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.