Birth Support
Doula | Birthkeeper |
Traditional Birth Attendant
Based in the Forest of Dean, supporting families across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Cwmbran and surrounding areas. Travelling and virtual birthkeeper support available.
This is for you if you want to feel truly held, informed and supported throughout your pregnancy & as you prepare for birth.
You may not have set out looking for this kind of support
But something in your bones knows that maternity care is missing something, or even that it is causing more problems than it solves…
We’ve been brought up in a country with free healthcare
And we are so privileged in that respect
But is pregnancy an illness?
Have you noticed that maternity care just scans for problems?
The ‘nurturing support’ has long been squeezed out
Pregnancy, birth and early parenthood are not a straight line.
They are a spiral — a journey inward towards birth, and then outward again as you land in your new life with your baby.
My Spiral of Support guide explores the different types of support available at each stage of pregnancy, birth and early motherhood, and invites you to notice what you might need for your head, your heart and your body as the journey unfolds.
Inside you’ll find my map of pregnancy as a spiral journey, gentle journal prompts, and simple ideas to help you feel more grounded, informed and supported as birth draws closer.
Pregnancy today can be strangely lonely.
With the rise of the nuclear family, and more couples who are both out working, it’s no wonder our communities and villages are on the decline.
You may have appointments, scans, blood tests, growth charts and checklists; surrounded by information, but still feel unsupported.
So much of modern maternity care is focused on looking for problems, measuring risk and moving through appointments.
But who is asking how you are?
Who is helping you prepare emotionally, physically and spiritually for birth?
Who is holding you through this huge transition?
Birth was never meant to happen in isolation
For most of human history, women did not move towards birth alone, guided only by appointments, apps and hospital policies.
They were surrounded by other women.
Mothers, aunties, sisters, neighbours, grandmothers, wise women, midwives and birth attendants. Women who knew birth. Women who knew the family. Women who noticed when someone was tired, frightened, disconnected or in need of care.
Today, many families are scattered. Supportive relatives may live miles away, relationships may be complicated, and friends may be busy with their own lives. Partners are often expected to become the whole village, while also navigating their own fears, hopes and responsibilities.
So many women reach birth technically “cared for”, but not truly held.
This is why continuous, personal birth support matters.
You do not need to prepare for birth alone.
Birth is not just something to get through.
It is a rite of passage — physical, emotional, instinctive and life-changing. It can ask everything of you: your body, your trust, your courage, your vulnerability, your voice.
Doula | Birthkeeper | Traditional Birth Support
The word doula is the one many people recognise.
It describes someone who offers emotional, practical and physical support through pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal days.
For me, doula support is part of what I offer — but it is not the whole picture.
My work feels more aligned with the word Birthkeeper, because it speaks to something deeper: keeping the wisdom of birth alive, protecting the atmosphere around birth, and trusting that birth is not simply a medical event, but a rite of passage.
Traditional birth support brings in older, embodied ways of caring for women: steady presence, practical skill, hands-on comfort, trust in physiology, and deep respect for the natural unfolding of birth.
My role is not the same as the modern medical midwife.
I do not provide clinical care, diagnose, monitor, or make decisions for you.
My work is to walk beside you, support your autonomy, help you understand your choices, protect the birth space, and bring calm, grounded, woman-centred care to the whole experience.
Your birth does not need to fit neatly inside someone else’s pathway.
Some of the families I work with are choosing care within the maternity system. Others are exploring a more sovereign path.
You may be planning a home birth, a hospital birth, a birth centre birth, an induction, a caesarean birth, or a birth outside standard pathways. You may feel clear and confident, or you may still be working out what feels right.
Wherever you are, my role is to support your autonomy, your preparation and your connection to yourself.
I do not tell you what kind of birth to have. I do not make decisions for you. I help you ask better questions, understand your options, prepare your body and mind, and stay rooted in your own knowing — even when the people around you have strong opinions.
This support is for women and families who want to feel informed, steady and genuinely held as they move towards birth.
Wherever You Are Choosing to Birth:
Whole Beings
My work is built around woman and families as whole beings.
Birth is an intensely physical experience, yet it is also deeply emotional, and as thinking beings, we use our intellect to plan.
I support you through the head, heart and hands: helping you understand your choices, feel emotionally steady, and prepare in practical, embodied ways for birth and early motherhood.
Intellectual
Emotional
Body Wisdom
This is not one-size-fits-all support.
〰️
It is shaped around you, your birth, your family and what you need.
〰️
This is not one-size-fits-all support. 〰️ It is shaped around you, your birth, your family and what you need. 〰️
Birth support begins long before labour starts.
When we work together, we use the antenatal time to build trust, talk honestly, prepare your body, understand your options, and explore what you need to feel safe and supported.
This may include birth planning, bodywork, rebozo, massage, biomechanics, relaxation, partner preparation, advocacy conversations, feeding preparation, postnatal planning, or simply space to talk through what is coming up for you.
During labour and birth, my role is to stay steady beside you. I support the atmosphere, your comfort, your partner, your choices and your connection to yourself. Sometimes that means practical hands-on support. Sometimes it means quiet presence. Sometimes it means helping you ask a question, pause, breathe, or remember what matters to you.
After birth, I can help you land gently into the early days — with postnatal reflection, feeding support, emotional holding and practical care as you begin life with your baby.
The Doula Team
I work closely with a small, trusted, local team of doulas and birthkeepers.
We each bring different personalities, experiences and ways of working, but we share the same passion: supporting birth with women at the centre. We believe in autonomy, continuity, deep listening, practical preparation and protecting the birth space.
This means I can offer both backup and shared care models.
For some families, I am your main birthkeeper/doula, with another trusted woman available as backup if needed. For others, especially those wanting a deeper level of support, two of us may share the antenatal preparation, on-call period and birth support.
This gives you more resilience, more continuity, and a wider circle of support — while still keeping the relationship personal and grounded.
Birthkeeper & Doula Support Packages
I offer birth support in a way that allows us to build a real relationship before labour begins.
The quality of the support comes from the preparation we do together beforehand — the conversations, bodywork, trust, planning, emotional processing, partner preparation and understanding of what matters to you.
For that reason, my core package is designed to support you properly through pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal days.
If you are booking later in pregnancy, please still get in touch. Late bookings may be possible, but they usually require more concentrated preparation and may carry an additional fee.
-
For families up to 28 weeks who feel drawn to this work, but are not quite ready to commit to full birthkeeper or doula support.
This one-month package gives us space to begin gently, build trust, and look at the bigger picture of your pregnancy, birth preparation and wellbeing.
Rather than jumping straight into a birth plan, we begin by looking at you as a whole person: your body, your nervous system, your family stories, your lifestyle, your hopes, your worries, and what you may already be carrying into birth.
This may include a review of your nutrition, sleep, movement, stress levels and daily rhythms, as well as conversations around your antenatal care, obstetric pathways, birth options and any decisions you may be facing.
We can also explore family birth history, your own birth story, your partner’s birth story, previous pregnancies or births, and any experiences that may be shaping how you feel about birth now. Sometimes this work may include deep listening, ritual, creative reflection, art, journaling, 3 step rewind, or simply being held while something is named and witnessed.
Throughout the month, I can share relevant evidence-based information, lifestyle suggestions, nutritional guidance, resources, and personal check-ins to help you feel more grounded, motivated and supported.
This package does not include on-call support or birth attendance. It is designed as an early pregnancy foundation, and can be a beautiful starting point if you later choose to move into full birthkeeper and doula support.
Includes:
One main 1:1 birthkeeper session
Wellbeing review, including food, sleep, movement, stress and daily rhythms
Reflection on family birth history and birth stories
Space to explore previous pregnancies, births, loss, trauma or significant experiences
Initial look at your antenatal care, maternity pathways and options
Evidence-based information and resources where needed
Nutritional and lifestyle suggestions
WhatsApp check-ins for one month
Personal motivation and support as you begin preparing for birth
Guidance on whether ongoing doula/birthkeeper support feels right
Bookable up to 28 weeks of pregnancy.
Price: £350
If you go on to book my Signature Birthkeeper & Doula Support package within 14 days, £200 will be taken off the Signature package price.
-
This is my core birth support package.
It is for women and families who want steady, personal support through pregnancy, labour, birth and the early postnatal days.
We use the antenatal time to build trust, explore your choices, prepare your body and nervous system, support your partner, and create a clear sense of what you need around you as birth approaches.
This package includes antenatal preparation, birth planning, body balancing, emotional support, practical tools for labour, on-call support around your due time, continuous birth support, and postnatal reflection after your baby is born.
It also includes backup doula support for reassurance. This means that if I were unable to attend your birth due to illness, emergency, or circumstances outside my control, there would be a trusted backup doula/birthkeeper available wherever possible.
This is a popular package with families because it gives us time to work together properly before birth.
Includes:
Antenatal preparation sessions
Birth planning and advocacy conversations
Support for your partner
Body balancing and body-based preparation
Breath, movement, positioning and comfort measures
Rebozo and birth biomechanics where helpful
WhatsApp/message support during pregnancy
On-call support around your due time
Continuous support during labour and birth
Backup doula support for reassurance
Early postnatal visit and birth reflection
Price: from £2,200
-
Virtual support is for families who feel aligned with my approach but do not live close enough for in-person birth support, or who want guidance, preparation and emotional support alongside their local care.
This can be especially helpful if you are feeling unsure about your options, planning a home birth or birth outside standard pathways, navigating maternity policies, or wanting someone experienced to help you think clearly and prepare deeply.
Virtual support can include birth planning, advocacy preparation, partner preparation, nervous system support, decision-making conversations, preparation for labour, postnatal planning, and support by video call and message.
It does not replace in-person support at your birth, but it can help you feel much clearer, steadier and better prepared.
May include:
Video-call antenatal preparation sessions
Birth planning and options conversations
Advocacy and decision-making support
Partner preparation
Emotional support and nervous system preparation
WhatsApp/message support
Early labour guidance by phone or video where appropriate
Postnatal reflection call
Price: from £850
-
For some families, the right support is worth travelling for.
I may be able to offer travelling doula or birthkeeper support for families outside my usual area, depending on availability, timing, location and the level of preparation needed.
This works best when we begin the relationship earlier in pregnancy, with a mixture of online preparation and planned in-person time before birth. Depending on distance, this may include one or more longer preparation days, travel to you near your due time, accommodation arrangements, and a clear plan for how support will work if labour begins quickly.
Travelling support is bespoke. It needs to be realistic, well planned and properly resourced, so that I can offer grounded support without rushing, overextending, or creating uncertainty around availability.
May include:
Online preparation sessions
One or more in-person preparation days
Birth planning, partner support and advocacy preparation
Bodywork, biomechanics, rebozo and relaxation work
On-call birth support, depending on location and arrangements
Travel to your home or birth setting
Early postnatal support before handover to local support where needed
Additional travel, accommodation, parking, tolls or mileage costs may apply.
Price: bespoke, from £3,500
-
Shared care is for families who understand the value of being held by more than one trusted woman through pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal days.
It is especially recommended for first babies, longer labours, families travelling from further away, births with additional considerations, or situations where you know you may need more support around you.
In this model, another doula or birthkeeper from my close-knit team is brought into your care. We share the same values around autonomy, deep listening, practical preparation and protecting the birth space, while bringing our own different strengths and personalities.
Shared care means we can offer more spacious support — including the early stages of labour, when many women need reassurance, steadiness and practical help — without one person becoming exhausted before the birth itself unfolds.
Some labours take time. Some births need a bigger container. Shared care gives you a wider circle, more resilience and a deeper sense of continuity.
Shared care add-on: £850
This can be added to regular or deeper birthkeeper support, depending on availability.
-
Sometimes families come to this work later in pregnancy, especially after feeling unsupported, pressured, or uncertain within maternity care.
If you are later in pregnancy, please still get in touch. I may be able to support you, depending on my availability and your due time.
Late bookings usually require more intensive preparation over a shorter period. Because of this, an additional late booking fee applies.
This reflects the extra work needed to build trust, understand your needs, prepare properly and offer safe, grounded support when there is less time before birth.
Late Booking Add on £300
-
For families who want practical, emotional and traditional support after birth.
This can be booked by the hour or as a 30-hour Traditional Postpartum Support Package. Support may include birth story holding, breastfeeding support, babywearing, safe cosleeping information, nourishing food, light household help, deep postnatal nutrition, body support, closing the bones, Placenta Magic, and emotional holding as you settle into life with your baby.
Prices:
Postnatal support: £45 per hour
30-hour Traditional Postpartum Support Package: £900
Placenta Magic: £100
Night support: £250 per night, subject to availability
Closing the bones can be included within the 30-hour package and uses 10 hours from the package.
Want to know more about full traditional postpartum support?
A dedicated page is coming soon.
Choosing the Right Level of Support
Birth support works best when we have time to build a relationship before labour begins.
If you are early in pregnancy and feel drawn to this work, the 1-Month Birthkeeper Starter Package is a gentle way to begin. It gives us space to explore your wellbeing, birth stories, family patterns, antenatal options, nutrition, lifestyle and what kind of support may feel right for you.
My main birth support package is Signature Birthkeeper & Doula Support, which includes preparation through pregnancy, on-call support, backup doula reassurance, continuous birth support and early postnatal reflection.
If you would like a wider circle around you, Shared Care can be added through the Doula Team.
If you need more support after birth, I also offer Traditional Postpartum Support, which can include feeding support, babywearing, nourishing food, household help, birth story holding, closing the bones, safe cosleeping information and overnight support.