About Jilly – founder of CubCare
It’s become a bit of a running joke in my pregnancy and baby classes.
Ask me what sounds like a simple question and you’ll probably get the answer, the context behind it, a couple of different perspectives, and another question to think about before we’re finished. I’ve always been that way.
If something matters, I don’t just want the headline. I want to understand how it works, why it works, where the evidence came from, what people have misunderstood and how it connects to everything else.
I like to go deep. Call it curiosity, call it hyperfocus, call it whatever you like. Once something captures my attention, I want to understand it properly. Over the years I’ve realised, though, that understanding the subject is only half of it.
I’m just as interested in understanding people.
When I meet someone for the first time, whether I’m supporting a couple preparing for birth, helping someone navigate the NHS, or sitting with a family trying to work out their next step, I find myself wondering how they’re making sense of what’s in front of them. What already feels easy? What’s getting in the way? What strengths are they already bringing that they perhaps don’t even realise they have? How do they learn best?
Because the right information isn’t simply about being accurate. It has to make sense to the person sitting in front of you.
That’s become one of the biggest lessons of my career, and it’s shaped the way I teach ever since. Not everyone needs the same explanation. Not everyone needs the same support. But everybody deserves to understand what’s happening to them.
Over the last decade I’ve supported thousands of families through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood
And I kept noticing the same pattern.
The people who felt most confident weren’t the people who had found all the answers. They were the people who understood enough to ask good questions, navigate the systems around them, recognise what mattered for their family and make decisions they felt comfortable living with.
That made me question something I’d always taken for granted.
Why were we treating pregnancy, birth and early parenthood as separate stages that needed separate experts, separate courses and separate conversations?
The families I saw thriving weren’t approaching it that way.
They were building understanding from the very beginning and carrying it with them as they moved through each stage.
That’s when I realised I wasn’t teaching separate subjects.
I wasn’t teaching first trimester, birth partners, antenatal education, doula support or early parenting as disconnected topics.
I was helping people navigate one continuous journey.
Eventually, that understanding became From Two Lines™.
A philosophy that brings pregnancy, birth and becoming a parent together, helping people build understanding from the very beginning instead of starting again every few months.
What my own births taught me
My first birth changed me.
I experienced what it feels like when things happen around you without anyone helping you understand what’s happening or why. I took the antenatal class and thought I was prepared.
The birth was, on paper, fairly straightforward. It didn’t feel that way.
I remember sitting on the postnatal ward when someone I’d never met pulled back the curtains and wanted to examine the stitches in one of the most intimate parts of my body.
After two full days with very little sleep, I completely lost it. It was the final straw after a series of difficult moments in an overstretched maternity system.
Looking back, it wasn’t the examination itself. It was that there were no introductions. Nobody had helped me understand what was happening, why it was happening or what to expect.
That experience stayed with me.
A few years later, when I became pregnant with my daughter, everything was different.
By then I was teaching antenatal classes. I’d spent years learning about birth physiology, maternity care and the evidence behind the decisions people are asked to make during pregnancy and labour.
For the first time, I didn’t just know what my options were. I understood them. And that understanding changed the way I approached my pregnancy, the conversations I had with my care providers and the decisions I made along the way.
My daughter’s birth wasn’t perfect, but I’d do it again a million times over.
I felt prepared. I felt in control. I understood what was happening and why. I came away feeling proud of how I’d navigated one of the biggest days of my life.
It showed me something I’ve never forgotten.
Understanding doesn’t guarantee the birth you hoped for. But it can completely change the way you experience it.
Over the last decade I’ve supported thousands of families through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood
Everything I teach now comes back to the same belief.
People deserve to understand what’s happening to them. Because understanding gives us the opportunity to influence the experience, rather than simply react to it.
Pregnancy and parenthood will always contain uncertainty. None of us can predict exactly how they’ll unfold. But understanding changes the way we experience that uncertainty.
It helps us ask better questions. It helps us recognise when something doesn’t feel right. It helps us understand the choices in front of us and make decisions that feel right for our family.
Whether we’re talking about the first positive pregnancy test, preparing for birth, navigating the maternity system or finding your feet as a new parent, my role is always the same.
To help you make sense of what’s in front of you.
So you can move forwards with confidence, knowing the decisions you’re making are your own.
Qualifications & Professional Development
I’m a big believer that learning never stops. Alongside supporting thousands of families, I’ve continued to develop my knowledge through formal training and ongoing professional development.
Pregnancy & Birth
Movement
Babies & Early Parenting
Inclusive & Evidence-Based Practice
A little more about me
Outside of CubCare, I’m usually with my family, reading far too much about something that’s caught my attention, or working on another idea that probably started with someone asking me a simple question.
Before pregnancy and birth became my world, I worked in media and advertising. I also have a degree in English, Film and Theatre, which, looking back, probably explains why I enjoy helping people make sense of complex ideas.
Movement has always been a huge part of my life too. I grew up dancing, spent years doing ballet, modern and tap, later became a cheerleader at university, and even swam synchronised swimming at county level as a child. Looking back, I can see how much that shaped the way I think about movement, body awareness and confidence in our bodies today.
I’m also the youngest of four children. None of my family live particularly close by now, and I think that’s one of the reasons I’m so passionate about helping people build the support networks they’ll need as they become parents.
Curious about the philosophy behind everything I teach?
From Two Lines™ brings together everything you’ve just read about how I think, teach and support families. It’s the approach that runs through every course, every antenatal class, every doula client and every conversation.