Nancy Nunn -  London

Osteopathy & paediatric osteopathy

Who are you?
I’m Nancy and I am a practicing osteopath and an international lecturer with significant postgraduate experience in paediatrics, treating during pregnancy and promoting healing and recovery after birth. I live in Southeast London with a very busy toddler and less busy tortoise and I manage Nunhead Osteopathy Practice with my husband. 

What did you want to be when you grew up?
From a young age, I had a fascination with how things worked in nature which led to an interest in physiology, anatomy and health. I changed my plan from wanting to be a vet to wanting to help people somewhere towards the end of primary school. It wasn’t until my mid teens that I developed an interest in osteopathy - a profession my school careers advisor had never heard of and didn’t recommend but I had seen firsthand how an osteopath had helped my sister when the only other option available to her was surgery.

What do you love about what you do?
I feel very fortunate to have spent almost two decades doing a job which I really enjoy. I love the challenges of working with babies, children and complex patients because it allows me to really use the skills I’ve honed - listening with my hands whilst asking questions about ‘why’ this particular body feels and functions as it does. It is important to me to know why something has happened, not just what has happened, in my quest to nurture a more comfortable expression of health in someone’s body. I also get really excited when I’m a witness to significant development and change - both in my patients and also in the osteopaths who I supervise and mentor.

If you could give one message to all mothers, what would it be?
Find your tribe - that’s your friends and also all the other people who can support you as you emerge and develop as mother and as your child/children grow and develop too. There is so much support out there and we really aren’t meant to do this alone. Whether it’s someone to have a coffee with and quietly know that they’ve been there too or whether it’s a professional who will share their expertise, knowledge and experience, don’t be afraid to reach out.

What’s been your most important life lesson?
Health truly is so much more than the absence of disease and when looking after ourselves it is so important to look at all aspects of health and our relationship with health, in the context of our bodies, minds, emotions, family, work and the wider environment. I am reminded of this daily in my work, but am also well aware that my own body will prompt me to remember this life lesson if I don’t practice what I preach. 

nunheadosteopaths.co.uk
info@nunheadosteopaths.co.uk
Insta: @nancy_nunhead_osteopath