Birth Doula

Bringing Birth Back to You

Congratulations on your pregnancy! Whether this is your first pregnancy or beyond, a VBAC, a cesarean, an assisted pregnancy, a surrogate pregnancy, a pregnancy following a loss, a high or low risk pregnancy, an anticipated NICU baby, a hospital, birth centre, home or unassisted birth, you deserve support where you feel heard, respected, informed of your options and are able to stand in your power to achieve the birth that is right for you and your baby. As a birth doula companion, I am here for you!

As your birth doula, I work for YOU! Building a meaningful relationship with you, getting to know you and learning what you want and need is what my doula support is all about! I trust that you are the expert in your own life, and the support I provide aims to equip you with the skills and information needed to actively take ownership of achieving your birth goals, based on the things that are import ant to you. I purposely support you in a way that hands the power of owning your experience back to you, using the Keeping Your Power for Families ™️ concept. I am able to provide birth doula support both virtually an in person.

I believe that you can find your power and voice, and will support you to gain self advocacy skills, to think deeply about your options, to make informed decisions that are right for you, and to build positive relationships with your obstetrician or midwife so you can effectively communicate what you want. I also believe that you can only know what you know, and that the implementation of knowledge is power, therefore preparation and knowledge building are key to navigating your care and building relationships with your birth team.

We will work together to enrich your knowledge of pregnancy and birth based on what you identify you need to know, and I will support you to apply this knowledge to your own unique experience. I work closely with birthworkers/educators that I respect, trust and who share my philosophy, and I am excited to work collaboratively with them and you, as you prepare for the birth of your baby.

Vitally, the support I provide is not driven by my beliefs or bias, nor the expectations of your obstetrician, midwife, hospital or birthing centre. l centre YOU – your choices and preferences at all times. I can provide antenatal and birth support in person or virtually, or a combination, based on your individual needs and preferences. Let’s talk about what you need!

My Birth Doula Support

During Pregnancy

• No cost consultation to chat about your needs and to establish if I am the right birth doula for you.
• Keeping Your Power for Families ™️ Workbook – you will learn this approach as a foundation to your self advocacy. It will support you to make independent, automomous decisions by using a thought process that acknowledges your self importance, understanding of perspective and use of your own critical thinking skills.
• Unlimited antenatal visits (in person and virtually) after the signing of our contract, based on individual need, to build a relationship with you, to learn what you want and to support you to achieve your goals.
• 24/7 support through email, messaging and phonecalls, after the signing of our contract, until your postnatal visit has been completed.
• In depth exploration of your beliefs about birth, your expectations of care, your needs and options, and anything that is of importance to you.
• Exploration of key topics to compliment your childbirth education and antenatal preparation classes, and to apply this knowledge to your personal circumstances and birth goals e.g. birth physiology, the labour process, comfort strategies etc.
• Printed educational handouts – for example your rights, factors that influence maternity care, informed decision making, advocacy, the hormones of labour, the labour and birth process, the induction process, tips for labour, pain management techniques, birth partner tips, breathing techniques and more!
• Support to learn self advocacy skills that will support you to have productive conversations with your obstetrician or midwife that focus on your expectations of care and goals for your birth.
• Support to create both a birth plan, outlining your care expectations and birth goals, and an advocacy plan that identifies your expectations around self/partner/doula advocacy, so that your needs are met.
• How to “Count the KIcks” from 28 weeks of pregnancy so you can learn what movement pattern is normal for your baby and how to identify early changes that might indicate the need to seek medical care.
• Incorporating your birth partner as a key support person in your labour and birth.
• In person support during antenatal appointments with your obstetrician or midwife, to facilitate your self advocacy and communication of your care expectations and preferences, if you identify that this support is needed.
• An angel card reading and suggestions of crystals to support your wellbeing and flow of energy during your pregnancy and birth, if these spiritual approaches resonate with you.
• I will be on call for you, 24 hours a day, from your 37th week of pregnancy.

During Labour and Birth:

• Support to decide when to call your midwife to attend you (homebirth) or when to decide to move to your place of birth (birth centre or hospital).
• Ideas of early labour comfort measures, and the ways in which your birth partner can support you.
• Arrival at your place of birth (hospital, birth centre or home) whenever you need me.
• Unlimited, in person physical, emotional, informational and advocate support during the full duration of your labour and birth – I do not charge an additional fee if your labour is prolonged. I am able to provide labour support virtually if this is required or preferred.
• Continued support throughout a homebirth to hospital transfer.
• Support for your birth partner to take an active role in meeting your needs during labour to the level they feel comfortable, and support to ensure their own needs are also met.
• Preparation and protection of your birth environment to support your labour and birth to progress.
• Support to ask questions and have productive conversations with your obstetrician, midwife and care team throughout your labour, based on what you want for your birth, and your needs in the moment.
• Physical, practical and emotional support during labour, through a range of non medicalised comfort techniques, and support to apply skills you may have learnt during your childbirth education and birth preparation classes.
• Suggestions to help your labour progress if needed, in collaborative discussion with your care team e.g. Spinning Babies, peanut ball positioning etc
• Provision of evidence based information that you may need to make informed decisions in the moment.
• Support to avoid medically unnecessary interventions or interventions that you do not want, but are provided as part of standard obstetric care.

After Birth

• I will remain with you after your baby is born to ensure you are settled and comfortable – this is typically around 2 hours.
• Support to initiate breast/chest feeding with additional input from your care team and/or referral to a lactation specialist if required.
• One postnatal follow-up session at your home, in the hospital/birth centre, or at a mutually agreed upon location, typically 48 hours after the birth of your baby to debrief your birth and talk about your postpartum healing/wellness, baby’s feeding, and general newborn care.
• Referral to community based resources and educational information as needed, to support your transition in to parenthood.

My Birth Doula Fee

The full cost of my birth doula package is £2000 with a non-refundable retainer fee of £500. Please see “My Doula Fees” for more information – do not hesitate to chat with me about any financial difficulty you may be facing in accessing my doula support, there is always a way forward!