Testimonials

I honestly cannot put into words how grateful I am for Anne and the support she gave me throughout my birth journeys. From the very beginning, her experience and calm presence made me feel completely safe.

She helped me understand birth & not to be afraid.
Thanks to Anne, I was able to have the births I had always hoped for, my two water births. I truly believe that without her guidance, reassurance, and unwavering support, this wouldn’t have been possible.

The Anne kept me grounded through every stage, and was only a phone call or text away.
Anne has such a calming energy and a deep understanding of birth. She made me feel empowered, listened to, and fully supported. She was absolutely amazing, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone considering a doula. Having Anne made my birth experience not just positive, but genuinely incredible.

She’s amazing xx

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. 

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.

I hadn’t heard of doulas until I was listening to a podcast after my first, very traumatic experience of birth. When I found out I was pregnant again one year later, I knew I would need the emotional support and security of having a Doula. I contacted Anne early in my pregnancy and was immediately struck by her deep knowledge and passion about birth. I decided to deliver in the Active Birthing Centre at the Royal hoping that we would be able to create a beautiful calm space for birthing my second baby. We also opted to do the hypnobirthing course to help prepare.

When the day came, I was having irregular surges all day and assumed it was early labour – that evening my waters broke and we called Anne. Soon after she arrived, I started trying to get ready to go to the hospital but once I changed positions things started moving very quickly and I could feel the baby moving down. I wasn’t going anywhere! Anne began helping me through surges which were right on top of each other and my husband left the room to ring the ambulance. A few minutes later my daughter was born. I was in complete shock but Anne reassured us that everything was fine and was able to guide us through the next steps after birth until the ambulance arrived. Anne turned what otherwise would have been a terrifying experience into a beautiful moment that I will always cherish. After the birth we were able to get a full golden hour with our baby in my own bed and started feeding within the first half hour.  

I had hoped for a drug-free, natural birth but wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it – the emotional support provided by a doula is the most powerful drug I have experienced, without the side-effects! I couldn’t recommend Anne more. She has a wonderful calm, reassuring presence and is very knowledgeable about all aspects of birth.

Anne supported my husband and me for my 2nd pregnancy, birth and postnatal period. 

I can sing Anne’s praises all day long! She’s a wonderful doula and I recommend her to every family welcoming a new baby. 

Her presence in our antenatal and postnatal journey has, in my opinion, almost certainly saved me from trauma and anxiety that I experienced with the birth of our first baby where we were quite alone in March 2020. 

I feel very fortunate to have decided to include a doula for pregnancy, labour and birth. I’m over the moon to have found Anne and that she was willing and able to help us. 

On many occasions Anne signposted me to resources or practitioners whether the topic was hypnobirthing, parenting advice, acupuncture etc., helping me trust myself and increase my confidence in my decisions. Anne helped me prepare for my baby’s birth in such a gentle and energetic way, I loved it!

Anne fostered calmness when my husband and I were met with stressful challenges from the Trust when I’d chosen to birth at home outside of guidance. At the very same time, it was a joy to have Anne celebrate with excitement, the birth of our little baby and we were grateful for her experience and presence at his birth. She was able to support both my husband and me by subtly keeping us grounded with the plans we had made for our baby’s birth and gave 100% to my long labour which happened to be Mother’s day!

Whenever Anne arrived at our house, my shoulders would relax from being hunched up by my ears and I would subconsciously breathe much easier. Anne has a lovely, gentle and relaxed way about how she helps. 

I count myself very privileged to have had Anne help me navigate through this labour and postnatal period. She’s the best person to have in your corner!

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!

We studied hypnobirthing with Anne and we cannot recommend doing this course enough. We loved that it was just Anne teaching us each week so we could have her undivided attention and ask her all the questions that came up. It really helped my husband prepare and he drew a lot  from the classes whilst he was supporting me in labour- from the breathing to the meditations and massage. My husband and I also loved spending time with Anne and felt she really supported us with questions that we had outside of the classes too which was also a great help.

We were so grateful to have Anne as our supporter while preparing for our home birth. Her warmth, heartfelt presence, and deep knowledge were an immense help, allowing us to feel even more secure throughout the birthing process. It was wonderful to follow this independent path, and to experience birth in its natural, intended way. The support of a doula is such a valuable service for couples seeking a confident, comfortable, and reassuring environment in which to welcome their baby.

A friend of ours suggested that a post-natal doula might provide us with the support that we required.  She found Anne online and sent the details to Victoria.  There are currently very few doulas in Northern Ireland and so we did not interview more than one doula.  However, even if there had been numerous doulas to choose from we still would have chosen Anne.  Victoria made contact with Anne and within the same day she came out to meet our family and offered her support.  From the first meeting we found Anne’s personable, sympathetic and non-judgemental character very appealing and knew that she was the perfect person to help us through this turbulent and emotionally overwhelming period in our lives.

Anne is an incredibly emotionally sensitive individual and has such a warm personality, it would be difficult not to build a strong rapport with such a wonderful lady.”  Victoria & James 

“My wife and I were accompanied through our second child’s birth by Anne. This was the first time we have used a doula and we can thoroughly recommend the experience.

Right from meeting Anne we felt comfortable sharing our plans for a normal delivery following a previous Caesarean section. Anne made our birth environment comfortable and allowed us to concentrate on relaxing whilst Anne dealt with the extraneous factors.

It was also great to leave Anne to look after my wife when I arrived at the hospital and parked the car. Anne stayed with us the day before the birth and the night of the birth and only left when we were settled and happy. With Anne’s help and expertise we achieved the harmonious natural delivery we had been so determined to experience.  Thank you Anne!

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.