The Wholehearted Doula

07/02/2026

Such a great explanation of “hospital policy” ❤️

02/02/2026

Amazing! It’s so wonderful when a woman’s voice is heard and she is able to participate in bringing her baby Earthside in this way.

I wish more medical practitioners would listen like this. 🥰

What an incredibly special moment for this Mother. And what an inspiration for women to see that they can advocate for themselves. ❤️

I want to talk about this because it matters. Deeply.

A mother in Scotland was able to lift her own baby from her womb during her C section. Not for shock value. Not for headlines. But for healing.

After traumatic previous births that left her with PTSD, she advocated for a maternal assisted C section so she could be an active participant in her baby’s birth. She scrubbed in. She wore a gown and gloves. And when the time came, she helped bring her baby onto her own chest for immediate skin to skin.

She described it as euphoric. Empowering. Healing.
And honestly? That makes complete sense.

Birth trauma is real. Obstetric violence is real. Being ignored, coerced, dismissed, or stripped of consent during one of the most vulnerable moments of your life leaves scars that don’t just disappear.

What stands out most to me isn’t just the procedure itself. It’s that a medical team finally listened. They respected her history. They honored her autonomy. They worked with her instead of over her.

This is what person centered, trauma informed care actually looks like.

And before anyone jumps in with “that’s not for everyone” correct.
But options should exist. Consent should exist. Respect should be non negotiable.

No one should have to beg to feel human during birth.
No one should leave the delivery room more traumatized than when they entered.
And no mother should be told that her need for control, dignity, or involvement is unreasonable.

Birth doesn’t have to be something that happens to you.

This story isn’t about being extreme.
It’s about being heard.

And I hope it opens doors for more mothers to reclaim their births in whatever way healing looks like for them 🤱

01/02/2026

Fabulous advice for pregnancy and getting to know what YOUR BABYS NORMAL is for their movement. If you’re worried about lack of movement- go in and get checked. Always better to be safe than sorry! ❤️💜

01/02/2026

01/02/2026

Great advice from Melanie The Midwife. It’s YOUR birth! You own that space! “Treat it as another room of your home”. ❤️💜
Do what you need to make the birth suite comfortable and more importantly - yourself comfortable. If you want to be in the water- film the tub! Don’t ask for permission!
Better yet- have a Doula with you who will have already filled it for you knowing that it’s what you want! 🥰❤️

01/02/2026

How gorgeous! Wish I’d been a fly on the wall!
Now…Let’s make ALL girls smart!! 🥰🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️

31/01/2026

This is so great! Jen Hamilton raises a great point about instead of aiming for birth to be pain free, aim to cope with the pain!
Use ALL of the tools until they don’t work anymore! Then move on to the next. Don’t use then all up too early or you won’t have anything left in the bag when you REALLY need it!

If you would like to learn about some of the ways I can help you manage your pain during labour and the different tools I have in my Doula Tool Kit- send me a PM and we can have a chat! 💜

22/01/2026

Continuity of care throughout pregnancy is SO important! This is just one example of why! 🥰❤️
So glad this beautiful Mama and her baby are both safe and doing well ❤️

22/01/2026

So you’ve been told you’re going to have a big baby?!? 😱 Before you freak out- check this out….🧐🤓

This study only enrolled women who had been diagnosed with babies over the 90th centile. They were trying to sway the results so they could prove their point about the necessity of induction. Unfortunately for them it backfired! IF the techniques for determining foetal size were accurate, closer to 100% of the babies would have been born over the 90th centile, however in The Big Baby Study, only 40-42% of those babies were above the 90th centile!!
So that means that approximately 60% of the time - THEY. WERE. WRONG!!
… meaning 60% of the women received an induction they didn’t actually need 😒😡

The big baby trial research paper is a masterclass in how to manipulate your study results to suit your purposes. Don’t take my word for it, read it for yourself.

Search for the paper, ‘Induction of labour vs standard care to prevent shoulder dystocia in fetuses suspected to be large for gestational age in the UK (the big baby trial)

Then have a listen to The Great Birth Rebellion episodes 152 and 186 to understand the research and options for big babies.

12/01/2026

12/01/2026

04/01/2026