Testimonials

“Maria is caring, supportive and incredible knowledgeable, I’m so happy we had her support during my pregnancy and during birth. My first birth was a traumatic experience for me and I knew that I needed to feel more in control this time. Maria put my mind at ease by listening to my birth story and providing a lot of great resources, all evidence based, to help me decide on my birth preferences. This helped me to regain confidence in myself and my ability to make my own choices. When complications during my pregnancy arose, Maria helped me stay calm and navigate the sometimes-confusing health care system, laying out all my options. And when I unexpectedly got hospitalised at the end of my pregnancy and had to be induced, again it was her support and guidance that kept me positive and ensured that I was in control and able to make the right decisions for me. The actual birth was beautiful, healing and an empowering experience and I’m convinced that Maria’s preparation and presence played a large role in that. Despite needing another induction, which wasn’t part of my preferences, I was calm and collected and not scared. Despite not being able to be on the Midwife led unit, a big preference of mine, Maria made the birthing room on the consultant led ward beautifully calm and relaxing with fairy lights and aromatherapy. Her communication with my midwife and my partner was great and I felt extremely supported by all of them – it was a team effort! My birth went really fast in the end, only 2h in total and only 8 minutes of pushing – it was an incredible experience, very intense but also made me feel strong and empowered. Thank you, Maria, for guiding me through all of this!”

“We would highly recommend Maria as a doula. After a long labour that ended in a c-section with our first child, I knew we needed support with our second and booking Maria was the best decision we made. We had a positive VBAC with Marias help. We knew Maria was the right fit for us as she was non-judgmental, and I felt at ease talking to her about our concerns and preferences with our second. Maria was supportive, and pointed us to information, research, and books to help us make informed decisions. In addition, to achieve what we wanted, she helped us put an “out of guidance” birth plan in place which was instrumental in our birth. I also found her emotionally supportive, and she helped us advocate for ourselves. Maria joined one of our midwife appointments too as we didn’t feel confident enough to put our point across to the hospital by ourselves, but she let us lead the conversation and only providing input when requested. Maria put a biomechanics exercise plan in place for my third trimester which I believe helped for a positive birth experience and to get the baby in the optimal position for my body. Maria came to our house when we called her once I felt I needed her during labour. She was a calming presence and helped me through surges. When it was time to go to the hospital, she confirmed our preferences with us again, kept me calm (as the birth centre was closed) and made the labour ward room feel very cosy with lights etc. and helping me with surges. My husband also found Maria to be supportive throughout but never intrusive. Our second baby arrived within about 90 mins on entering hospital and Maria ensured I caught my baby and had skin to skin (this was very important to me). Maria built a good relationship with the midwives which helped. After our baby was born, I needed a backrest but there was none so Maria sat behind me so I could lean back on her back! Maria also stayed with us (including postnatal support and helping with the first breastfeed). It was useful to reflect on the birth 2 weeks after with Maria, to fill in the gaps we couldn’t remember. I found this birth to be empowering and very positive. Our only regret was not having Maria at our first birth!”

“Maria was absolutely incredible throughout our pregnancy and birth. We met Maria during our NCT classes and following a disagreement with the hospital regarding our birth plan, we decided that we would like a doula to help us achieve a positive birth experience as we felt we weren’t being listened to. Maria’s advice in the lead up to the birth and help with our birth plan was invaluable, making sure we were truly ready when the time came and that we were informed about all of our options. From the moment my waters broke Maria was on standby and made sure we were ok. She talked us through every aspect of the labour process and ensured we maintained a calm atmosphere, even when we were worried about traffic! When we arrived to the hospital, we were unable to go to MLU or have a water birth as desired due to a complication with our baby, but Maria was incredibly calm throughout the whole process, she helped us both, ensuring we had our voices heard by the medical team and asking questions we hadn’t thought of. Maria also made the birthing room a lovely, relaxing place (to the point where it was commented on by several members of staff!) and made me feel so much better. Both my husband and I felt continuously cared for throughout my long labour. Despite not being able to have the birth I wanted, we couldn’t have asked for a better birth experience and felt empowered and well informed throughout, and we owe a huge amount of that to Maria. Thank you so much”.

“The labour and birth of our first child was quite a traumatic process, where our best intentions for a calming and positive experience seemed to go out of the window when complications arose, and pain relief was ineffective. As my wife’s birth partner, I thought I had everything figured out beforehand, but in the heat of the moment when plans and backup plans were being cast aside, it felt like everything was going wrong and I was powerless to help. Keen to avoid this the second time around we decided a doula would be a worthwhile investment in helping us to create some positive memories, and heal some painful ones in the process. Maria was fantastic from the start, she instantly put as at ease when we first met her, and really took the time to listen to our birth preferences. During the induction, Maria was a great sounding board for us via our WhatsApp chat. We kept her up to date on how things were progressing, and she would helpfully remind us of the options we had. For example: Did we need to accept the next step in the induction, or could we wait a bit? During the pregnancy, we had been trying to remember our B.R.A.I.N., but once you are talking face to face with a midwife or consultant and on the ward, it can become harder to think clearly about your options, or challenge authority. Maria’s gentle prompting, to remind us of all our options, was really helpful, making us feel empowered to make the right decisions. Once we were in active labour Maria joined us, she helped us to maintain a calm and peaceful environment in the room – even though we were in the clinical-looking CLU. She was a very welcome extra pair of hands during the contractions, able to remind my wife of breathing techniques, or massage her back when it became painful during the pushing phase, whilst I could focus on being there for my wife, holding her hand and talking to her. Thanks in large part to having Maria there to help us, the birth of our second child was an overall much more positive experience, and I would absolutely recommend her to anyone considering a doula”.