Testimonials

RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT WITH DOULA INVOLVEMENT YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE THE KIND OF BIRTH YOU WANT AND LESS LIKELY TO HAVE MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS.

YES – add me to the statistics!!!

I credit Anne with the fact that I…:

• Birthed at home.
• Birthed without fear.
• Had an incredible positive birth that was magical.
• Had a totally un-medicated birth (something I would never have imagined possible).
• Had minimal involvement from midwives during birth.

I felt like a powerful goddess birthing my son .  It was so magical and incredible that I wish I could get to relive it again.
I highly recommend Anne (and do to many) for her Doula qualities, hypnobirthing course and for being such a genuinely lovely amazing person.
Anne gave me the birthing experience I could only have dreamed of and we shall always be so grateful to her.
She is so incredibly knowledgeable, supportive, caring, nurturing and a great advocate for women.  
I experienced a lot of opposition from medics regards birthing at home.  If I had not had Anne’s support I would not have had the confidence to push through on having a home birth.  Anne was always able to centre me and be my calm when I wobbled.  
Anne did so much for me:

• Trained me in hypnobirthing (truly amazing, amazing, amazing)
• Developed my knowledge
• Developed my skills
• Gave me confidence
• Helped de-stress me
• Informed me of my rights which led me to being able to get a good plan in place with the hospital (that was in line with my wishes and which I was in control of)
• Supported me
• Was my safe space
• Championed me
• Advocated for me
• Empowered me
• Loaned me books and birthing equipment eg birth swing, tens machine
• Held space for me when I needed it
• Made me laugh when I needed it
• Attended hospital meetings with me
• Gently and respectfully challenged medics on my behalf when I needed it
• Researched stuff for me
• Nurtured me
• Did fear release exercises with me
• Helped me with morning sickness
• Was always at the end of the phone when I needed her
• Made me delicious cake
• Gave me confidence to have my 3 year old present at the birth and ideas of how I could prepare her  (was so special that she got to be there and help daddy tie the tie cord and cut the cord)
• Helped with the set up the birthing space and filled pool
• Was on call for the birth
• Provided me with hypnobirthing meditations
• Attended my birth and instinctively knew what I needed and when I needed it
• Gave breastfeeding support
• Captured special moments of my birth and us bonding as a family via video and photos
• Called postpartum with lovely gift for baby 

I had an amazing experience with Anne from start to finish. I would not go through birth without a doula in future. From educational support before birth (going through all the details you miss in the NHS zoom calls, taking questions, helping to create a birth plan), to practical support during birth (from ensuring I was hydrated to advocating for my choices with midwives when I was unable to speak), to emotional support before, during and after birth, Anne went above and beyond what we expected- she is very passionate and extremely knowledgeable about all things birth. I feel that the lack of information pregnant women are given actually limits our autonomy and choice during our birthing experience and can often lead to outcomes we don’t want. Working with a doula is one lever to ensure you are fully equipped with all the information you need to feel ready for birth- and that you have someone with you to advocate for the choices you have made and a familiar face to support you and your partner. Anne provides the service she describes but there are so many extra things she does to make things easier and more pleasant for you, for example, bringing us food and snacks in those first daunting weeks with a new baby, bringing little toys for our baby and never forgetting the new mum with bath herbs and special teas. We absolutely loved working with Anne and have strongly recommended her and doula services in general to all our friends. My husband said the two things we would never do without during birth are a doula and a TENS machine! Thank you Anne, we will never forget how you helped us, you really became a part of the family.

This was my fourth baby, my second VBAC and the first one to have a doula, and Anne was exactly what I was looking for.  I wanted a natural birth – as natural as I could get, as I had to have my baby in the hospital.  We were very comfortable with Anne from the first time we met.  She gave us alot of information that we didn’t know; about my rights, and natural ways to deliver, and cope with labour.

While in labour, Anne just said and did everything I needed her to do.  I had the quick natural drug-free birth that I wanted.  We would highly recommend Anne to anyone who was considering employing a doula.

I felt safe with Anne right from the off. She was recommended to me through another doula I went to school with and after a previous traumatic emcs I really needed a professional I could trust.

On the big day she intuitively knew when to be there and when to make the decision to go home to give me a break for a sleep when early labour progressed quite slowly. She knew when to melt into the background to give us our space when we needed it. It was great to have her help me make the decision to go to the hospital at the right time. She gave me the confidence to make the decisions when I needed to. She was great at reminding me to do the things I’d planned to do in my birth wishes plan. She also had good relaxation and painkilling skills up her sleeve!

It was such a comfort to know I had back up both at home and in the hospital, and that we weren’t alone in our endeavours to have a normal, natural birth after a caesarean. We were successful against the odds (malpostioned baby, slightly stalled labour) and Anne was fundamental in helping us create the right ambience for the job. Thank you Anne!

My Husband and I needed to find a doula in Northern Ireland and needed to hire her from South Africa before meeting her. As soon as I saw Anne online something in my heart knew she was right for us. She attentively cared for us during our hypnobirthing course online from miles away and we were so excited that we finally got to give her a big hug when we finally arrived in NI to prepare for our homebirth. Anne was such a lovely force to have with us and allowed us and held space for us as we discovered what was the best for our little family in a totally new environment. In the end although I had to transfer to hospital one of the major factors to us being able to still have a natural birth after a 40 hour labor was Anne’s unwavering knowledge and strength when Josh and I had to make decisions or felt pressure. Her presence enabled us to hold strong to our belief in ourselves and what we had wanted which was as much as possible an unmedicated natural birth. My baby was born naturally in hospital and she was with us every step of the way. We hope to see you again soon with our beautiful baby girl. Thank you our dear Anne

Anne is calm and confident.  I knew that if my anxiety crept in, her calmness would be what I needed.  I knew that if I started to feel like I was losing control or started doubting myself, she would give me confidence.  I knew I could rely on her to see beyond policy and procedure so she could ensure I had all the information, risks, benefits and alternatives to make fully informed choices that were right for me and my baby.  She was able to pick up what my triggers were so she could step in to support me.  She was not only understanding of my wishes, but was able to adapt and support them as my birth plans and environment changed.  I loved having her to be a part of my daughter’s birth. 

I feel very grateful to have had Anne’s presence at the birth of both my children. She is the Auntie I wish I had; reassuring, supportive and the most wonderful cheerleader before, during and after birth. Neither of my births panned out how I expected. Anne helped my husband and I to negotiate some tough decisions and kept us feeling empowered throughout. My husband was also very comforted by her presence, and she capably supported him whilst he supported me. 

Having the consistency of support was truly one of the best investments. With so many different medical staff involved during pregnancy and delivery Anne was the one person with an eye on the whole. She was my trusted ally throughout and helped me stay true to my convictions. I am so very thankful to her for being part of the most life changing event of my life, for seeing me and holding me. For anyone considering her services I would say whole heartedly DO IT. 

Fate brought Anne to us: It’s very difficult to sum up in a paragraph exactly how wonderful Anne is, not only as a doula but as a person. We were planning a home birth in water and my yoga teacher recommended Anne saying she had heard such great things about her, so we got in touch and we are forever grateful that we did! From the moment Anne spoke to me on the phone I could feel her warmth and energy and her passion for birth and babies. Anne had lots of knowledge about water birth and knew what to prepare. She called round to the house bringing all the equipment and going through hands on demos of positions and tools to use for natural pain relief. It was so exciting and I was feeling ready for the birth and when my waters broke a week before my due date, we called Anne in the middle of the night and she was so reassuring and said that she would be ready to come as soon as we needed her. Things didn’t go to plan though as my labour never started…We decided to keep trying to induce my labour at home over a period of 5 days, Anne supporting us every day and providing lots of guidance and encouragement and practical tools to try. She called out to the house to try some techniques to get baby into a more favourable position and also did a guided meditation for me and my partner to help us relax as pressure from the NHS was mounting…They kept trying to get me to come in for induction but we wanted to avoid this as far as possible and having Anne’s endless knowledge on all things birth and babies gave us the confidence to stay strong and aim for the natural birth we planned. Unfortunately, after 5 days with no progression, I was brought into hospital for induction and Anne was again so reassuring and said she would come in whenever we needed her. I was disappointed that this was how my birth was going to be, so far from what I envisioned but Anne was amazing at trying to make sure my birth plan was followed as best as possible and was always there with experience and knowledge when staff were trying to manipulate my wishes. I really couldn’t have done it without her! Through my labour (which was rather tough), Anne knew what would help me before I even knew I needed it! Offering me drinks, snacks, a soothing back rub and wafting essential oils and playing music to help me deal with contractions. She put in over 12 hours with us at the hospital, not complaining once and she was an absolute warrior for me. She was such a big part of our birth experience and she went above and beyond anything we expected of her and she really was a pillar of support for our wishes and birth plan when we were really up against it with the staff at the hospital. We have so much love for her and we are in awe of the work she does. Everybody needs Anne with them for their birth, regardless of what path they end up on because she is a wonderful woman who champions everybody’s right to birth the way they want to and she does it all with warm smiles and hugs along the way.

Anne is much more than a doula. Anne provided me with postnatal support that I literally could not have done without. From the very first days and weeks she was one of the only people I could really relax with and felt secure enough to leave the baby with in order to get some sleep during the day or have a shower. The bond she created with us is incredibly special.

My baby is now 15 months old. Anne is now a great friend and when she last came to visit, the enormous smile and welcome that little Katie gave her was just spectacular, even though as we’d been away, she hadn’t seen her in a few months. Anne then proceeded to rock 15 month old baba to sleep whilst humming a little song to her that she sang to her when she was days old. No one else on this planet can rock this babby to sleep, including her mama, as she is nearly always breastfed to sleep! To me it just proved that very special bond Katie has with Anne. Katie felt safe, secure and relaxed enough to sleep in Anne’s arms, despite not seeing her for a few months.

We will forever love our ‘Auntie’ Anne!

After much searching and reflecting, I met with Anne, a Doula whose patience and a passionate interest, support and experience in the wellbeing of women before, during and after childbirth meant I felt connected from the word go during our initial meeting during the latter part of my second trimester.

The presence of a Doula goes beyond a birthing partner for me as also meant a gentle mothering figure, someone to reach out to for help, touch or just a glance to when having strong waves of surges (contractions). Whilst I chose to have my third baby in hospital and without knowing how or when I would give birth , it was important that I had a holistic sense of well-being and felt the natural side to the birthing of the baby even if in  what can be sometimes a clinical environment and I felt it was a Doula that can prompt you with all these things and help in any options that you may have to think about and above all remain calm and focussed.

Also having the practical help as a woman in the final stages needing extra help with the logistics of moving alongside the help and support of the midwives too. For me, it was and still is important to embrace the natural side of childbirth in all its stages in pregnancy and I found that a Doula can empower you as a woman and fill in the gaps of knowledge you may need to prepare you for birthing your baby the best you can.

I could not have managed without Anne at my side and she stayed a valuable 4 hours afterwards into the early hours of the morning and found the Doula support a healing and nurturing experience, something I would definitely have again and thoroughly recommend.