Stand-alone Consultations

Birth Coaching online session where I can answer your questions and help you with:

• Considering any of your birth options; from your birth place to vaginal exams, artificial rupture of membranes, CTG monitoring , syntocinon augmentation, gas & air, eating and drinking during labour… the list goes on!

• What to expect at every stage of labour (physiology of birth) and how you can work best with your birthing partner to support you

• Your options for comfort measures and pain relief at every stage of labour;

• Advising you on your birth rights: anything from birth choices, your birthplace, to consent & declining an intervention

• Advocacy: around any issues encountered during pregnancy or planning for your birth. E.g.: Your rights to a water birth, and how to assert them.

• Advocacy tools to better navigate situations with your birthing team on the day of your birth

• Pregnancy after loss: options available to you, to safeguard your birth space from triggers and get your needs met

• Anything else around childbirth and maternity

£55 for 1h 20min / £75 for a bespoke 2+ hour session
* Each consultation includes a follow-up e-mail with relevant resources, in relation to our conversation

Perhaps you want to make a birth plan but don’t know where to start? Not sure what are the options available to you?

I offer two birth preparation sessions, where I will present you with all the birth options you might want to consider, providing you evidence-based information and cover any area that you might feel unsure or confused about.

We will use my birth plan templates and develop several plans to get you and your birthing partner ready for any scenario.

On our first session, we will look at the different aspects of birth, considering anything from your birthplace to comfort measures. I will take you through the “Path to Birth”, and the different stages of labour. We will also talk about “defining your birth team”.

I will leave you with a large list of birth choices for you to reflect on, in your own time.

When you are ready to send me your birth plan by email, we will then meet online for a second consultation to review your preferences and assess how you feel about them.

£155

If you already have a birth plan you would like to review with me, you can also book an hour consultation under “Doula Power Hour”.

A 2 hour planning session, whether you are considering to birth abdominally (elective caesarean), or you are planning to birth vaginally, but would like to prepare for any outcome.

Together we will prepare you (and your partner) to have a positive, empowered and calm abdominal birth, where you can feel at the centre of your birthing experience.

This session includes:

• working through how you feel about having a caesarean birth, the fears, worries and hopes for your birth;

• how knowledge around physiological birth and hypnobirthing techniques can be used during an abdominal birth;

• how to advocate for yourself (in-the-moment advocacy) and what are your wishes and intentions for your birth

• what your options are for a caesarean birth, whether elective or emergency, and how to include these on your birth plan (upfront advocacy)

• Planning for recovery after a caesarean birth

Includes birth plan template and other resources following our conversation

This session is delivered online or can be arranged in person within Brighton & Hove.

£ 85

This conversation will arise with your midwife when you are approaching your due date. I recommend educating yourself prior to having the conversation with your healthcare provider.

Probably my favourite subject- I feel *very* passionate about teaching parents about inductions of labour. More often than not, parents agree to an induction of labour without even knowing what it entails.
According to NHS Maternity Statistics, the proportion of labours induced in England has increased from 21% in 2010, to 34% in 2021. It means that 1 out of 3 pregnancies are currently induced.

I will explain what an induction of labour is and why it is such an important decision for your overall birth experience.

I will take you through the benefits, risks, alternatives, evidence and education around inductions of labour; and cover:

• Your rights around accepting or declining an induction of labour

• The different methods and stages of an induction;

• The statistics around risks of being passed your due date and risks around the intervention;

• The benefit and alternatives, etc.

I will also give you advocacy tools to both advocate for yourself, whether you accept or decline the intervention.

I am a believer that inductions of labour don’t have to be a “packaged deal”, and I will explain what I call a “controlled induction” (in other words, an empowered induction of labour) shall you decide to go for one.

£75

A 90min- 2 hour session to plan for your fourth trimester.

In the same way you would plan for your birth, this session will allow you to anticipate the pitfalls of this challenging period, to clarify your needs and intentions, so that you feel prepared and supported to ride the waves of your true last trimester.

This session will cover:

• Your hopes, fears and intentions around the fourth trimester

• Planning for recovery and to feed yourself (yes, not just baby!)

• Your relationships, support network; How to manage expectations and ask for what you need

• Two separate discussions on breastfeeding and infant sleep, what to expect (first-time parents) or reviewing how it was previously for you (second/plus-time parents), and what can be done to prepare you for both. We will talk expectations and potential pitfalls and options.

• Where to go for ongoing support in the postpartum if you need it

• Any questions you may have, from nipple care to co-sleeping, or recommendations for breast pump… anything at all.

A postpartum planner and journal will be sent following our session together, so you can further reflect on your intentions and plan.

£ 85

I offer a 90min birth debrief for yourself and your partner, to go through your birth experience.
We will explore how you have felt at the time (you can share as much or as little as feels right) and how your experience has left you feeling today.

My postnatal clients find going through their birth story and experience very cathartic, sometimes like a relief.

Depending on your needs, I can signpost you or recommend further services within or outside of the NHS.

It is particularly important to be able to talk about your experience if you feel you have had a traumatic birth experience. Trauma often manifest with delay (delayed onset PTSD) and it is important to be able to address your feelings within the first 4 to 6 months after birth, to avoid developing further symptoms from trauma, if left unprocessed.

£60