Doula Bea, Beulah Road, Tunbridge Wells (2025)

31/12/2023

2023 - What a year

I enjoy my job Every. Single. Day

I am beyond grateful to those that choose to share their birth or early postnatal time with me

I am in awe and value so much my fellow doula community and everyone that works in the perinatal sector - I couldn’t do this without you

I am amazed, daily, but the strength and ability of the female body and mind - to grow, birth and feed humans is superpowers

20/08/2023

POSITIVE HOME BIRTH STORY - One of my recent clients has kindly given me permission to share her incredible birth story - a perfect physiological second time homebirth after a covid restricted hospital first birth. I am so grateful to you, both for involving me in your journey, and for permission to share - I hope it inspires and empowers. Names have been changed for anonymity. Link to blogpost in my bio.

“…My Tens machine came off and I got into the pool. As soon as I got in, my body started involuntarily pushing through each surge. Down breathing went out of the window and I just focused on breathing slow and controlled and letting my body do what it needed to do, as it seemed to be doing it without conscious effort from me….

At around 6.50am my body completely took over. It was almost as if I'd fainted and was watching myself from afar in slow motion. My body completely changed position (without any input from me) from a squat to almost standing holding the edge of the pool and made a noise which I can only describe as 'primal!' for a good 30 seconds. The head was born and I came back from the bizarre but amazing euphoric out of body experience, reached down and felt the shoulders wiggle out one by one, then pulled my baby up on to my chest. We realised that we had a boy and I held him in complete disbelief as to what had just happened. He was born at 6.57am. The midwife said 'Now that is how you give birth’…

I stepped out of the pool and we went to the living room, nestled on the sofa, all three a bit bewildered by what had just happened. He had his first feed, we had tea and crumpets…

Recovery and feeding are going really well and we're still riding on a high of what an incredible experience that was.”

18/08/2023

TESTIMONIALS - “After a challenging first birth during Covid I was feeling really apprehensive about giving birth again and was determined to make this birth different.

I booked some birth preparation sessions with Bea, she was friendly, really knowledgeable, practical and made me feel really at ease. I felt like no question was a stupid question. We went through all the practicalities of a home birth, we discussed things I hadn't even thought about. We went through all my fears one by one and and Bea was really knowledgeable, going through the current evidence and then directing me to further resources so I could research further.

After our sessions, my views on birth completely changed. I felt empowered to make informed choices and was excited about giving birth, knowing that however things played out, this birth would be different and I would feel more in control.

I had the most magical physiological home birth! My son was born calmly and safely into the water in my kitchen, supported by amazing community midwives and the words and knowledge of Bea going through my head! I am still riding the high of what an incredible experience it was, and feel superhuman! It has massively impacted the first weeks and I am loving every minute of the fourth trimester.
There is no way that I would have had the confidence to have a birth like this without the support of Bea. Thank you so much for giving me the tools to trust my body to do what it is designed to do. I will take this experience with me for the rest of my life and am so grateful for the opportunity to have such a positive, transformative birth. Thank you Bea!”

08/08/2023

WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK - a bit late, been busy doulaing!

The UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. Research shows that 81% of mothers initiate breastfeeding at birth, but many stop in the first few weeks with only 17% still exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months, and 1% at 6 months. 63% of women who stop breastfeeding report that they would have liked to have breastfed for longer and many (17%) state a lack of support from hospital staff, midwives and family as their reasons for stopping.

Breastfeeding is beautiful, healthy (for mum and baby), natural and practical, it reduces your chance of postnatal mental illness, promotes bonding, decreases illness, risk of SIDS, fewer allergies and ear infections.

It’s also physically and emotionally difficult, it’s not the only way and it’s not for everyone which is why my favourite phrase when it comes to infant feeding is “breast is not best, fed is not best, informed and supported is best”

You are more likely to establish and continue breastfeeding if you hire a doula - so get in touch if you’d like to chat about how I could support you.

Thank you to my wonderful client for letting me use this gorgeous image of her feeding her twins (still exclusively breastfed 3+ months in! 🙌🏻)

07/04/2023

TESTIMONIAL - “My husband and I are expecting our first baby and working with Bea has filled us both with so much more knowledge, confidence and awareness of everything to come.

We've had weekly antenatal sessions in person and online where Bea has shared information on everything antenatally, labour and birth, and postnatally too.

She has been invaluable in providing us with all the information we needed and answered our questions for us to build out our birth plan in the most informed way.

On top of the sessions, she's been a god send as our "Pocket Doula", answering any day-to-day questions or worries we have, and helped us with research on other decisions we've made throughout. Cannot recommend enough.

We're looking forward to Bea's support once our baby is here too as she will be coming to help us for a few sessions then. It's been invaluable and so lovely having her as part of our journey to parenthood. Thank you Bea!”

27/03/2023

THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN MILK - Breastfeeding is as fascinating as it is wonderful and as it is challenging. I loved learning more about the science behind breastfeeding, and breast milk, with Microbiome Courses, which reiterated to me just how important it is to support mothers to breastfeed, if they choose to.

It took me a while to make sense of all of this and even longer to write it into a reasonably easy to understand format!!

1) During vaginal birth, the mother transfers her unique bacterial ecosystem to her baby. The bacteria coming from Mum colonise the infant gut and crowd out the pathogens; they are the bacteria to optimally train the infant immune system, giving protection for life

2) These microbes are then fed by the unique sugars - the human milk oligosaccharides (HMO’s) - in Mum’s breast milk, which are matched to the bacteria that were passed to the baby during vaginal birth. These HMO’s are the 3rd most abundant component of milk, but are indigestible by the baby, they are there specifically to feed the infant gut microbiome

Caesarean birth, antibiotics and formula feeding, whilst sometimes necessary but widely overused, alter this process and if the microbiome doesn’t develop normally in early life you can have a misfiring of the immune system which can increase risk of asthma, allergies, diabetes and obesity etc.

Read more in my latest blog post - link in my bio.

26/03/2023

TESTIMONIAL - “I contacted Bea at a point when I was all baby’d out. After 3mths of breastfeeding, lack of sleep, baby unable to nap in the day without contact, I was desperate for some time to myself, to do anything without baby attached.

Bea was able to reassure me that these feelings were normal and gave me the chance to get things done, confident that my daughter would be well looked after. It felt a bit weird handing my daughter over to a stranger but Bea was warm, friendly and helpful and any concerns quickly disappeared. I’m grateful that Bea enjoyed walking as she certainly did a lot to ensure my daughter had adequate sleep in the day.

After a couple of weeks I felt more confident in my new role as Mum. I’d recommend Bea to any new parents needing that reassurance and a moment to breathe. Wish I’d found her sooner!”

25/03/2023

MY POSITIVE BIRTH STORY - It’s World Doula Week and it was my daughter’s third birthday last week, two moments which have had me reflecting on my journey into doulaing, which I am often asked about when I meet new clients.

My daughters birth, and journey to it, is why I became a doula. It was a long and bumpy road leading up to the day my labour started, and my birth was quite a long and bumpy road too but it was AMAZING. It healed so much pain that had come before, empowered me, gave me confidence in my mind and body that I had never had, and had certainly lost in the couple of years running up to that moment. I had flashbacks for weeks, even months, after, and would describe it as Post Euphoric Stress Disorder (a term I made up!) I wanted everybody to have this experience and start their journey into parenthood this way.

So to celebrate World Doula Week, and Elodie’s birthday, I’m sharing my positive birth story on my blog (link in bio). I would love to share more stories like this to help inform and empower those approaching birth, so if you would like to share your story (it can be anonymous) please can in touch.

“I felt my first surge about 9pm two days before my die date, just as we were going to bed and after a relaxing day…”

14/03/2023

TESTIMONIAL - We cannot recommend Bea enough as a birth doula - she was brilliant, and we wouldn’t have gotten through it without her!

From our first meeting, she made us feel comfortable and confident that we had made the right decision in choosing her as our birth and postnatal doula. We were - and continue to be - impressed by her warm, friendly, super-organised and responsive approach.

Bea provided incredible support, advice and reassurance throughout. She went above and beyond to make sure that we felt informed and empowered every step of the way; the antenatal discussions with her really helped us work through our birth preferences in an informed manner. Her presence during labour was calming and reassuring, and her expertise was invaluable in helping us navigate unexpected challenges. Bea truly went the extra mile - she was committed to supporting us as labour progressed at all times of day and night; she was always available for us, and we cannot thank her enough for her support when we didn’t know what to do. She is a skilled and compassionate doula who truly cares about her clients; she looked after us when we were struggling. She’ll always be a special person in our lives for what she did for us during the birth.

We are delighted to have Bea as our postnatal doula. She’s already been incredible in supporting us in so many ways as we find our feet as first-time parents. She has great advice, she’s proactive in helping us in all sorts of ways, and she has a great network that has been really helpful in accessing extra support as needed. She’s also brilliant with our new arrival too!

If you are looking for a doula, look no further than Bea! We feel so lucky that she is our doula 😊.

12/03/2023

HOSPITAL BIRTH - My last three birth clients had hospital births, with none of them initially having a hospital birth as their preference.

There were no blue lights, sirens or any sense of ‘emergency’ - transfer rates from home or a midwife led unit are around 30-40% - depending on the setting, whether it’s a first time Mum and a number of other circumstances, but it’s not normally an emergency circumstance.

For all three of my clients their birth setting of choice changed shortly before they had their baby, this can happen due to staff shortages forcing the birth centre/home birth service to close temporarily, a development in the pregnancy or simply a change of heart.

It reiterated to me the unpredictable nature of birth and how important it is to be flexible in your planning, and keep as many options on the table as you can.

You may not have thought you wanted a home birth, but when you’re in labour the thought of getting in a car to transfer to your chosen birthplace often becomes pretty unappealing! Perhaps you’re set on a home birth, but if the service is closed at the last minute you may be glad to have been ‘approved’ for birth at the local midwife led unit.

For some, hospital birth is the right choice, but it shouldn’t be the default choice, it’s always important to weigh up your options, consider your personal circumstances and work out where you will feel safest and most comfortable.

This mama had originally planned a home birth, but as her due date approached she decided to transfer her care to a different trust and the hospital became her birth place of choice. It was a new plan, a different plan, but it wasn’t a bad plan, she had an AMAZING birth and I am still in awe of her strength and determination.

20/02/2023

TESTIMONIAL - “I found Bea online when my baby was 3 weeks old and after a difficult birth, I desperately needed to have some time to rest and recover.

Bea went out of her way to meet us and our baby before she started helping us which made us both feel confident, reassured and relaxed that our baby was in great hands.

Bea has been helping us for 3 weeks now. She is experienced, friendly and nothing is too much trouble - she has made my experience of early motherhood a lot less stressful and much more positive.

As well as providing amazing care for our baby, Bea has also been great to chat to about post-birth emotions, which has really helped me to process things and recover more holistically.

She helped (and is still helping) with day time care and over nights, which has given me a break and allowed me to get some much needed sleep, this has been instrumental in my recovery and as a result I've felt much more energised and positive. I would highly highly recommend her services.”

Doula Bea

31/12/2023

20/08/2023

18/08/2023

08/08/2023

07/04/2023

27/03/2023

26/03/2023

25/03/2023

14/03/2023

12/03/2023

20/02/2023

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