What I am 'do-ulaing' right now

​Over the past two months I have had the privilege of witnessing two amazing mothers to birth their babies in the most magical and empowered second births.
The first mama we only met the day before her birth but despite not having the usual time we normally would have had to get to know each other, we felt so connected during her birth. Birth has a way of creating deep connections as when you are truly present, your layers are stripped back and real true emotions are able to flow. This mama had a traumatic immediate postpartum experience in her first birth so it was very important for her to feel connected to her baby throughout her birth. And she was able to do this by having a quiet, undisturbed and protected birth space, held by me and her partner. She roared her baby into her own arms and was able to enjoy staying in her birth bubble at home including having a shower in her own bathroom and being fed by her own mama before she retreated to bed with her baby.

My second client gave birth to her second baby at home in the presence of her partner, mother and me. This was the second time I had supported this family in their births so I knew just how important it was for them to remain at home undisturbed as they transferred to the hospital during their first birth. For this birth we really focused on her being able to trust her body and the birthing process. We worked through the trauma caused by the interventions of her previous birth and planned how we would manage any concerns in this birth. On the day of her birth things progressed quickly but beautifully and she was able to birth her baby her way without any interventions and the midwives only arrived once her baby was born but were very supportive of her home birth and checking over her and her baby.
Birth really can be a healing and magical event that can change the way we view ourselves and the world around us. I feel so very fortunate to be able to support people during their birthing experiences and that I get to feel the power of this transformation.

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I now continue to be on call for two mamas to be in their first births and who are prepparing to birth their babies in the Bluebells Birth Centre in Manchester.

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My work at Birthrights is continuing to grow and as well as supporting people through our advice service, I am also be attending a local Community Conversation session with Leeds Involving People later on this month. The aim of this session is to hear from womena and birthing people who are most marginalised by the system and ask them what they would like their maternity care to look like. This is such powerful work and will help us to campaign and advocate for changes to the way the maternity care system operates not just on local level but nationally too

I am not just a doula...