“Whenever and however you give birth, your experience will impact your emotions, your mind, your body, and your spirit for the rest of your life.”
― Ina May Gaskin
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As your doula I am your consistent companion during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period. I am an experienced and compassionate guide to support you through the emotional and spiritual journey of birth. It is my goal to protect the innate wisdom of the mother-baby dyad and the truly incredible physiology of birth. Having a doula by your side can make a world of difference in a system which does little to honour the autonomy of you, the mother. Here’s how I can support you and your family:
Continuous Emotional Support: I am by your side throughout the entire pregnancy and birth, offering encouragement, reassurance, knowledge and a calming presence. My goal is to help you feel empowered and at peace with your choices so you can focus on welcoming your baby in your power.
Personalised Birth Planning: Every birth is unique and your birth should be a reflection of you and your values. I will help you create a birth plan that aligns with your vision, ensuring that you feel prepared and confident for any situation.
Support for Partners/Other Children: I’m here for them too! My wish is to create an environment where your partner can truly step up to physically and emotionally support you and not feel like a spare part. The beauty of homebirth is you can have whoever you wish present, all the kids and pets? Let’s do it!
Advocacy and Communication: Throughout your pregnancy and birth, you deserve to feel safe and respected in your choices. Consider me the protector of your peace. I will endeavour to facilitate clear communication between you, your partner, and any midwives or healthcare providers involved.
Nurturing Postpartum Care: After your baby is born, I’m here to help you settle into life as a new mother, offering support and signposting with feeding, newborn choices, postpartum healing and any questions or concerns that arise. My goal is to ensure you feel held in the those precious early days so that your mothering journey gets off to the best possible start.
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It’s really important that you as a client understand what I don’t do. . . .
Hiring me does not guarantee you the birth of your dreams. Sadly I am only human! I have no control over what happens during your pregnancy, labour or birth.
I am not a medical professional. Doulas are not the same as Midwives. I do not take clinical or medical responsibility for your birth and baby, even if you decide not to have a midwife present and freebirth.
I’m an advocate but I am not your spokeswoman. You need to take personal responsibility for the care you want to receive from medics.
I’m not a miracle worker, maybe more of a miracle guide?! You will need to get educated and do the work to learn how to navigate our healthcare system if you’re choosing to birth within it.
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To be blunt (I generally am!) birth interventions are at an all time high across the country, think 50% c section rate, 35% induction rate. Yet outcomes are not improving. If anything the health of our babies AND mothers are on the rapid decline.
The current care provision in the NHS does little to prioritise the mother-baby dyad. There is no doubt that environment has a huge influence on birth physiology so this is something to think very carefully about.
Having attended hospital births and homebirths alike (and having had a homebirth myself for my first baby) I simply do not believe that hospital is the safest place to give birth (and would LOVE to share with you the research that demonstrates this)
With a background in Naturopathic Nutrition, the body’s innate wisdom never ceases to amaze me. I believe we inherently have what we need to birth our babies in peace and power at home. It is rare that medical interventions are needed when women and their physiology are respected. I always cover potential birth emergencies in my ante natal education because knowledge is power right!? If you are someone who wants to birth in an obstetric unit because you feel safer that way, I’m probably not the doula for you.
To caveat . . . plans can change during pregnancy, labour, birth and immediate postpartum and I will happily accompany you in the case of transfer or change of plan.
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I have two packages that I offer, my Essentials Birth Package and my Everything Birth Package which encompasses my skills as a Nutritionist and Theta Healer. Please get in touch to discuss what is right for you and your family. You can book a free 30 minute call to discuss your needs.
Client Reviews
“I’m so incredibly grateful for Mel and her support throughout my pregnancy and birth. I knew I wanted to approach my labour as naturally as possible, but I was nervous about the whole process - from being able to advocate for what I wanted, having the confidence to go past my due date and of course dealing with the pain of labour. Mel’s antenatal guidance was invaluable, sharing lots of great resources with me from podcasts to books, and helping to develop my personalised birth plan through outlining all options. By the end of my pregnancy I felt so much more informed and confident. I ended up having an unplanned home birth, as my labour progressed so quickly for a first time mum! I will forever be so thankful for Mel’s care and support on the day of my daughter’s birth, she was invaluable! Realising I wouldn’t make it to hospital was quite nerve wracking, but Mel kept me and my partner calm, organised the midwives to come and got the space ready. Through guiding my breathing, homeopathic remedies and her general support Mel helped me to achieve a birth even more natural than I had hoped for! Being able to flop into my own bed with my new baby girl was the best feeling ever. I would wholeheartedly recommend Mel as a doula, she’s wonderful!”
— Imogen Oct 2025“I feel so grateful to have had Melanie within my birth team, her presence was both strong and deeply calming in a way that’s hard to put into words. She has a wonderful ability to gently advocate in more vulnerable moments, ensuring that things are handled with care and that my wishes were respected, all while maintaining a calm and supportive environment. Her presence truly made a difference for me! Melanie has an incredible way of holding space. She’s grounded, reassuring and quietly powerful and I felt so comforted having her there. I would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone considering having a doula! You’d be in amazing hands.”
— Teigan Sept 2025“Thanks so much Mel for helping us achieve the most wonderful free birth at home. You were just perfect at blending into the background and entertaining our 2 year old whilst also being there with all your knowledge if we needed you. You gave us so much confidence in the natural birth process that we almost felt like we could do it without you! You really played a huge part in making the labour and birth so calm, it was an absolute dream. I will be recommending you and free birthing to everyone I know! Thank you so much and I’m looking forward to the next one! 🤞🏼😆 xx”
— Samantha Feb 2026