Becca is the most amazing, supportive level headed calm doula. Her wealth of experience means she can both communicate with women and midwifes with ease and help explain situations where there isn’t time for the midwife to chat further. She helped me through the birth of my second son and was honestly incredible, calming and fun! She laughed with me when I needed a lift and held me in the moments I needed to cry. I also credit her with getting me to successfully use gas and air which I just couldn’t work out in my first my labour. It also meant I wasn’t left alone for any part of the labour, which became very important when my husband had to deal with an emergency with our eldest child (which she managed to keep me completely oblivious about) due to her providing continual calming support! I can’t recommend becca enough! Here she is with my number 2 in the days after his birth! She also helped me with slings, reusable nappies, postnatal recovery and drinking glasses of gin in the pub once I could again – so is all round amazing!
Melanie
Becca was great when I felt I needed someone just to talk to about my birth choices. She pointed out a few times that everything was down to me to decide and pointed me in the direction of the consultant midwife and how to access a birth debrief…… She was always very clear she wasn’t there to offer medical advice but she helped me find resources where I could read further information etc. She gave me positive affirmations and reassured me my feelings were all normal. During the labour and birth Becca was amazing! She held my hand (I probably squeezed it a bit too hard!) and told me everything was normal. Just having her there saying that was a great help and gave me a belief in myself and my bodies capabilities. My husband found her to e very calming and relaxed. Very reassuring. Advocating what I wanted in my birth plan (e.g silence, letting me find out the sex etc).
After the birth she was very caring. She helped us get things sorted. Really helpful. She felt more like a really good friend than someone who was doing a job. She is very caring in her nature and made sure myself and my family were all settled. She was always available to talk to her when I needed and I always felt she really understood where I was coming from.
Michelle
Pre-birth Rebecca was always available to answer any questions I had and is incredibly knowledgeable. She was generous with her availability. One particular highlight is a gorgeous reflexology foot massage she gave me with essential oils when I was overdue. Sadly due to Covid Rebecca wasn’t able to join us in the hospital and I went in for an induction so there was no labouring at home, and then the whole thing happened very fast. However, she did stay in touch via whatsapp to check up on me.
Rebecca’s been so helpful since the birth. She’s regularly visited me and helped me with breast feeding, she’s been a great source of support when I’ve felt overwhelmed and recommended a variety of helpful things to support me with painful nipples and other challenges. I very much feel listened to and understood, and I feel like I can say anything to Rebecca without worrying about feeling judged or causing offence.
I’m not sure how I would have survived this experience without Rebecca!
Miranda
Rebecca gave me a space to talk through all my hopes and fears. She provided me with a wealth of information, such as advice on books to read, websites to look at, practical things to consider etc. She attended labour armed with various bits and pieces to support me, such as positive affirmation posters, essential oils, a hypnobirthing playlist, candles etc. The hypnobirthing was key to achieving the pain relief free birth that I desired.
The post birth support has been fantastic. With Rebecca’s assistance, I have been able to process and reflect on the whole labour experience. She also helped me with many practical matters in the immediacy, and also some weeks after, the birth, including help to navigate through the COVID pandemic. Breastfeeding support has been great.
I feel that Rebecca was like an archetypal mother in the sense that she was able to intuit all of my needs throughout labour – often before I even knew what they were myself! The level of support she provided was invaluable, and she helped to make my labour and birth a positive experience.
Sandra
Due to meconium in the waters we ended up having an abdominal birth via an unplanned c-section, which was a bit of a shock to the system. At first I struggled to get my head around how it all panned out , and with the post-op recovery.
The one thing that has been an absolute triumph for us, and really pulled me through the toughest days, has been our breastfeeding journey. M latched whilst we were in theatre recovery, and even through the haze of pethidine, morphine and the rush of hormones, I remembered to breathe and relax, and how to encourage the correct latch. It was the most magical moment I’ll never forget!
Since then, we’ve gone from strength to strength, using our affirmations and the meditations to build an incredible and connective foundation. I look forward to feeding my baby every day, using it as its own form of mindfulness practice by staying present and being in the moment.
I know I wouldn’t have had such a smooth experience if it wasn’t for everything you taught us on the course. Even though we’ve had our challenges, I’ve had the tools to get through them, for that I wanted to say thank you!
Helen
Doula Becca 