davis' mother worked numerous jobs in Adelaide, South Australia to make ends meet for their new life in South Australia often living well beyond their means.

Education

Midwife Clarice at The World Bank 2014

Davis struggled at school "never really fitting in with her peers at school". Davis left school at the age of 15 and said she spent the next 4 years bouncing around homes and at menial jobs not really finding her purpose or motivation.

Davis attended Charles Darwin University to complete her midwifery in her early 20's. During her time as a student at Charles Darwin University, she was invited to join Global Voices a non-profit project started at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School that grew out of an international bloggers' meeting held in December 2004. Davis attended the International Monetary Fund & World Bank annual meetings in Washington (2013).

Davis went onto further her studies and to become an endorsed midwife this enabled her to work autonomously, prescribe medications, refer women for diagnostic testing and understand pathology and pharmacology.

Living in the Northern Territory

In December 2004 Davis moved to the Northern Territory and became the governess on Henbury Station. This is where she met her first husband Wayne Kimlin, a Jackeroo, in a whirlwind romance within 1 year Davis was married and had welcomed their first child, Jack. This is where she fell in love with midwifery and began her studies to become a midwife.

Davis continued her regular moves and found it hard to settle down in one place, moving from cattle station to cattle station. Between 2006-2009 Davis birthed 4 children Jack, Peter, Andrew and Lilly-Anna. Davis completed her midwifery studies in 2009 and her marriage dissolved around the same time. Not to be disheartened Davis moved her 4 young children from Andado Station into Alice Springs and opened her first lingerie retail store Petticoat Lane.

Davis sense of adventure never lacked and she and her four small children moved to the tropical city of Darwin, where she cared for marginalised women and families from remote indigenous communities. Davis would fly into some of Australia's most remote locations to give midwifery care to First Nations women. It is here her passion for continuity of care and natural childbirth came into place.

In April of 2018, Davis birthed twin girls Gemma and Pippa. Davis saw the lack in the obstetric model of care and the institutions attitude towards her twin pregnancy and this further drove her passion for women centred continuity of care with a midwife.

Midwifery & The Birth Retreat

During her career Davis has worked with and provided The World Bank with literature and recommendations to lower infant and maternal mortality rates. She has been a published opinion writer featuring in the New Internationalist.

In 2018 Davis moved with her 6 children to the Sunshine Coast, Australia. It was here she embarked into her private homebirth career. In her time on the Sunshine Coast she was the co owner of Coast Life Midwifery. This is where she founded the first private birth centre in Queensland called the Birth Retreat, she believed this gave women the opportunity to birth in a home like environment when their physical home was not an option, whilst still respecting a woman's birth physiology.

After the business partnership dissolved in 2020 Davis returned to Darwin and continued to look after vulnerable, young and sick pregnant First Nations women.

During her time as a midwife, Davis has been invited by various universities and health organisation conferences to speak on the topic of Midwifery and child birth

Social Media and Online Life

Midwife Clarice participating in Saturday Selfie June 22 as apart of Social Media Slay

In December 2021, Davis saw an opportunity to increase her exposure through her instagram handle midwifeclarice and build a community of people with an online presence. She wanted to be able to give back to her community and raise the publicity of natural childbirth and reclaiming the rights of childbirth. She enrolled into Social Media Slay with mentor Angel Pheonix in December 2021. During this time she sold her family home, resigned from her Northern Territory Government midwifery position and moved her family to Airlie Beach in search of her dream life. In February, the following year she commenced her mentorship where she begun being social on social media. Davis uses this course to break up her bad relationships with social media and continues to spread the word of birth rights, natural and fearless child birth. Davis has a strong community of followers who regularly engage and interact with her content. She in-turn engages with her community and strives to always give more. This unique container called Social Media Slay which has 150 participants has created a system of change and begun the social media movement of Creation over Consumption.

Million Dollar Midwife

Davis' passion for entrepreneurship, personal and business growth has been tireless, working with an internationally recognised business coach to shape and carve her business into the modern world. In more recent times, due to her success with content creation, community building and online birth course creation she has been nicknamed the 'Million Dollar Midwife'. Davis takes the humility out of midwifery and puts purpose and monetary value on once what was considered 'Gods work'. Davis coaches fellow midwives to structure their businesses in a way that not only allows them to do the humble work of midwifery but thrive in it as well.