After a traumatic first birth we wanted a more positive experience for No.2 and Rachel helped us achieve this. From the initial interviews and refresher sessions Rachel was able to accurately size our requirements. An unexpected bonus was her help in teaching our two-year-old daughter Effie about pregnancy and birth. Effie loved Rachel’s visits. Lindsay delivered Beatriz at home, in her amniotic sac, with only Rachel’s help (midwives arriving shortly after). The calming support was so effective I am confident I could have withdrawn to the sofa and read the papers with little impact! For any prospective fathers unsure of the benefits of a doula I can thoroughly recommend Rachel’s services, which only augmented rather than detracted from our family dynamic at a private time.
Well what can I say about the amazing lovely Rachel?? She is just so wonderful, calming, responsive, understanding and all-round lovely!! As a first-time dad I wanted “someone in my corner”, and I was lucky enough to find the best! Having Rachel as our doula was such an important part of our birth. I love that our little Arlo Bee has Rachel as a loving part of her story. My wife and I cannot recommend her highly enough and is now not only a friend but part of our extended family. Thank you so much Rachel for being such an all-round star! Xx
My husband James and I so very grateful to have had Rachel as our birth doula and furthermore helping us transition smoothly into parenthood with post birth support.
From first meeting Rachel I felt so blessed and reassured that she would be there to support us through our birth and parenthood journey. There was an instant connection and everything about Rachel and what she could offer us resonated with our needs and hopes. Rachel has made us feel more confident and clam with each visit, so much so that we decided to opt for a home birth only a few weeks out from our due date ( originally planned for birth centre). As with all of our decisions, Rachel supported our change in birth plan 110% and helped us with the additional preparations for our birth.
Rachel really shinned during my labour staying by our side, at home for 36hrs before deciding to transfer to the hospital for additional help and the final stages of labour. During our time at home Rachel helped with suggesting a series of great active labour techniques to reduce pain and get things going. Furthermore, having Rachel with us at the hospital to help explain our options was so very valuable at a time when we were feeling exhausted and unfamiliar. Not only was Rachel the back bone of our positive birth experience she has continued to be our support and help us navigate the 4th trimester with an abundance of love, ease and knowledge. We love you Rachel and recommend you to all parents to be xxx
It is now 4 months since beautiful Poppy can into our arms and sadly it is also the end of weekly post-natal visits from Rachel.
I would like to take the time to further thank you Rachel for always going above and beyond and most of all for your loving and caring support. Your weekly post-natal visits have helped calm my thoughts and concerns and given me confidence to find solutions and truly believe in my mothering abilities.
You helped us to navigate the new-born stage, assisting with breastfeeding, expressing and playtime; attended medical appointments and furthermore showed James, Poppy and I endless love and kindness, helping Poppy grow and develop into the beautiful baby that she is today.
You were my main support while James was away (10 weeks) and your visits allowed me time to catch up on whatever needed doing to make the week run smoothly as well as encouraging me to take time for myself whether it be going for a massage, taking the dog for a walk or putting my feet up for a rest.
Rachel, you have been and absolute blessing and helped make a challenging time not only manageable but enjoyable too.
I believe every new mum needs a ‘Rachel’
As a woman with a history of sexual abuse I found my first pregnancy and birth a terrifying and emotionally challenging experience.
When I found myself expecting my second baby, I was determined to give myself the best shot of a natural birth and to make that as brilliant experience as I could. I employed Rachel because she instantly understood what my challenges would be, in amidst some care providers who didn’t get it at all, with the added complication of a previous C-section.
She was an incredible advocate for me throughout my pregnancy and her antenatal training sessions really brought myself and my husband closer together while preparing for the birth of our daughter.
In the event of it the universe had other ideas and I ended up in a second c section, with no labour and at the last minute. Rachel was an incredible support both before during and afterward and I cannot thank her enough for holding my hand at a very stressful and emotionally challenging time. I would have a baby all over again just to have Rachel as our
doula and I will Be forever grateful to have found her and for the journey we shared.
Thank you Rachel, for everything.
As soon as I met Rachel, I knew I wanted her as my doula and my husband was in agreement. I was lucky enough to have her support for both my second and third pregnancies/births (both of which were vbacs – vaginal birth after caesarean). Rachel was a tremendous support during my pregnancies: offering advice, lending me books and attending appointments when my husband was unable to. She was an amazing support (both emotional and physical!) during my labours, especially with my second baby as that was a long, exhausting labour and I know that I couldn’t have achieved my dream of a vbac without her. It was so reassuring knowing that she was ‘on our side’ and was able to explain the pros and cons of different decisions we had to make. After both of my births Rachel stayed for over 2 hours and this included help with breastfeeding which was invaluable. I cannot recommend Rachel highly enough and am so happy that we chose her to support us.
I decided to hire a doula to help me achieve the VBAC I wanted following an elective caesarean with my twin boys 4 years ago. I wanted the reassurance that there would be a familiar face at the birth should my husband not be able to be there, as we don’t have any family around to help with childcare. I was planning a hospital birth and wanted somebody calm and knowledgeable with me, somebody to support me through the drug free birth that I wanted.
When we met Rachel, we immediately liked her, she was confident, knowledgeable, positive and clearly loved being a doula. The birth preparation classes were excellent. As I formulated my birth plan, Rachel explained all my options in a non-judgmental way and without influencing my decisions. Rachel always answered any questions I had leading up to the birth very quickly and she gave me confidence that I could have the birth I wanted.
When I went into labour at 2am, Rachel arrived quickly, and I immediately felt reassured that she was there. The contractions came quickly and strongly, and I did not want her to leave my side – I was very grateful that she stayed with me the whole time even squished up in the back of the car with me as my husband drove us to hospital.
I am pleased to say that I achieved the birth I wanted – my daughter was born quickly, with just gas and air, and I was able to hold her and feed her immediately, something that I had not been able to experience with my boys. I am sure that Rachel’s constant, calming presence helped my labour go smoothly – whenever I felt I couldn’t do it anymore I looked at Rachel and she helped me to control my breathing and carry on.
After the birth, Rachel held my hand through the stitches, and fed me tea and toast and chocolate. Her support following the birth has been wonderful too – I am very grateful that she came back to the hospital later that day to help us, as we ended up in A and E with my boys being poorly. She also helped me when I was having problems with breastfeeding – all is now well! We will never forget the wonderful support Rachel gave our whole family at this amazing time.
As soon as I found out I was pregnant with my second child I had pretty much decided to have a C-section, no way was I going through that again! I had a traumatic birth, which involved lengthy hospital transfers, wrongly administrated epidurals, forceps, ventouse and every drug they could offer me, 36 exhausted hours later my son was born, and I was unable to hold him or feed him. Not surprisingly, I was exhausted and developed PND and PTS which affected my relationship both with my partner and stopped me developing a bond with my son. I became so nervous and exhausted that I could hardly leave the house without feeling panicked and overwhelmed. I am by nature a very organised and fairly controlled person and the thought of another birth spiralling out of my control was unthinkable.
A friend told me about doulas and I liked the idea of having continuous emotional support by one person throughout my pregnancy and birth. I met with a few doulas, and when I met Rachel, I had no doubt she was the person I wanted to share my experience with. From the first meeting with her I felt she had the perfect balance of confidence, empathy and knowledge, that I knew would make me feel secure.
I decided to look into hypnobirthing and with Rachels support and guidance we looked at all the options for birth, explored all mine and my husband’s fears and slowly Rachel made us see that I could be in control of my birth, whichever path it took and I could have a calm birth experience, she gave me confidence in my decision and the knowledge I needed to take control of my experience.
On the day I went into labour, my waters broke at 11pm and I put on my hypnobirthing tape and stayed in bed for an hour breathing though the contractions and visualising my special place. as the contractions got closer Ben called the midwife who came over. I had not met the midwife before and she was not a particularly warm person. She didn’t think I was in established labour and just stood watching me. As Rachel arrived, she came in smiled warmly at me and put a hand on my shoulder, I remember thinking it will be ok now.
throughout my contractions Rachel remind me to go in my cave and slow my breathing down. She just seemed to know what I needed to hear at the exact time I needed to hear it. Rachel was also a huge support to Ben and showed him how to help me, he was amazing in the birth because he had the support of Rachel and didn’t feel on his own. My beautiful daughter was born in 3 hours in the birth pool at home with just minimal use of gas and air. Rachel stayed me with throughout the 3rd stage which was a bit tricky waiting for the placenta to deliver but she sat next to me in the loo and talked to me and gave me sweet tea.
I honestly believe that I had the experience I did because of Rachel and I would not have had the confidence I did to go through with a home birth without her. I believe my calm birth and calm start in my daughter’s life is because of Rachel and we will never ever forget her and her amazing intuition and infectious confidence.
At 5am when the midwives had left, and my husband had gone to get some sleep I sat with my daughter and Rachel on the sofa. As the sun came up Rachel left me beaming and in a drunken exhausted euphoric state on the sofa, she knew without me telling her that I needed to be on my own withy daughter for a few hours. At 7am my son came down and saw his sister for the first time … It was a magical moment and one I will never forget.
