A doula is a non- medical professional, often a mother herself, who provides continuous emotional and practical support to a woman or couple during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. The primary goal is to help the birthing person have the most satisfying and empowering birth experience possible given what happens on the day. Doulas offer physical comfort and emotional support, helping to create the calm, safe atmosphere that encourages the natural process of physiological birth to unfold. Research consistently shows that this continuity of care greatly improves outcomes for both mothers and babies.
When people look for a doula they often speak to a few doulas and meet up with the ones they like the sound of. When you have chosen who you would like to work with, there is a contract to sign and a deposit to pay to secure your booking. All doulas are self-employed so their fees are varied, usually according to their experience and extra offerings such as massage, homeopathy, herbal remedies etc
Choosing your birth team is an important part of pregnancy. The process typically involves interviewing a few potential doulas before choosing the person that you feel most at ease with. During antenatal meetings you will discuss any pregnancy and birth related issues, birth preferences and your hopes and fears about labour & birth. This preparation helps create a safe, calm environment during labor, which is essential for the natural physiological process of birth, we hope to instill confidence, enabling the birthing person to trust their body and their instincts during this momentous transition to motherhood.
Every woman/ birthing person deserves to have a positive birth experience. Beginning your journey of becoming a parent with an empowering experience will give you confidence in your ability to look after your newborn baby. I believe that the vast majority of women can give birth naturally without any medical intervention [ unfortunately some interventions can lead to yet more interventions and sometimes to the traumatic birth experiences that we often hear about.] Of course some interventions are medically necessary, but the more you understand the medical system and the true pros and cons of all medication or intervention, the better placed you are to make informed decisions.
Get louder, get bigger and surround yourself with extraordinary love when choosing your birth team. It might be the first time you’ve ever done such a thing, but I promise it won’t be the last.
Domino Kirke -New York-based birth and postpartum doula and the director and co-founder of Carriage House Birth.
My doula support
After 19 years of supporting birthing clients I have recently decided to offer virtual birth support to those choosing to birth in a hospital and in person support in a home birth setting. I will come to your home for all antenatal and postnatal visits for both doula support packages.
My birth doula package includes 3 antenatal visits, 2 postnatal visits and being "on call 24/7" from 2 weeks before your estimated due date until you go into labour whenever that may be [please note that before 38 weeks I will do my best to support your birth but I cannot 100% guarantee my availability]
The antenatal visits are for you and your partner/birth partner so we can all get to know one another and I can work out how best to support you both through your labour and birth. We will discuss your birth preferences including place of birth, use of a birth pool, breathing for labour and birth, active birth, medication and general hospital practices. We can discuss and practice breathing and visualisations, the physiology of birth, positions and movements for labour - birth is an instinctual process but it’s useful to be familiar with what can be helpful. Plus preparation for feeding/ breastfeeding and looking after a new born baby as sometimes the focus is so much on the birth that people don't prepare enough the postnatal time & life with a newborn.
I will visit you a couple of times after your birth to discuss your birth story, support your breastfeeding/feeding and simply to see how you are all doing. This support also helps your whole family to relax and enjoy the experience of becoming parents or extending your family by welcoming a new-born baby into your lives.
As I am trained in massage, acupressure and rebozo for pregnancy & labour, I can teach your birth partner some simple techniques to use during labour to help keep you calm and focused, they can be practiced in the final few weeks of pregnancy. I can also give you pregnancy and postnatal massage treatments but these are not included in my birth doula package but can be booked with me at my home in Islington. See Massage Practitioner page…
TESTIMONIALS
Rachel 2013: “Thanks Sue – We both feel pretty amazing today and just thrilled to have experienced a birth like that…I feel the power! Your presence made an enormous difference in so many ways. Huge thanks”
VBAC mum 2016 "After having had an emergency caesarean for our first daughter, I knew I needed someone by my side who was experienced and who'd seen it all. I really wanted a home birth for our second baby and when we went to see the specialist at Homerton she said that we'd made a fabulous choice with Sue as she is known as 'the doula who helps everyone have a successful home birth' I knew we were in the best hands.
The night our son was born everything happened really fast. Sue was there the whole way. She did counter pressure massage on my lower back during each surge, handed me coconut water and homeopathy when necessary. She was calm. She was my rock. She made me laugh. She was the best mothers (and fathers;) helper we could've ever ever wished for."
March 2018 “A heartfelt thank you for delivering my baby last March, you were invaluable! " from Anna who gave birth to her 3rd baby at home before her midwives arrived [there was a lot of snow and her birth was fast!]
Jessie 1st time mum, home birth Dec 2020 “…you played such a huge role in helping us have the birth we wanted -it’s impossible to put into words what that means to us. Having you at the end of the phone during pregnancy and post partum and by our sides for the birth gave us so much reassurance and peace during such a vulnerable time…”
VBAC x2 mum Jan 2021 “Dearest Sue, There aren’t enough words to say how grateful we are for you being there with us the night that ***** was born, thank you for everything. You will always have a special place in our hearts”
July 2021 1st time mum “ thank you so much for your support throughout this whole adventure with all its twists and turns, it’s been fantastic to have your wisdom at our disposal. Your presence and help at ****’s birth was invaluable. Not to mention your support coming up to it, it kept me steady in rocky waters, trusting my instincts when it was strongly suggested otherwise . And as for after… we were so much calmer knowing we could lean onto you in those early weeks.
Training and experience
All my maternity massage training was taken with the inspirational Suzanne Yates of Well Mother- www.wellmother.org. After supporting pregnant and postnatal clients for a few years and listening to their birth stories [and knowing the pressure that the NHS midwives are under at the moment and the strict guidelines that they should adhere to] I decided to train as a birth doula so I could support women throughout their pregnancies, birth and into the postnatal period. I did further training with Well Mother with their Massage for Labour course in 2006 and have been working as a doula since 2008
I have attended many home births, birth centre & hospital births at Homerton, Whittington, UCLH , The Royal London, St Mary’s, St Thomas’s, Barnet & North Middlesex hospital. I have supported many water births, active births, hypnobirthing, twin vaginal births & many successful VBAC’s [vaginal birth after caesarean] many of which have given birth at home, plus medically assisted births and a few caesarean births.
Out of interest I did more doula training with the late, famous Obstetrician, natural birth pioneer and author, Michel Odent on his “Paramana Doula” course in Nov 2011. This was very interesting for me as he has a very “hands off” approach to doulaing and as I come from a massage background I like to be hands on, where necessary and appropriate of course! After training with Michel Odent I began working as a postnatal doula, helping to nurture families in the early weeks after their baby/babies are born, offering practical and emotional support and helping to get breastfeeding off to a good start.
In 2020 I took the amazing https://indiebirth.org/ “Birth Warrior Project -Doula training and Transformation” course. It taught me a lot as well as reminding me of my values and instincts and how important they are for all of us but especially birthing people!
I have recently completed Breastfeeding London’s year long on-line course “Breastfeeding & Human Lactation” in preparation for becoming a Lactation Consultant in the future. It a wonderful course, totally fascinating and I am very happy to say that I passed the course in June 2021.
In order to volunteer at my local hospital and some breastfeeding drop-in groups I trained with the Breastfeeding Network https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drop-in-centres-map/ and I am now a BFN Helper and Peer Supporter with an enhanced DBS certificate.
