Birth Doula Services
I have over 10 years of experience as a birth doula, supporting many families through this amazing and precious life transformation.Â
I will endeavour to offer you the support you need to make your birth experience the most empowering, positive one possible.
All my birth doula packages contain as a minimum:-
Free initial consultation.
Meet with you a minimum of four times before the birth. No time limit on meetings.
Be available by phone and email from start of contract, until six weeks after the birth.
Have a selection of books about labour and birth for you to borrow.
Free loan of TENS machine, aromatherapy oils and childbirth homeopathy kit.
Hire of birth pool with all equipment.
Access to online Mindful Mamma Hypnobirthing coursee
Create a birth plan.
What to pack.
Stay with you throughout labour and birth.
Emotional and physical support for you and your partner a well as support using your hypnobirthing techniques.
Prioritise skin to skin after the birth and support early breastfeeding.
Meet with you postnatally to discuss the labour and birth.
Be on call, exclusively for you, for two weeks before the baby is due and two weeks after.
Choosing a birth doula
Pregnancy, labour, and birth are such an important time in the life of a family. Your experiences and the way you are cared for really matter, and can have an impact, either positive or negative, on your family for the rest of your life.
I will endeavour to offer you the support and care you need to make your birth experience the most empowering, positive one possible. I believe that if you have an abundance of support, love, and care, you will better be able to engage with your body’s ability to birth your baby - however you might choose to do so.
As soon as you book, we will begin to meet up and start to get to know each other. I normally like to have at least four antenatal meetings, one to get to know each other, the second to look at your preferences, dreams and choices surrounding birth, the third to talk about how to prepare for a positive birth, and the fourth to talk through what to expect during labour, birth and in the first few hours after birth. This also includes early breastfeeding knowledge. There are many other things we can cover, such as hypnobirthing preparation, birth pool assembly, postnatal planning... as we get to know each other we will form a clearer picture of what will be most helpful for you.
Meeting Up
During our meetings we will spend time preparing emotionally and physically for a positive birth. Together we will plan a beautiful birth environment, where you can feel safe and relaxed, wherever you are to have your baby. We will aslo build a detailed birth plan. This involves among other things, talking about what you want / don’t want, what options are available, questions you might need to ask the midwife / doctor, pros and cons of different ideas. I can supply evidence based books, leaflets and internet links for you to look at to help you research what choices are best for you.
We would discuss what support would best help you fulfil these plans, making time to learn, and practice some practical skills, such as breathing, massage and positioning. We could also talk about other positive ideas, such as nesting, visualisation, relaxation, hypnotherapy for birth and anything else you are interested in.
Labour and Birth
I will aim to come to your house as your labour progresses, and stay with you until after the birth.
Once the labour has begun, there is no set role of a doula; I would be there entirely to meet you, and your partner’s needs. You might ask me to sit and guard your labouring space, or provide support to your partner so they can support you, or I could offer physical support, massaging or holding you.
I will help you to think about all the things we had practiced in our meetings, and remind you to try the coping mechanisms we had discussed.
Most importantly I will encourage you to let your own body tell you what may be best during the labour.
I would be available to facilitate discussion with the doctors and midwives, sharing your birth plan with them and making sure you have the opportunity to ask all the questions you need to in order to ensure you are fully informed and are comfortable with the decisions being made.
I would not be there to tell you what to do, but to provide the props, the space, the information and the courage for you to make decisions that are right for you, your partner and the baby.
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After Your Baby is Born
I will stay with you for a few hours after the birth, until you and your baby are settled.
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I can support you with skin to skin if you would like, and be there as you begin to breastfeed.
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I would then come for at least one postnatal visit, to chat over the experience of the labour and birth, and to offer support in the early days.
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You have the option to book additional breastfeeding or postnatal support with me.