My wife Evelyn and I were expecting our first child and she wanted a doula because she does not have any family here and my own mother is no longer with us. We discovered Anne’s website and arranged an initial meeting which went extremely well.
We found Anne very easy to talk to and were impressed with the breadth and depth of her knowledge about all aspects of childbirth. At the same time, she was always sensitive to our views and preferences, and did not try to change our minds about things we wanted. We also quickly realised that being a doula is a vocation for Anne, something she thoroughly enjoys and passionately believes in, rather than doing it to earn a living.
When the big day arrived, things did not go smoothly and it got quite hectic in the delivery room. Anne remained calm throughout and helped me to reassure Evelyn and encourage her during the delivery which was successful in the end.
Immediately afterwards, Evelyn had to be taken to the operating theatre so did not have much time for skin-to-skin contact with our baby. Anne suggested to the midwives that I could do this instead, to which they agreed. She then sat with me and helped me keep the baby calm until Evelyn was back and able to feed her. She even thought of taking a video of me with the baby so that Evelyn would be able to share in the experience.
Evelyn had to remain in hospital for a while and Anne visited her regularly as a postnatal doula, bringing fruit to aid her recovery and offering lots of useful suggestions on looking after the baby.
We are so blessed to have had Anne’s help, knowledge and companionship over the past few months. We would confidently state that you are unlikely to find a better doula in Northern Ireland.