My Experience
I have been a Birth and Postnatal Doula with Doula UK since 2012 and supported over 100 births.
I don't know if it's because my website looks more like a photography website than a doula site, but I seem to attract quite a lot of women who are control freaks (in the nicest possible way), who are usually used to being in careers where they are in charge and fully in control in their jobs. In this case pregnancy and birth can be triggering and so raise anxiety levels due to the fact that you can often feel out of control of your body during pregnancy, and also birth can feel very unpredictable. If this is you, be reassured that I have a lot of experience and know how to help you manage this.
I have really good instincts and intuition which is very helpful when supporting women as things are not always clear cut, which can be really helpful when not medically trained. Having been to over 100 births I have learnt an enormous amount about natural birth and the medical side and what procedures are necessary, and what are more 'protocol'. Sadly nowadays maternity care is not individualised and has become more 'blanket' care which means women often get the same recommendations regardless of their personal situation. Induction has become an issue with every mother (healthy pregnancy or otherwise) being pressured into induction. So I can help you navigate this and make sure that you are not receiving unnecessary interventions.
There are a lot of doulas out there now, especially in London. I feel experience counts for a lot. Some doulas will have all the knobs and whistles but lack experience. Experience means I have been in virtually every scenario you can think of during births and have learnt something from all of them. Experience means I won't be surprised by anything that happens, and I will know how to support you and navigate the situation. Costs for having a doula may seem a lot to some, but one way to look at it is that, if you are married or planning to be, then consider how much money is spent for that experience. Giving birth is an experience that will stay with you for ever, and will have long lasting effects to both. you and your baby. So a positive birth experience will also have a positive long term benefit for you and your baby.
Courses I have attended:
I have been a Birth and Postnatal Doula with Doula UK since 2012 and supported over 100 births.
- I have supported home births, water births, natural births, inductions, ventouse, forceps births, hypno-births, epidurals & VBAC births. I supported the first VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Caesarean) water birth in the Birth Centre at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital which was pretty amazing.
- I have also supported many births at private hospitals. The common misconception is that when going privately the care during your birth will be better, but the care during the birth is the same (you will get an epidural faster). The after care is better but I have seen births with similar issues whether NHS or private. They have the same protocols in place and I have seen similar issues regardless so it is still advisable to have a birth doula who is independent and not employed by the hospital.
- I have supported Mothers in theatre who have had either planned or emergency caesareans. It is quite unusual for a Doula to experience this, as only one person is allowed to accompany the Mother in theatre, and usually it is the partner, or family member. So, if your partner or family member is squeamish, or if you do not have a birth partner, you can be confident that I can be there for you.
- I have supported Mothers who have had various medical conditions, and in these cases, I have communicated with the Consultant Midwife /Obstetrician when appropriate, and helped work with the hospital to get the right amount of support for the Mother.
- I use biomechanics for birth. This is a knowledge of how the pelvis works and looking for signs when labour may be prolonged. If it is taking a long time to progress, delay in dilating, or if labour stalls, and various signs that show the pelvis may be out of balance, which is quite common due to the ligaments softening during pregnancy. This can mean there is less room for the baby to get in to a good position. Using simple and pain-free techniques to help re-align the pelvis, and helping baby to get back into a good position, and so helping labour to progress, often quite quickly. This also helps to prevent medical interventions, often used in these examples.
- I have over 12 years experience to help you to navigate the best outcomes for your labour/birth and will help you contact the necessary medical staff to enable you to have the best birth choices.
I don't know if it's because my website looks more like a photography website than a doula site, but I seem to attract quite a lot of women who are control freaks (in the nicest possible way), who are usually used to being in careers where they are in charge and fully in control in their jobs. In this case pregnancy and birth can be triggering and so raise anxiety levels due to the fact that you can often feel out of control of your body during pregnancy, and also birth can feel very unpredictable. If this is you, be reassured that I have a lot of experience and know how to help you manage this.
I have really good instincts and intuition which is very helpful when supporting women as things are not always clear cut, which can be really helpful when not medically trained. Having been to over 100 births I have learnt an enormous amount about natural birth and the medical side and what procedures are necessary, and what are more 'protocol'. Sadly nowadays maternity care is not individualised and has become more 'blanket' care which means women often get the same recommendations regardless of their personal situation. Induction has become an issue with every mother (healthy pregnancy or otherwise) being pressured into induction. So I can help you navigate this and make sure that you are not receiving unnecessary interventions.
There are a lot of doulas out there now, especially in London. I feel experience counts for a lot. Some doulas will have all the knobs and whistles but lack experience. Experience means I have been in virtually every scenario you can think of during births and have learnt something from all of them. Experience means I won't be surprised by anything that happens, and I will know how to support you and navigate the situation. Costs for having a doula may seem a lot to some, but one way to look at it is that, if you are married or planning to be, then consider how much money is spent for that experience. Giving birth is an experience that will stay with you for ever, and will have long lasting effects to both. you and your baby. So a positive birth experience will also have a positive long term benefit for you and your baby.
Courses I have attended:
- Nurturing Birth Doula Course - 2012
- Understanding and Communicating Birth Physiology - Valerie Goedkoop - 2013
- Paediatric First Aid Course - 2013
- Breastfeeding London Study Day - 2013
- Hypnobirthing Teacher Training Course - Kathryn Graves - 2013
- Study Day with Sarah Buckley - Undisturbed birth and Ultrasound Safety - 2013
- NCT Water Birth Work Shop - 2013
- NCT Antenatal Class (Observation) - 2013
- NCT Refresher Group (Observation) - 2013
- Supporting Women with Breech-Presenting Babies - 2013
- Study Day with Michel Odent - 2014
- Men, Love & Birth - Mark Harris - 2016
- 'Heads Up' Vaginal Breech Study Day - Michel Odent - 2016
- Gathering The Knowledge - Dr Sara Wickham - July 2018
- Birthing the Placenta - Dr Sara Wickham - October 2018
- Post-term Pregnancy: Exploring Evidence - Dr Sara Wickham - March 2019
- Gathering The Knowledge - Dr Sara Wickham - March 2019
- Gathering The Knowledge - Dr Sara Wickham - March 2020
- `Happy Baby' courses for supporting vulnerable women - 2020
- Gathering The Knowledge - Dr Sara Wickham - July 2021
- Pelvic Health Workshop - Silvia Dias - May 2022
- Childbirth Physiology - Rachel Reed - July 2022
- Biomechanics for Birth - Optimal Birth - Molly O'Brien - Jan 2023