Testimonials

My husband and I signed up to complete a 5-week course focused on Hypnobirthing with Anne as she had been highly recommended to us by a few friends.

We are both so glad we listened and followed through as we learnt so much as first time parents and were fully informed of our choices and what to expect in terms of labour, pain relief, interventions etc. It was a great 5 weeks, and we looked forward to our Tuesday evening sessions, particularly the relaxing meditation at the end as it was great practice for what lay ahead. After completing the course we continued practising the skills that Anne had taught us, continued to develop our positive mindset so we could hopefully experience the birth as we had planned it. Overall, I had the most incredible birthing experience at the RVH in the Active Birthing Centre, which was hugely impacted by our experience and knowledge gained from Anne. My husband was confident every step of the way and gave me the support I needed throughout, this was as a result of him learning so much from Anne.

We both highly recommend hypnobirthing and Anne as her knowledge, skills and tips a long the way led us to having our son in the most beautiful way. An experience we will never forget and look forward to hopefully experiencing again in the future. Thank you, Anne!

Anne was my Doula and hypnobirthing teacher for my first pregnancy and she was an absolute god-send. She is the most calming, patient, knowledgeable and grounding person, and is just an incredible advocate for women and their birth preferences. She made me feel really empowered and safe during what was a very overwhelming time. I’m so glad I had her with me every step of the way. My time with her prepared me for the birthing experience and gave me great tools to deal with its many twists and turns. She was there with me every moment during my very long birth experience, and there are many moments I don’t think I could have coped without her calm guidance, care and advocacy. She made sure my wants and needs were heard and adhered to when I felt at my weakest. An amazing woman with incredible knowledge and experience – I couldn’t recommend Anne enough.

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 am a 41 year old first time mother and gave birth to my baby in Belfast, which is not my home city. My mother was my birth partner and I chose Anne as my Doula as my baby would be the sixtieth birth that she had attended and she had had three children herself so I knew I would benefit from her experience in something I was experiencing for the first time.

I first chatted to Anne by phone to discuss how I hoped my birth would be and the support that I would like to receive from her.  Anne then sent me lots of materials, including sample birth preferences and information on hypnobirthing.  These were very useful in helping me to think about the different aspects of birth and to consider decisions that I might have to make before and during the birth and to prepare my mind for a calm birth.

I met Anne twice before the birth – and she helped me prepare further for example by teaching me about the physical processes of a normal birth and hypnobirthing techniques. Anne adapted these sessions to fit my needs and to supplement what I had learned at other antenatal classes.  She also gave me practical help – even taking me to the hospital during my first session when I was worried about my baby’s movements and printing my birth preferences as I didn’t have a printer. 

On the night I gave birth Anne took me to the hospital at 2am and she was so calm and professional and worked confidently and respectfully alongside the hospital staff and my mother. This made me feel that I had a united and expert team looking after and supporting me.  When needed Anne gave me gentle prompts and reminders of the breathing techniques which helped me through contractions and she supported me when I needed to make urgent decisions about deviations from my birth plan. She was encouraging and calm throughout. As a result, although many aspects of my birth did not go in accordance with my plan, with hindsight I would not have changed anything, even if I had more time to make my decisions. 

My beautiful baby boy arrived at 4.41am and Anne stayed with us while he did the breast crawl to reach my breast and have his first feed and until we had feeding established. 

A few days later Anne visited again so I could chat about the birth and we could share the lovely ‘groaning cake’ that she had brought – just one of the lovely personal touches that make Anne a wonderful doula, particularly for a first time mother.

I’m so thankful for Anne’s support during my pregnancy. She was so supportive to me privately as well as helping me get the midwives to listen and take my concerns seriously. My experience of pregnancy was not great but Anne made a very difficult time that much more manageable. 

Having Anne as our doula genuinely changed our experience of pregnancy and birth.  From the first contact to the birth itself we felt completely comfortable with her, she truly went above and beyond to be available and supportive. She ‘got’ what we needed and we felt that however the birth went, we were in a much stronger place having her there with us.

My first birth was a very difficult experience for us and left me deeply anxious and worried in my next pregnancies. Despite a calm birth at home with our second child, I still found preparing for birth a third time stressful, so we considered finding a doula for the first time. Anne really understood where we were coming from and immediately had practical suggestions to support us through the pregnancy.

During the birth itself she kept me calm through a rapid labour, and remembered and reminded the midwives of my wishes discreetly. It made a whole hour with just us and our baby possible after our daughter’s birth, and will always be one of my happiest memories.
I wholeheartedly recommend her – whether it’s your first or fourth and wherever/however you hope to give birth having someone like Anne to support you makes such a difference. 

I got in touch with Anne when I found out I was pregnant with our third child. My first birth was a classic ‘cascade of intervention’, leaving me with ongoing gynae issues and a complete fear of childbirth. My second was an elective Caesarian due to breech baby. So I was naturally quite anxious about how I would deliver our third, and researched doulas for some extra support.

From the offset Anne was amazingly patient and kind – we met briefly and then my husband also met her. We just knew she would make the difference and she really did; despite all my fears and worries, including Group B strep, I achieved a VBAC water birth with not one stitch!!!! I could not have asked for a better outcome and feel I’ve achieved closure after my two previous deliveries.

Anne was always at the end of the phone, offering support and guidance. She also supported me with hypnobirthing and came over for a pre-birth relaxation session. I felt more confident, relaxed and supported having her in my corner and her calm presence and unflappable nature just made me feel more self-assured.

Thank you so, so much Anne, for making my final birth such a positive and healing journey for me. I will never forget it.

Choosing Anne as our doula was the easiest and best decision I’ve ever made!

Anne supported our family throughout pregnancy, with hypnobirthing sessions at our home when our toddler was in bed, she provided emotional support when I had difficulties with healthcare professionals and she was always 100% supportive and respectful of my birth choices. 

During our antenatal meetings and hypnobirthing sessions I feel we got to know Anne and she got to know us as a family. We all felt totally comfortable with each other. Anne helped us to learn more about the natural processes of pregnancy, labour and birth. Using hypnobirthing techniques I went from being worried about labour and birth – due to a previously traumatic birth, to being excited and looking forward to the birth. What a transformation! (Also, I can’t imagine a voice better suited to hypnobirthing than Anne’s, so soothing)

We had been planning a VBAC at home, which was not always well received by doctors and midwives, but Anne respected our decision and was sympathetic to our reasons for this. She was always there for me when I needed reassurance or to re-frame or re-focus my thoughts. She provided much needed emotional support and reminded me of my hypnobirthing tool kit when I needed it. 

After prodromal labour at home for 4 nights (and Anne’s middle of the night support though some of this time), at 42+1 weeks, my hopes of a home birth came shattering around me when I learnt at a routine appointment that baby was struggling during mild contractions and the decision was made for an immediate emergency cesarean. 

Due to my previous traumatic cesarean this was my worst nightmare, but I knew what to do. I contacted Anne, I just knew she would make it all OK for me. She dropped everything to be with me, arriving even before my husband did. She was like an angel walking into that hospital room. I felt my fears melting away. She reminded me of my hypnobirthing and I went into theatre feeling that bit more at peace. She stayed with my husband while I was prepped and provided much needed support for him too. She reminded him of hypnobirthing tools to help me during the operation and she waited for us to come out of theatre. 

Having Anne there and having our hypnobirthing strategies turned what was my worst nightmare into a positive experience. I avoided the trauma that I experienced during my first (planned) cesarean and managed to have a peaceful, positive experience of an emergency section. That’s quite the miracle!

I feel so honoured to have had Anne be part of our journey. She will always be so special to our family.

We are truly privileged to have Anne as our doula.  A friend had shared her own experience of using this type of support and I knew I wanted and needed the same for the birth of my daughter. Anne held a safe space where I and my husband were able to receive the emotional support that was needed to get through a stressful and difficult pregnancy and we were able to make better-informed decisions with regards to my birth plan and ongoing health issues.  As a disabled mother to be, I faced a lot of challenges however, I was able to gain strength and courage that nothing was impossible and we could work through anything.  Anne has such a gentle and caring soul; we consider her one of the family now.

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.